By Tom Bateman and Rikako Maruyama
ICHIKAWA, Japan, Feb 20 (Reuters) - At a zoo outside Tokyo, the monkey enclosure has become a must-see attraction thanks to an inseparable pair: Punch, a baby Japanese macaque, and his stuffed orangutan companion.
Punch's mother abandoned the macaque when he was born seven months ago at the Ichikawa City Zoo and when an onlooker noticed and alerted zookeepers, they swung into action.
Japanese baby macaques typically cling to their mothers to build muscle strength and for a sense of security, so Punch needed a swift intervention, zookeeper Kosuke Shikano said.
The keepers experimented with substitutes including rolled-up towels and other stuffed animals before settling on the orange, bug-eyed orangutan, sold by Swedish furniture brand IKEA.
“This stuffed animal has relatively long hair and several easy places to hold," Shikano said. "We thought that its resemblance to a monkey might help Punch integrate back into the troop later on, and that’s why we chose it."
Punch has rarely been seen without it since, dragging the cuddly toy everywhere even though it is bigger than him, and delighting fans who have flocked to the zoo since videos of the two went viral.
“Seeing Punch on social media, abandoned by his parents but still trying so hard, really moved me," said 26-year-old nurse Miyu Igarashi. "So when I got the chance to meet up with a friend today, I suggested we go see Punch together.”
Shikano thinks Punch's mother abandoned him because of the extreme heat in July when she gave birth.
Punch has had some differences with the other monkeys as he has tried to communicate with them, but zookeepers say that is part of the learning process and he is steadily integrating with the troop.
"I think there will come a day when he no longer needs his stuffed toy," Shikano said.
(Reporting by Tom Bateman and Rikako Maruyama, Writing by Hina Suzuki; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Kate Mayberry)
