Streamer and conservationist Maya Higa has addressed viral clips showing adult monkeys dragging and throwing Punch, the baby macaque who captured the internet’s attention after bonding with a stuffed toy.
Punch, a Japanese macaque born at Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan, was rejected by his mother shortly after birth in July 2025 and hand-raised by keepers. He later went viral after photos showed him clinging to a plush orangutan for comfort.
Now that he is being introduced to a troop of macaques, some videos show adult monkeys grabbing and dragging him, prompting concern from some who believe he is being attacked.
Speaking on stream, Higa, who runs the Alveus Sanctuary in Texas, said she does not have full context on the specific incident but explained that the behavior seen in the clips is typical of primate social dynamics.
“I don’t actually have all the context on what’s going on with that monkey. But, essentially, it seems like he was hand-reared by people, and they’re integrating him into a group of adult monkeys. And there’s a bunch of clips going around of him getting thrown around by adult monkeys.
“If those adult monkeys wanted to hurt him, it would be much, much worse. Primates are very physical, in good and bad ways.”
Higa added that introducing a new primate into an established group often involves conflict as hierarchies are established.
“They can be really, really aggressive with each other. They have arms, and so they do throw each other around and they do fight – a lot. Integrating a primate into a group of primates, and they have very complex social dynamics, introducing a new one is not going to be simple.
“It looks very sad, and it is sad because he’s just a little baby, and he can’t defend himself. But it is just a part of primate behavior. And if those adult monkeys, again, if they wanted to hurt him, they would.”
Meta Director of AI Safety Allows AI Agent to Accidentally Delete Her Inbox