{"id":497806,"date":"2026-02-25T04:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T04:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/497806\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T04:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T04:30:08","slug":"watch-punch-a-viral-baby-monkey-is-melting-hearts-with-his-stuffed-bestie-videoclip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/497806\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH \u2014 Punch, a viral baby monkey, is melting hearts with his stuffed bestie | videoclip"},"content":{"rendered":"

Baby primate ‘bullied,’ but getting closer to acceptance<\/p>\n

A baby monkey who was abandoned by his mother has gone viral for tugging \u2014 or swinging from \u2014 the heartstrings of zoo visitors on his journey to acceptance.<\/p>\n

Punch the monkey, a Japanese macaque, was born and then abandoned seven months ago at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan.<\/p>\n

Since then, videos of him ranging from adorable to heartbreaking have attracted large audiences to the zoo and many are keeping a close eye on his progress.<\/p>\n

A new, stuffed animal mom\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Punch was born back in July, zookeepers knew they needed to find some sort of replacement for his mom after she abandoned him.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because baby macaques get a lot from their mothers.<\/p>\n

They not only rely on them for a sense of safety but also build strength by clinging to them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zookeepers gave Punch everything from rolled-up towels to a fleet of stuffed animals.<\/p>\n

Punch eventually settled on one in particular \u2014 a stuffed orangutan made by the furniture chain Ikea.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Zookeepers tried giving Punch several fuzzy things to use as a substitute for his mom, but settled on a stuffed orangutan. (Image credit: Kim Kyung-Hoon\/Reuters)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Videos of him dragging the much larger orangutan all over his enclosure have gone viral.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Punch and his plushie have also attracted large audiences to the zoo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bond between baby and mother in Japanese macaques is very strong,\u201d said Sarah Turner, a primatologist at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, who has worked in Japan with Japanese macaques since the 1990s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very natural, therefore, that he would be attached to a comfort item, something fuzzy, warm, and a bit monkey-like,\u201d she told CBC Kids News.<\/p>\n

Want to see how Punch and his stuffie are getting along? Check out the following video:<\/p>\n

Punch\u2019s struggle for acceptance<\/p>\n

Turner said that it\u2019s incredibly rare for Japanese macaques to be abandoned by their moms in the wild.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really doesn\u2019t happen. In fact, mothers will go to great lengths in order to not abandon their infants,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said Punch\u2019s story likely represents one of the downsides of animal captivity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a mom abandons their baby, it\u2019s because she doesn’t know how to care for it, and that\u2019s likely because she was also raised in captivity and lacks the skills.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Punch has gone viral for videos of him dragging his stuffed orangutan everywhere he goes. (Image credit: Kim Kyung-Hoon\/Reuters)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Turner said that zookeepers in these cases go to great lengths to try to have other monkeys in a zoo accept the abandoned outsider.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s partly why zookeepers chose the orangutan for Punch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought that its resemblance to a monkey might help Punch integrate back into the troop later on,\u201d zookeeper Kosuke Shikano told Reuters.<\/p>\n

But that integration hasn\u2019t been totally smooth.<\/p>\n

Another viral video showed Punch being dragged by another monkey in the enclosure, prompting users on social media to ask if he was being bullied.<\/p>\n

Turner said this isn\u2019t surprising when it comes to trying to integrate monkeys from different families into one troop in a zoo setting.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because, like humans, babies are taught how to socialize from their parents, and in Punch\u2019s case, he has no teacher.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Zoo<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s zoo has seen an uptick in visitors wanting to get a glimpse of Punch in his enclosure. (Image credit: Kim Kyung-Hoon\/Reuters)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe probably doesn\u2019t speak Japanese macaque. These monkeys have a complex social structure with specific signals for how to be friendly and get along,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe he\u2019s giving the wrong signals without meaning to, running up and essentially threatening somebody, for example.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adding to the difficulty, Turner said, it\u2019s likely that other monkeys in his enclosure have also been partially raised by humans, meaning their social skills could also be lacking.<\/p>\n

Notes of hope for Punch<\/p>\n

Despite his hurdles, zookeepers say that Punch\u2019s journey to integration is going steady.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there will come a day when he no longer needs his stuffed toy,\u201d Shikano said.<\/p>\n

Last week, videos showed Punch receiving a hug from one of the other monkeys.<\/p>\n

Another clip showed Punch grooming another monkey, another positive sign of integration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Going forward, Turner said Punch\u2019s tiny stature is also to his benefit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is little and young, and by definition not very threatening, so thankfully that will help in the long term for him to integrate into the group,” she said.<\/p>\n

\ufeff\ufeffHave more questions? \ufeffWant to tell us how we’re doing? Use the \u201csend us feedback\u201d link below. \u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f<\/p>\n

With files from Reuters
Top image credit: Kim Kyung-Hoon\/Reuters, with graphic design by Philip Street\/CBC
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Baby primate ‘bullied,’ but getting closer to acceptance A baby monkey who was abandoned by his mother has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-497806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}