On the last few days we have been asked about Punch the mon­key, who as you know has gone viral in the last few weeks.

Punch is a baby Japa­ne­se maca­que that couldn’t be brought up by its mum, and who as far as we know (without kno­wing all the details) was rai­sed by the team of carers and vete­ri­na­ries of Ichi­ka­wa Zoo, in Japan.

At the time of rein­tro­du­cing him to the group of pri­ma­tes he belongs to it is nor­mal to have ten­se moments, pro­gress is not as linear or as easy as the media and cer­tain films por­tray, which is why up to an extent, it is com­mon for steps back and aggres­sions to occur and it must be moni­to­red at all times.

This is a tech­ni­que that is prac­ti­sed in any zoo­lo­gi­cal ins­ti­tu­tion, also in pri­ma­te sanc­tua­ries, for exam­ple when a new ani­mal needs to be intro­du­ced to an exis­ting group and comes from the pet tra­de or from being con­fis­ca­ted by the authorities.

The size of the plush toy could be impro­ved, as it is very lar­ge, the same fun­ction could be ful­fi­lled by a pie­ce of blanket.

We hope Punch suc­ceeds in his inte­gra­tion with the family of pri­ma­tes soon and that he no lon­ger wishes to cling to the plush, but to his conspecifics.