Fans flock to see Punch the infant monkey who turned Japanese social media star for turning to orangutan toy for consolation after being deserted by his mom
Fans have flocked to see a baby monkey who went viral on social media when he turned to an orangutan toy for comfort after his mother abandoned him.
Six-month-old Punch the monkey, who lives in a Japanese zoo, shot to social media fame when heart-melting pictures emerged of him cuddling a plush toy monkey following his mother’s desertion of him shortly after birth.
Since then, the trending hashtag #HangInTherePunch has brought hundreds of visitors to Ichikawa City Zoo, near Tokyo, where zookeepers have reported the baby macaque is now making progress integrating with the other monkeys.
On Friday, more than 100 visitors gathered around the zoo’s monkey enclosure, straining to take photos and shouting ‘hang in there!’ as Punch tried to approach others in the troop.
Sayaka Takimoto, 32, drove two hours with her husband to see the monkey. She said: ‘We’re here since this morning. We rarely come to a zoo but we wanted to see cute Punch.
The couple said they found social media posts of Punch carrying around the soft toy ‘adorable’.
Yoko, 50, said: ‘He’s so cute, so I had to come see him. I studied his pictures in advance so that I could recognise him.’
‘It makes me a little sad he’s growing so fast, but I’m relieved to see he’s making friends.’
Six-month-old Punch the monkey, who lives in a Japanese zoo, has shot to fame on social media
Heart-melting pictures show him cuddling a plush toy monkey following his mother’s desertion of him shortly after birth
The hashtag #HangInTherePunch has brought hundreds of visitors to Ichikawa City Zoo, near Tokyo
Other clips show Punch clinging tightly to the stuffed orangutan for comfort
The tiny primate was born in July 2025 but was rejected by his mother shortly after birth
Because infant monkeys instinctively cling to their mothers from birth, staff offered Punch blankets and soft toys to ease his anxiety. He quickly chose the plush orangutan and has barely let go since
On Friday, more than 100 visitors gathered around the zoo’s monkey enclosure, straining to take photos and shouting ‘hang in there!’ as Punch tried to approach others in the troop
Another adorable picture shows Punch laying on his best friend
Punch melted hearts worldwide when footage of him clinging forlornly to zookeepers and dragging around a stuffed orangutan toy was widely shared on X.
Punch’s mother, likely due to it being her first litter or from reduced stamina from the summer heat, showed no interest in caring for her young, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported.
Japanese baby macaques cling to their mothers to feel safe and to build up their muscles.
The zoo looked for an alternative, such as a towel or different soft toy, but Punch chose the long-legged orangutan.
‘It was easy for him to grab,’ a zookeeper told Fuji TV. ‘Maybe he also liked (that) it looked like a monkey.’
The baby monkey was raised in an artificial environment after being born in July, and began training to rejoin his troop last month.
His situation began looking up this month when zookeepers at Ichikawa City Zoo, near Tokyo, posted that he was gradually integrating, including ‘playfully poking others and getting scolded’.
Some fans, however, were worried by a widely shared video showing Punch being dragged by an adult monkey.
The zoo issued a statement on Friday asking them to ‘support Punch’s efforts’ to socialise as his troop has not shown any serious aggression.
‘While Punch is scolded (by other monkeys), he shows mental strength and resilience,’ it said.
