🐵 An orphaned Japanese monkey still seems be bullied.🐒

　According to a news report on television last night, Mr. Punch, an orphaned Japanese monkey (belonging to the monkey enclosure at Ichikawa Municipal Zoological and Botanical Garden), has finally managed to separate from his orangutan (stuffed toy), and the orangutan is already gone. 

 This might have been a bit disappointing for IKEA.

 However, the disadvantage of Mr. Punch's birth as an orphan remains unchanged, and he is still frequently bullied by other young male monkeys.

 In Japanese macaque society, it is normal for an orphan, an outsider abandoned by their parents, to be ostracized and become a target of bullying. It is also normal for those with higher status and power to bully and dominate those below them within the strict hierarchical structure of their society. Otherwise, Japanese macaque society could not function.

 The news of a baby Japanese macaque being bullied is being reported daily on prime-time news programs, even receiving special coverage, creating a nationwide uproar—a truly bizarre social phenomenon.

 One theory suggests that, due to the Chinese government's dictator's orders to seize pandas, a replacement idol (advertising figurehead) for the zoo was needed. The "pitiful orphaned baby Japanese macaque" appeared as the convenient candidate, becoming a huge sensation.

 Now, tourists from all over the world come to Ichikawa Municipal Zoo to see the orphaned Japanese macaque. For the Zoo, Mr. Punch has become a cash cow. The Zoo must be extremely grateful to the Chinese government's dictator.

 It's truly heartbreaking to see Japanese people who see the orphaned macaque at the zoo sympathize with it, empathize with it, desperately support it, and post videos and photos on YouTube and Instagram daily. It's a truly strange phenomenon. 

 Am I the only Japanese person who thinks, "Isn't this something you guys have been doing every day since the beginning of your lives, whether at school or work, out of your own free will？ Why would you need to pay money to go to the zoo and look at it？"