His mother abandoned him as soon as he was born. The troop did not want him nearby either. Punch, a Japanese macaque at Ishikawa Zoo, had to survive clinging to an orangutan plush toy because he had no one else to hold on to.
He turned one year old. He now plays with the rest of the monkeys and it is hard to tell him apart from them, but one thing has not changed: when a new baby arrives in the enclosure, Punch is the first to approach. He cares for it, protects it, and does not let it go through the same thing he experienced.
Takashi Yasunaga, the director of the place, says that Punch continues to draw entire crowds. But what is truly moving is this: no one taught him to care for others. He simply decided that his pain would end with him.
