The tragedy of Punch the monkey: why do mother animals abandon their offspring?

Punch is seen with a stuffed animal at a zoo in Japan after he was abandoned by his mother at birth. Photograph: David Mareuil/Anadolu/Getty Images

A baby monkey in Japan has captured hearts around the world after videos of him being bullied by other monkeys and rejected by his mother went viral last week.

Punch, a Japanese macaque, was born last July at Ichikawa zoo. He has drawn international attention after zookeepers gave him a stuffed orangutan toy after he was abandoned by his mother.