- Title: Punch captures hearts as Japan's wild snow monkeys face culling
- Date: 10th March 2026
- Summary: AZUMINO, NAGANO PREFECTURE, JAPAN (MARCH 2, 2026) (REUTERS) WILD JAPANESE MACAQUES ON FOOTPATH MACAQUE ON TREE VARIOUS OF APPLE FARMER AND CONSERVATIONIST, TAKUMI MATSUDA, TAKING PHOTOS OF MACAQUE MATSUDA AND PRIMATOLOGIST, TAKAYO SOMA, TALKING / MONKEY RUNNING PAST MATSUDA WATCHING MONKEYS MACAQUE ON TREE SOUNDBITE (Japanese) APPLE FARMER, TAKUMI MATSUDA, SAYING: “A lot
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Ichikawa Japan Nagano Punch Punch-kun culling farming macaque monkey nature pests plushie zoo
- Location: AZUMINO, NAGANO PREFECTURE, ICHIKAWA, CHIBA PREFECTURE, JAPAN
- City: AZUMINO, NAGANO PREFECTURE, ICHIKAWA, CHIBA PREFECTURE, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Environment,Nature/Wildlife
- Reuters ID: LVA001146206032026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Punch the baby Japanese macaque became an internet star when images of him clinging to a stuffed orangutan toy for comfort at a zoo near Tokyo went viral.
But while Punch captured hearts worldwide, his fellow Japanese macaques are seen as pests by many in Japan's rural areas for stealing food and damaging crops.
Apple farmer Takumi Matsuda is unusual among Japan's agriculturalists: he loves the country's famous snow monkeys. He's amassed a following on Instagram by sharing the photos and videos he takes of the wild primates in the mountains of Nagano prefecture.
“A lot of people only know about the Japanese macaques in zoos. They rarely get to go and see them in the wild. I think that’s where this difference in point of view comes from. So I really hope that Punch will be a starting point for a lot more people to go and see real Japanese macaques living in the wild.” Matsuda said.
Matsuda's mentor, Kyoto University primatologist Takayo Soma, agrees that the reality for the species is very different to the image that videos of Punch portray.
"While we are truly grateful that Punch is so adorable and helps people love Japanese macaques, the reality is that within Japan, various monkeys cause damage to agricultural work, and many monkeys are captured and killed," said Kyoto University primatologist, Takayo Soma.
Video taken by Matsuda last year shows the reality: a macaque mother and baby caught in a trap in Azumino, Nagano prefecture. While the mother was later released, the baby died after the pair spent a week inside the trap, Matsuda said.
"Of course it's important to put countermeasures in place to prevent damage, but it is not very scientific to, for example, decide to cull a certain number of monkeys without proper justification. I don't believe that's an effective measure," Soma said.
Matsuda says the apple farm he works on hasn't suffered crop damage from monkeys as it's far enough away from the mountainsides they inhabit, but he understands both farmers' concerns and the roles humans play in causing the issue.
“It can hurt your livelihood when monkeys eat your valuable crops. It’s not that people hate the monkeys, but they harbour those kinds of feelings towards them when they think about their livelihoods becoming impossible," he said.
Japan's agriculture ministry estimates that wild monkeys caused 770 million yen ($4.86 million) worth of damage in 2024. Over 20,000 are culled annually in an attempt to curb the losses, although some experts say non-lethal measures like electric fences are more effective as culling one troop of macaques creates a niche for another troop to move into.
Another method is the monkey dog - pet dogs trained to respond to, and chase, wild monkeys.
"If there are monkeys around, she can tell from the scent. From the scent and from the sound of their calls. So we say, 'monkey, monkey!' and release her, she's there in no time," said dog trainer Takahiro Isomoto. "We can cover the whole mountain, although it's hard going for humans."
Isomoto agrees that keeping wild monkeys and humans apart is best for both, but he believes lethal methods are wrong to use in cases where the animals are simply adapting to an environment shaped by people.
"Using monkey dogs is one approach, and using monkey traps is another. Clearing the forest is one method, establishing buffer zones is another, and installing electric fences is yet another. The point is, how do we coexist with them? I don't think humans can just resort to killing them without putting in a bit of effort," he said.
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