A hand-raised Japanese snow monkey highlights global warming in wildlife

A baby monkey named Punch at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba Prefecture attracted global attention after a visitor filmed him being pulled by an adult woman in February 2026, and the video went viral. But behind the film there is a long story that raises questions about captivity, climate change and their effect on Japanese macaques.

Punch, a Japanese macaque – also known as a snow monkey – was born on July 26, 2025 at the Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Garden in Chiba Prefecture, but his mother did not care for him and the caretakers began raising him by hand the next day.

As a representative to stick with, the keepers provided a soft orangutan toy commonly called “Oran-Mama.”

For a baby macaque, clinging to its mother provides not only warmth and comfort but also the primary platform from which young animals see, imitate and begin to acquire the behavioral patterns of their community. The soft toy provides communication, but not the smell, movement, sound or unexpected response of the live caregiver.

Tetsuro Matsuzawa, former director of the Kyoto University Research Institute and former president of the International Primatological Society, told Anadolu that the zoo had faced a similar situation before.

In June 2008, a newborn female child named Otome was also abandoned and hand-raised after clinging to a blue teddy bear before being slowly returned to the army. According to the Japanese daily newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, when she was nine months old she was accepted by the army, and later she gave birth and is still in the army.

The revival of Punch “progressed in a more or less the same way,” according to Matsuzawa. After being rejected at birth, Punch was introduced first from outside the enclosure, then through the netting of the cage and then into the army starting in January 2026.

The zoo responded to the viral video by clarifying that such interactions are normal in macaque social dynamics.

“Punch has nowhere to go – it cannot be released into the wild, and there is no ‘sanctuary’ available for Japanese macaques,” Matsuzawa said.

However, several questions about the Punch case remain unanswered.

Matsuzawa emphasized that the zoo has not disclosed the identity of Punch’s mother or his birth history. It is also not known what behavior Otome – who is now 18 years old and still part of the army – has shown to Punch, who was raised under similar conditions. Unlike Otome, who had two peers of the same age at the time of the reboot, the number of babies born next to Punch in 2025 has not been announced.

According to Matsuzawa, maternal abandonment is almost non-existent in wild Japanese macaques and wild chimpanzees but occurs more often in captivity, especially among first-time mothers.

Although the zoo has not revealed the identity of the mother, “a first-time mother may stumble in her first attempt at motherhood,” he said.

He pointed to three unifying factors that led to Punch’s abandonment. The first is the inexperience of mothers. The second is the poverty of the captive environment.

“Japanese macaques live in forests, moving freely on the ground and in the trees.” A concrete area without plants, soil, shade or a complex structure is not really compatible with their natural needs – especially under today’s increasing summer heat, “Matsuzawa said, adding that the alopecia seen throughout Ichikawa tends to be stressful.

From 2009 to 2026, there are no structural changes in the closed area, reports Matsuzawa.

He said: “The poverty of the captive environment is something that even dedicated guardians cannot afford.

The third factor is the weather. On July 26, 2025 – the day Punch was born – Ichikawa recorded a high of 33.4C (92.1F) and a low of 27.8C (82F), indicating tropical nighttime conditions associated with a powerful Pacific high pressure system covering a wide area of ​​Kanto.

For a species adapted to the cool forest environment, the concrete’s heat-reflective surface would have created severe heat stress conditions for a first-time mother with a newborn, Matsuzawa said.

He outlined several recommendations for landscaping, including climbing structures on three sides, a patch of natural soil, access to running water, improved shade and planting trees to create a natural canopy.

“Creating natural shade with real plants is important for thermal comfort and mental well-being,” he said.

Climate affects Japan’s captive macaques

The heat of Punch’s story is also supported by field research.

Goro Hanya, a professor at Kyoto University’s Institute for Ecological Research and co-author of a study measuring energy use in wild Japanese macaques, told Anadolu that the species uses 5 to 8 percent more energy in winter than in summer – indicating a long-term adaptation to cold forest conditions.

Heat exposure, however, remains little studied. The thermoneutral zone for captive macaques is between 10C and 30C (50F and 86F). The day Punch was born, the temperature reached 33.4C (92.1F).

“By watching macaques in the wild, it’s clear that temperature is a big factor in their performance,” Hanya said.

He also noted that stress alone increases energy expenditure, suggesting that the thermal and behavioral stresses affecting Punch’s force may be cumulative rather than separate factors.

“Even in a simple captivity, some degree of behavioral thermoregulation is possible,” Hanya said.

In the wild, macaques bask in the sun, huddle and choose microhabitats to regulate temperature – an adaptation shaped more by winter conditions than summer heat. In the unsealed concrete in the 33C sun, the primary protection option – shade – was absent.

“We don’t yet know exactly how Japan’s extremely hot summers affect wild Japanese macaques,” Hanya said.

The forest environment acts as a thermal buffer, making it difficult to see impacts on land. In detention centers without that protection, the consequences may not be visible.

The zoo has recently established a system to accept foreign donations, according to an official announcement published on the company’s US social media.

“If we hope to improve the environment—not only in Ichikawa but possibly in other zoos as well—this may be the right time for people to get involved and help bring about meaningful change,” Matsuzawa said.