Punch, the abandoned baby Macaques at the Ichikawa City Zoo in JapanHe captured the hearts of many after a video showed him dragging a stuffed orangutan around his enclosure.
The baby Ape According to information, he was abandoned by his mother at birth and raised by the zoo staff the zoo’s website. The stuffed animal was given to Punch to serve as a surrogate mother and provide comfort to the now seven-month-old macaque.
Recently, a video captured by TikTok user @tate_punch shows the monkey being dragged along the ground by a larger macaque on Thursday. After the interaction, Punch ran over to his stuffed animal and hugged it while a few other macaques came to check on him.
This photo taken on February 19, 2026 shows a 7-month-old male macaque monkey named Punch, abandoned by his mother shortly after birth, spending time with a stuffed orangutan toy at the Ichikawa City Zoo and Botanical Garden in Chiba Prefecture.
JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images
After the footage was shared online, the Ichikawa City Zoo opened said in a statement When Punch approached another baby monkey in the troop to communicate on Friday, the other baby monkey avoided him.
When Punch sat down and stopped playing with the monkey, he was “snubbed and dragged by an adult monkey,” the zoo said.
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“The adult monkey who dragged Punch is likely the mother of the monkey with whom Punch was trying to communicate. She likely felt that her baby was annoyed by Punch and became upset and said, ‘Don’t be mean,'” the statement continued.
The zoo said Punch “has often been scolded by other monkeys in the past and has learned to socialize with them.”
“In the video, Punch runs to his stuffed orangutan toy after being dragged. However, as usual, he left the stuffed toy after a short while and communicated with other monkeys,” the statement continued. “The video was likely taken on the morning of February 19th. During feeding times at 12pm and 3pm, Punch behaved no differently than any other day.”
The zoo said it expected such a challenge to integrate Punch into the other Japanese monkey troops.
“Although Punch was insulted many times by other monkeys, not a single monkey showed serious aggression toward him,” the zoo said.
“While Punch is being scolded, he shows resilience and mental strength. If you observe this disciplinary behavior from other troop members towards Punch when he tries to communicate with them, we want you to support Punch’s efforts instead of feeling sorry for him.”
Punch was born on July 26, 2025 and has been living with the force since January 19, according to information a post on X from the zoo.
&Copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
