Punch, the deserted child macaque at Ichikawa Metropolis Zoo in Japan, stole the hearts of many after a video confirmed him dragging a stuffed orangutan round his enclosure.
The child monkey was deserted by his mom at delivery and raised by zoo employees, in keeping with the zoo’s web site. The stuffed animal was given to Punch to function a surrogate mom and supply consolation for the now seven-month-old macaque.
Extra not too long ago, a video taken by TikTok consumer @tate_punch exhibits the monkey being dragged throughout the bottom by a bigger macaque on Thursday. After the interplay, Punch ran to his plushie and hugged it whereas a number of different macaques got here to test on him.
This photograph taken on February 19, 2026 exhibits a 7 month-old male macaque monkey named Punch, who was deserted by his mom shortly after delivery, spending time with a stuffed orangutan toy at Ichikawa Metropolis Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Chiba Prefecture.
JIJI PRESS / AFP by way of Getty Photographs
After the footage circulated on-line, the Ichikawa Metropolis Zoo stated in a press release on Friday that when Punch approached one other child monkey from the troop in an try to speak, the opposite child monkey prevented him.
When Punch sat down and gave up making an attempt to play with the monkey, he was “scolded and dragged by an grownup monkey,” the zoo stated.
Get day by day Nationwide information
Get the day’s prime information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
“The grownup monkey that dragged Punch might be the mom of the monkey with whom Punch tried to speak. She in all probability felt that her child was irritated by Punch and bought upset, expressing ‘don’t be imply,’” the assertion continued.
The zoo stated Punch has been “scolded by different monkeys many instances previously and has discovered learn how to socialize with them.”
“Within the video, Punch runs to his stuffed orangutan toy after being dragged. Nevertheless, as normal, he left the stuffed toy after a short time and was speaking with different monkeys,” the assertion continued. “The video was in all probability recorded on the morning of February 19. Throughout feeding time at 12 p.m. and three p.m., Punch acted no otherwise than on some other day.”
The zoo stated that to be able to combine Punch into the opposite Japanese monkey troops, they anticipated that this type of problem would possibly come up.
“Though Punch has been scolded many instances by different monkeys, no single monkey has proven severe aggression in direction of him,” the zoo stated.
“Whereas Punch is scolded, he exhibits resilience and psychological energy. If you observe these disciplinary behaviors from different troop members towards Punch when he tries to speak with them, we want you to help Punch’s effort fairly than really feel sorry for him.”
Punch was born on July 26, 2025 and has been dwelling with the troop since Jan. 19, in keeping with a submit on X from the zoo.
© 2026 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
