LINK: punch(ed)
IDK if anyone else went down the rabbit hole with this little baby Japanese macaque monkey, Punch… but he’s got the world in a chokehold. He was abandoned by his mother from the get go and the zoo staff stepped in provided him with an Ikea orangutan plushie. They call it “ora-mama” and the seven month old baby carries it everywhere, dragging it across the enclosure and hugging it when he needs comfort.
There are so many YouTube videos of him being bullied by the older macaques. They push him away, chase him, and yank him around. Every time he gets hassled, Punch runs away and scoops up ora-mama and clings to it with his whole body. It just saddens me to the point where I nearly got teary eyed when showing my mom the videos of Punch.
I’ve said it before but I am NOT a maternal person… however, something about this little rejected monkey hit different. If I could, I would book a flight to Japan and take him home with me and be his human mother. Le sigh. And I don’t even like monkeys…
At least there’s good news as of late. He’s slowly making friends and the troop is warming up to him. I’m cautiously optimistic that one day he’ll feel truly at home and will live his best little monkey life ever.
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