#zoo-management

#zoo-management

Helping Punch learn the rules of monkey society and being accepted as a member is our most important task. When he grows out of the plush toy that encourages his independence, and that's what we are hoping for. Punch still sleeps with his toy every night, but the next thing keepers want to see is Punch bunched up with other monkeys to sleep.

I expect Punch will be under careful observation by the keepers, and it sounds like they are trying various approaches to find a way to keep Punch in the group, which is best practice. If it looks like he is at risk of physical harm he would be removed from the group. As macaques are highly social intelligent primates this would be the last resort, only if he were deemed to be at risk of physical harm.

The zoo is suffering from budget restraints, but the only way of raising revenue would be to raise prices. The L.A. Zoo is operated on a different level.