How S’pore experts help abandoned baby animals get back on their feet

Punch, the baby monkey in a Japanese zoo, has captured hearts all over the world with his adoration for a stuffed orangutan toy after he was abandoned by his mother. In Punch’s case, Japanese macaque mothers may occasionally abandon their young due to reasons such as inexperience in caring for their first baby, or abnormality in the offspring, said primate expert Michael Gumert from NTU’s School of Social Sciences. “Speaking humanely, it’s a terrible thing from our perspective. But in wild animals, a parent trying to care for a youngster they cannot care for, may not only lead to a dead offspring, but could also lead to the parents’ own early death, and even the loss of other offspring,” he said.

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