By Emi Gruender
With everything happening in the world right now, it may be a very, very difficult task to find any good news at all. Between war, shootings, and general violence globally, small wins might seem insignificant. But keeping faith in these trying times is of the utmost importance, to ensure that we, the youth, maintain our optimism. What better way to recognize what good’s still left in the world than visiting the Ichikawa City Zoo, to a baby monkey recently gone viral?
Punch, a 7-month old Japanese macaque, was abandoned by his mother at birth. The video of his mother’s rejection and his finding solace in an orangutan plushie from IKEA has gone viral on many platforms, including Twitter (X), Instagram, and Tiktok. As expected of viral animals (such as Moo Deng the pygmy hippo and Pesto the penguin), Punch easily stole the hearts of internet-surfers across Japan and America alike. According to an article by Liz Calvario from Yahoo! News, zoo staff offered the stuffed monkey as a replacement immediately, since baby macaques develop muscle by clinging onto their mother. As a result, Punch became (and still is) very attached to his stuffed animal, dragging it around with him everywhere, cuddling it during nap time.
According to the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, only 1-3% of baby macaques are abandoned after birth, largely due to factors like environmental stress or inexperience on the mother’s part. Punch’s mother was a primipara—meaning that Punch was her first child—so his abandonment may have been partly due to this unfortunate factor as well.
Punch was relocated to a different enclosure, where he was bullied by older macaques, who hit him and dragged him in large circles. According to specialists, Punch was still likely to face these challenges even with his mother’s presence due to the intricacies of monkey social hierarchies, but even still: these videos sparked even more outrage and pity across the globe.
“How in the world is this good news, Emi?” you may be asking. And yes, I concede that this baby monkey’s plight certainly warrants misty eyes. But zoo specialists ensure that the “bullying” of the macaques are only part of the normal socialization process, and Punch has shown outstanding “resilience and mental strength” through his ordeal. Just like Punch, in these trying times, we must cling to our stuffed orangutans and try to keep hope. Just as I’m sure of Punch’s eventual integration into primate social life, I’m sure that all the bad news surrounding us right now will pass. But, then again, I think we could all use a stuffed orangutan to cling to.