Expert reveals what will happen if monkey Punch keeps being rejected and I can’t take this

Everyone’s favourite viral monkey Punch still isn’t integrating with the rest of the group, and an animal expert has devastatingly revealed what will happen if he doesn’t socialise soon. I’m crying already.

The baby Japanese macaque went viral a few weeks ago after the Ichikawa City Zoo near Tokyo, where he lives, shared an adorable photo of the monkey with an organgutan teddy. They gave him the plushie to comfort him because he had been abandoned by his mother, and wasn’t socialising with the rest of the group. So, he was raised by staff at the zoo instead.

In a new update, the Ichikawa City Zoo revealed that Punch still isn’t a “member of the troop,” which is really bad news according to this scientist. Dr Emily Bethell, Associate Professor in Primate Cognition and Welfare at Liverpool John Moores University, told the Daily Mail if Punch the monkey doesn’t integrate soon, he won’t learn the skills he needs to survive as an adult.

“Having been abandoned by his mother and the social group more broadly, he has missed key developmental opportunities to learn appropriate social behaviours that would help him to navigate the hierarchical social world of macaques,” she explained. “At six months old a wild macaque would still be somewhat reliant on the mother for comfort, nutrition and opportunities to learn about social behaviour.

Credit: Ichikawa City Zoo/Twitter

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“What is key at this stage is that he has the opportunity to interact with conspecifics to develop species–typical social skills. If he is raised mostly by keepers, and his interactions are mostly with humans, he may never learn the necessary skills to integrate into a social group fully.”

So, this social isolation is going to have a long-term psychological effect for the little snow monkey. In the worst case, he might not survive at an adult. I can’t take this. However, it’s not all bad news. Because he’s a male, that works in his favour.

“Japanese macaques are female–bonded and males typicaly migrate out of the social group at sexual maturity,” Dr Bethell said. “There is evidence that mothers may invest more in raising daughters since they will stay in the natal group. He may therefore be moved to a new social group when he gets older and have an opportunity to forge new social relationships.” There’s still some hope.

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Credit: Ichikawa City Zoo/Twitter