Punch Monkey: Abandoned macaque at Ichikawa Zoo clings to stuffed toy and wins hearts
The young macaque known online as punch monkey has become a local and digital sensation after zookeepers at Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba Prefecture said he began carrying an orangutan stuffed toy as a surrogate mother following abandonment at birth.
Punch born in July and hand-raised by zookeepers
Punch was born on July 26, 2025, weighing 500 grams, and zookeepers Kosuke Shikano, 24, and Shumpei Miyakoshi, 34, began raising him by hand after his mother showed no signs of caring for him. Shikano has said parental abandonment occurs in a certain percentage of cases and suggested that the burden of a first birth in summer may have been a factor. To help Punch build muscle and social familiarity, staff raised him near the scent and sounds of other monkeys rather than isolating him in an incubator.
Punch Monkey finds comfort in a stuffed orangutan
Because newborn macaques cling to their mother's fur, zookeepers tried rolled-up towels and various stuffed animals; Punch favored an orangutan toy. Shikano explained, "The stuffed animal's fur made it easy to grab, and its appearance is also similar to a monkey, which likely provided a sense of security. " At night, Punch would snuggle with the toy after keepers left for the day, and staff described the stuffed animal as a surrogate mother.
Gradual reintroduction and viral attention in February
Staff gradually increased the time Punch spent on the monkey mountain to acclimate him, and on Jan. 19 he was fully reintroduced to the troop. Visitors captured a photo and video of Punch clutching the stuffed toy a few days after reintroduction, and the zoo's official X account introduced him on Feb. 5; that post was reposted more than 8, 000 times. Between Feb. 5 and Feb. 13, social media analysis tool Meltwater counted 37, 000 posts and reposts using the hashtag #HangInTherePunch, and many users posted emotional responses such as, "Seeing Punch hang in there makes me tear up. "
What the keepers observed after reintroduction
After his return to the monkey mountain, other mother monkeys were initially wary and Punch sometimes found it intimidating to approach the troop, at times unable to let go of his stuffed animal. Keepers noted that in the troop other mothers sometimes take on childcare, but on the day of Punch's birth no such signs appeared; because Punch was healthy, staff separated him temporarily from the troop for hand feeding with milk before the staged reintegration.
Punch's journey from a 500-gram newborn on July 26, 2025, to a 6-month-old macaque carrying a stuffed toy has created a public outpouring of support online and in person at Ichikawa City Zoo. The zoo introduced him on X on Feb. 5, and his full reintroduction to the troop occurred on Jan. 19; those two milestones frame the recent attention and the ongoing observations of his interactions with other monkeys.
