{"id":338031,"date":"2026-03-19T21:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T21:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/338031\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T21:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T21:08:08","slug":"punch-the-viral-baby-monkey-in-japan-bonds-with-girlfriend-internet-reacts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/338031\/","title":{"rendered":"Punch The Viral Baby Monkey In Japan Bonds With “Girlfriend”, Internet Reacts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Punch, the adorable baby Japanese macaque from Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan, apparently has a “girlfriend”. The monkey, who was rejected by his mother after birth, became an internet sensation after he began clinging to a plush orangutan toy from IKEA for comfort. Punch’s story took a heartwarming turn when he met Momo-chan, a female macaque. Videos shared on social media showed the pair cuddling, playing and even sharing affectionate “kisses”.<\/p>\n

Videos of their interactions have gone viral, melting hearts and earning Momo-chan the title of Punch’s “girlfriend”.<\/p>\n

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Watch the video here:<\/p>\n

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“Exciting news! Recently, Punch found a girlfriend named Moe, and they have spent all their time together. Moe is a little older than Punch, but they are completely inseparable,” read the caption of the video shared on Instagram by Beyond The Wildlife.<\/p>\n

Punch’s path to companionship hasn’t been easy. He faced bullying and corrective actions from dominant monkeys, but with time and patience, he’s learned to navigate social cues and build relationships.<\/p>\n

His stuffed toy, Ora-mama, remains a symbol of comfort, but Punch’s focus has shifted to his new friend Momo-chan. Online users have reacted to the video.<\/p>\n

“Punch found a girlfriend, and you’re still single,” one person jokingly said.<\/p>\n

“She is only with him because he is famous,” wrote another user.<\/p>\n

“She’s got great taste. He’s the whole package: handsome, resilient, resourceful, capable of attachment to caretaker and comforting monkey and now gorgeous female. I hope he doesn’t break her heart. He’s obviously very attractive to all!,” a third user wrote<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Punch, the adorable baby Japanese macaque from Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan, apparently has a “girlfriend”. The monkey,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[111,139,69,101263,163618,180914,180915,163624,180916,180917,180918,180919,180920,180921,147,406],"class_list":{"0":"post-338031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-punch","12":"tag-punch-monkey","13":"tag-punch-monkey-girlfriend","14":"tag-punch-monkey-japan","15":"tag-punch-monkey-latest","16":"tag-punch-monkey-news","17":"tag-punch-monkey-story","18":"tag-punch-monkey-toy","19":"tag-punch-monkey-video","20":"tag-punch-news","21":"tag-punch-news-latest","22":"tag-science","23":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}