Sensational baby monkey attracts more than average visitors to Japanese zoo
Punch has gone viral on social media after videos showed him dragging, clinging to his stuffed monkey toy
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ISTANBUL
Baby monkey Punch is making a global splash and drawing more and more visitors to a Japanese zoo, state broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday.
On Thursday morning, the zoo drew more than four times its usual number of visitors, around 900 people, thanks to Punch.
Punch was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth in July last year at Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba prefecture.
He was raised by zookeepers through bottle-feeding and was given a stuffed orangutan as a surrogate to cling to, with which he appears to have formed an emotional bond.
Since being introduced to the zoo’s monkey mountain enclosure on Jan. 19, his habit of dragging the stuffed animal around and clinging to it has wrenched the hearts of many netizens, turning him into a popular attraction.
Videos of Punch went viral on social media, drawing many comments expressing heartbreak and sympathy over his situation.
Recently, he has been seen making greater efforts to approach and interact with other monkeys.
According to zoo officials, monkeys raised separately by humans often face difficulty in integrating with other monkeys, which may show hostility.
