"The internet has fallen in love with Punch, the 7-month-old macaque who clings to a stuffed animal for comfort. So when a video (since deleted) surfaced showing him being dragged across the ground by another monkey inside his enclosure at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan, people online panicked. Clips spread rapidly across social media this week, with viewers accusing the other monkeys of abusing him. People demanded answers. Some accused the zoo of negligence. Others declared the other monkeys bullies."
"In a statement published to X on Feb. 20, first in Japanese and then translated to English, the Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Gardens addressed the viral video directly. Zoo keepers said Punch had approached another baby monkey in an attempt to interact. The baby avoided him. An adult monkey - likely the baby's mother - then intervened, dragging Punch away. The behavior may look harsh to human eyes. But for macaques, it's part of establishing boundaries."
The internet reacted strongly to footage of Punch, a 7-month-old macaque who clings to a stuffed animal, appearing to be dragged by another monkey inside a zoo enclosure. Social media users accused other monkeys of bullying and criticized zoo care. Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Gardens clarified that the interaction was socialization rather than cruelty. Keepers reported that Punch approached a baby monkey, who avoided him, prompting an adult—likely the infant's mother—to intervene and drag Punch away. Keepers explained that such behavior constitutes discipline and boundary-setting among macaques, even if it appears harsh to human observers.
Read at Mashable
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