Zoo caring for Punch the monkey responds to claims he’s constantly ‘being bullied’

The Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Garden in Japan, home to the viral baby monkey Punch who was abandoned at birth, have publicly addressed claims that the Macaque is constantly ‘being bullied’ in a new statement.

In a post shared on X on Tuesday, March 10, officials downplayed the concerns raised by fans and insisted that they had no plans to intervene in the behaviour shown towards him.

The statement opened by referencing a video shared to the zoo's X account last month, which features Punch being dragged along by an adult monkey, who is believed to be the mother of an ‘annoyed monkey’ that he tried to interact with.

"Although Punch has been scolded many times by other monkeys, no single monkey has shown serious aggression toward him,” the Zoo previously explained.

"When you observe these disciplinary behaviors from other troop members toward Punch when he tries to communicate with them, we would like you to support Punch's effort rather than feel sorry for him.”

However, despite their insistence that there was no ‘serious aggression’ involved, users had been inundating the zoo with their concerns that the young primate was being ‘bullied’.

This prompted the zoo to explain in it’s latest statement that Punch and other Japanese macaques ‘follow a strict hierarchical society, and dominant individuals show 'disciplining actions' toward their subordinates.’

"These behaviors differ from human 'abuses,' " the zoo wrote.

While the viral footage has painted Punch’s experience in a negative light, the zoo also went on to claim that it was a mere snapshot out of an otherwise largely positive and ‘peaceful’ daily experience for the monkey.

"The number of monkeys who look after or play with Punch is also increasing. Because of this, the time Punch spends away from his stuffed toy has increased," the statement continued.

It did however concede that some of the monkeys that had been accused of targeting Punch has been temporarily removed from the enclosure on March 8.

The zoo also went on to explain that a team of three vets checked on the animals daily and there were currently no signs of injury that would endanger Punch’s life.

"At this time, there has been no evidence that Punch has been attacked in a way that would threaten his survival. Furthermore, we have no intention of ignoring the 'discipline' or altering our care in order to attract sympathy from people and thereby increase the number of visitors to our zoo or increase profits," the zoo added.

While it did acknowledge and appreciate the concern and sentiment expressed by members of the public online, the zoo stressed the importance of Punch adjusting to his environment rather than removing him from it.

"Punch has become accustomed to living in this troop, so separating him now would create the risk that he would never be able to return to the group and would have to continue living that way for the rest of his life," the zoo explained.

"We share your concerns about Punch, and all the zookeepers and staff will continue to work together to ensure that Punch can continue to live a healthy life as part of this troop of monkeys," the statement concluded.

Punch was raised by zookeepers for the first few months of his life, after his mother abandoned him shortly after birth in July 2025.

In order to comfort the infant, he was given a stuffed Orangutan plushie to keep him company, with viral photos and video of him cuddling it warming the hearts of millions around the world.