Punch Monkeys: Viral monkey Punch rejected by mother given stuffed orangutan (punch monkeys)

Punch monkeys have become a headline as Punch, a young Japanese macaque at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan, went viral after videos showed him dragging around and playing with a soft toy zookeepers gave him. The abandoned baby monkey had broken millions of hearts online after being spotted hugging an orangutan stuffed toy that served as a substitute for his mother, and has finally found comfort among his own kind.

Punch Monkeys: From toy to troop

Punch, the young Japanese macaque at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan, was given a stuffed orangutan as a substitute for his mother. For the first few months of his life he struggled to bond with the other monkeys in his zoo's enclosure and had only the company of his human keepers and the stuffed toy to rely on. Videos of him dragging around and playing with the soft toy helped him break millions of hearts online and made him a viral figure.

Ichikawa City Zoo details

The zoo's enclosure is where Punch initially failed to bond with the group, and the soft toy was supplied by zookeepers to provide comfort when he was rejected by his mother. The sequence of events moved from abandonment to bonding with the toy and then to gradual acceptance by other monkeys in the enclosure.

Early struggles and human care

During the first few months of his life Punch relied on human keepers and the stuffed toy. That human care was central while he struggled to form social ties with the other macaques in the zoo's enclosure. The soft toy functioned as a stand-in for his mother until interactions with troop members began to change.

Signs of social progress

Recent videos show Punch turning things around: he was given a hug by one monkey and was seen grooming others, a key part of macaque socialisation. Grooming is highlighted in the footage as a pivotal behaviour that indicates increasing acceptance within the group and the beginning of the friendships that primates build within their troop.

Expert comment from Matt Lovatt

Matt Lovatt, director for the UK's Trentham Monkey Forest, spoke to Breakfast about the behaviour of Punch. "It's been great to see him starting to groom, because that's the key way these primates can start to build up friendships with the monkeys within their group", said Lovatt, who oversees the well-being of the Barbary macaques at a wildlife sanctuary near Stoke-on-Trent.

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Closing: Punch's path from an abandoned infant clutching a stuffed orangutan to being hugged and groomed by troop members maps a clear sequence: abandonment and reliance on a soft toy, human keeper support, viral attention online, then gradual social integration signalled by hugging and grooming within the Ichikawa City Zoo enclosure. Matt Lovatt called the grooming an important step for building friendships among macaques, and the footage and related videos document each stage of that progression.