Punch, the viral baby macaque, recently had a laser pointer aimed at him by a visitor, prompting his zookeepers to speak out about the harm such acts could cause to the animal.
The Ichikawa City Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Chiba Prefecture said Thursday that it received a call the previous morning about a YouTube video posted within the past week showing someone shining a laser on Punch and around him.
¡°It¡¯s unacceptable,¡± said Takashi Yasunaga, who is in charge of the city¡¯s zoo division.
Pointing a laser at a monkey or other animal will cause it a great amount of stress, Yasunaga said, adding that it could also result in blindness if aimed at the eyes for a long period of time.
Anyone caught engaging in such behavior will be expelled from the zoo immediately, he said.
Zoo officials said no harm has come to Punch and the other monkeys. As a precaution, security guards are patrolling the area, they said.
The incident follows a case in May in which two Americans were arrested?after one of them entered the monkey enclosure while the other one recorded a video.
Punch, who was abandoned by his mother, became a social media sensation earlier this year after visitors shared videos of him wandering his enclosure clutching a stuffed orangutan toy to cope with loneliness.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.