My daughter who is 11 years old has autism and struggles to communicate verbal she has learnt away of getting her voice out there though. She writes books that have been published and won awards for. She also writes a journalist column for East Anglia Bylines. My daughter is the one who is doing this campaign.

A video of a monkey called Punch hugging a teddy in a zoo went viral on social media. I wanted to learn more about the Japanese macaque as the zoo enclosure the monkey is in did not look nice.

Punch the monkey was born in the zoo July 2025 but his mum abandoned him. To help, the zookeepers gave him an orangutan teddy. This teddy has become a comfort to Punch. On the videos Punch is seen carrying the teddy around, sleeping with it and playing with it. On videos, Punch has been seen being hugged by one of the other monkeys but quite a few times he is being attacked. He then goes back to his teddy for comfort. People are now travelling to the zoo to pay to see Punch with lots of videos on social media of him.

Punch has touched my heart with his teddy, as it is like my Elsa teddy that I carry everywhere with me for comfort. I am, however, more worried about the enclosure he is in, not just for him but for the other monkeys with him.

What life should look like for Japanese macaques in the wild

Japanese macaques live in mountains with trees, hot springs and forests. They love to go into the hot springs, and they are playful and clever monkeys. They have short stump tails and pinkish faces and bums. They are the most northern living primates.

They love to eat fruit, seeds, bark, leaves, insects and sometimes soil. All of this food they forage for.

In all of the photos and videos of the enclosure at the zoo, it is just covered in concrete all around. There is some water, but it does not look hot, and none of the monkeys are going into it to sit, how they would do in the wild. There are no trees in any of the enclosures for the monkeys to climb in or sleep in.

There are metal chains and metal hoops on the floor of the enclosures. When it comes to the food, the keepers bring it in a bucket and just scatter it by throwing in on the floor. The food looks like just seeds and lettuce leaves. No fruit has been seen on any of the videos and the food does not get hidden for the monkeys to go and forage for it like they would do in the wild.

I ask for people to sign this petition to help Punch and his friends. They have no voice so we can be their voice and give them the best life they deserve.