The internet is obsessed with this abandoned baby monkey and his stuffed animal

dardanvuc1996@gmail.com 2 weeks ago

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The internet is obsessed with this abandoned baby monkey and his stuffed animal

There are certain issues that the internet decides to care about collectively.

This week, a little monkey called Punch.

Punch – or rather, Punch-kun – is a baby macaque at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. Born in July 2025, he was rejected by his mother as a newborn. In the wild, that would mean certain death. At the zoo, where Punch was raised by hand, it meant something else: survival, and replacing the one thing the zookeepers couldn’t provide.

A plush toy.

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In photos and videos that have now gone viral on X and Instagram, Punch rarely lets go of his stuffed orangutan doll. He clings to it while he sleeps. He carried it on his back. When he is scared or frustrated, he presses his face into it, as if he wants to disappear. Unfortunately, some of the monkeys in the enclosure haven’t taken to Punch as warmly as the Internet, although they are making some strides.

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The images are almost unbearably soft. And online, people are responding in kind with posts, support, and fan art for little Punch-kun and his stuffed toy.

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Although little Punch has captured the hearts of the Internet, according to the social media accounts of Ichikawa City Zoo, he is slowly being accepted by other monkeys.

“He is trained, teased, scolded, and has all kinds of experiences every day, slowly learning to live like a monkey in the army!” the zoo was sent on Feb. 6. And his popularity in Japan is only growing, as hundreds of tourists flock to Ichikawa City to see Punch and his stuffed orangutan (also known as Oran Mama).

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If you can’t get enough of Punch, you can follow the hashtag #ががばれパンチ, which roughly translates to “#HangInTherePunch,” for more updates on this little guy.

But Punch’s story is easy to understand without translation. In her small arms wrapped around a stuffed animal, people see something that belongs to them – and a chance that she, like them, will be okay.