Animal rights group PETA has criticised the treatment of a young Japanese macaque whose videos of clinging to a stuffed orangutan toy captivated people worldwide, arguing that it was evidence of “the cruelty of zoos”.
The macaque, named Punch, went viral earlier this month after videos showed him dragging around and playing with a plush toy that keepers at the Ichikawa City Zoo had given him for comfort.
Rejected by his mother soon after birth last July, Punch was hand-reared by the zoo staff. They also got him the toy, which online followers later dubbed “Ora-mama”, and it came to be a near-constant presence at his side.
Footage of the infant monkey prompted an outpouring of sympathy and the hashtag “keep going, Punch” as viewers around the world followed his progress.
In a statement, PETA strongly criticised what people had described as “cute” and “heart-warming”, saying it instead showed an animal coping with “isolation and loss”.
“Zoos are not sanctuaries,” Jason Baker, the Asia president for PETA, noted, “they are places where animals are confined, deprived of autonomy, and denied the complex environments and social lives they would have in the wild.”
“Like all macaques, Punch should be growing up in a tight-knit family group, learning vital social skills and exploring a rich, natural habitat – not seeking solace from a toy in a concrete pit.”
Kosuke Shikano, one of Punch’s keepers, had said of his bond with the toy: “The stuffed animal’s fur made it easy to grab, and its appearance is also similar to a monkey, which likely provided a sense of security. The stuffed animal was a surrogate mother.”
Over a long holiday weekend, more than 5,000 people visited the zoo, with many queuing for up to an hour to see the animal. IKEA Japan reportedly donated several stuffed toys to the zoo during its president Petra Fare’s recent visit.
The IKEA toy, which is similar to Punch’s, is a bestseller now, either sold out or low in stock in stores worldwide.
Baker noted that animals in zoos had gone viral previously, like Moo Deng the pygmy hippo. While “public fascination quickly fades”, he added, the animal remains in the zoo for life.
“Internet fame does not change the reality of captivity. It only fuels a cycle in which facilities breed and display babies to drive ticket sales, while the animals pay the lifelong price.”
He called on the zoo to do right by Punch and send him to a reputable sanctuary “where he could live in a more natural environment with space, privacy, and the chance to form appropriate social bonds”.
Three men hospitalised after crowd crush at Japan’s 500-year-old ‘naked festival’
Japan demands quick release of its national detained in Iran
World’s tallest broadcasting tower closed after 20 people trapped in lift for 5 hours
Abandoned by his mother, baby monkey Punch wins hearts online with plush toy
Three people stabbed at Japan library as police arrest 61-year-old suspect
Anonymous donor gives Japanese city £2.7m in gold bars to repair water system
