There is a new main character on the internet\u2026 and his name is Punch. The sweet story of a rejected macaque who found a friend in a stuffed animal is teaching people online a lesson in resilience.<\/p>\n
Punch, known as Punch-kun in Japan, was born in July 2025 at Japan\u2019s Ichikawa City Zoo<\/a>. Unfortunately for the baby macaque, Punch was rejected by his mother and her group of monkey friends shortly after birth\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a problem, as macaques tend to stay very close to their mothers<\/a> when young.<\/p>\n Seeing poor Punch all by himself without any other macaques to show him the ropes, the zookeepers stepped up to care for the little one, even feeding the monkey by hand. They also gifted him an orange orangutan doll<\/a>, from IKEA, to act as his companion. Punch proceeded to carry that orangutan \u2014 nicknamed \u201cOra-mama,\u201d per the Independent<\/a> \u2014 with him everywhere, even as he attempted to connect with fellow monkeys.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, the internet caught wind of poor Punch\u2019s story and saw videos of him dragging his plush pal around. He quickly became the subject of heartstring-pulling memes. Videos of Punch and his stuffed orangutan friend went viral. Soon, people were using Punch as a symbol of resilience. One popular meme, featuring Punch dragging his beloved toy behind him, says, \u201cUltimately I have to be brave.\u201d<\/p>\n And much like with other viral zoo animals \u2014\u00a0such as the beloved hippo Moo Deng<\/a> \u2014 people are heading to the zoo to visit Punch in person. Punch\u2019s popularity has led to unprecedented crowds at the zoo, according to a post shared Sunday on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Visitors, however, won\u2019t necessarily see a lonely Punch when they arrive. According to the Ichikawa City Zoo, Punch is doing much better socially. He has been slowly integrating himself into the monkey social scene in the past couple of weeks.<\/p>\n