Learning from Punch: How experts help abandoned baby animals get back on their feet

In some cases, stuffed animals are used by experts to provide comfort and warmth to baby animals. Read more at straitstimes.com.

SINGAPORE – Punch, the baby monkey in a Japanese zoo, has captured hearts all over the world with his adoration for a stuffed orang utan toy after he was abandoned by his mother. 

But abandonment cases like his are not unusual in zoos or in the wild, and can happen due to factors such as environmental stress and parents’ inexperience, experts told The Straits Times.

In some cases, rehabilitation of these young animals also involves the use of stuffed animals. 

Wildlife rescue group Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) uses them to provide baby animals, such as birds and common palm civets, with warmth.

“The stuffed toys also help to keep them calm because they may think it is their mum,” said ACRES chief executive Kalaivanan Balakrishnan.

Meanwhile, zookeepers at Mandai Wildlife Group also use tools such as plush toys and blankets with hot water bottles to reduce stress, provide sensory stimulation and mimic aspects of maternal care such as warmth or tactile comfort, said Dr Cheng Wen-Haur, deputy chief executive of life sciences at Mandai Wildlife Group.