Punch, a Japanese macaque, sits with others in the monkeys' playground at the Ichikawa city zoo on Mar 3, 2026. (Photo: AP/Hiro Komae)

Punch the orphan macaque is outgrowing his plushie and making friends

05 Mar 2026, 04:50 · CNA · Join

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ICHIKAWA: Punch the baby orphan macaque is outgrowing the orangutan plushie that comforted him through early rejection from his mother and other monkeys.

Images of Punch dragging around the toy bigger than him drew attention to the residents of a zoo near Tokyo. When other monkeys shooed the baby away, Punch rushed back to the toy orangutan, hugging it for comfort.

But he's been using the toy less. On a recent day, Punch was seen climbing on the back of another monkey, sitting with adults and sometimes getting groomed or hugged.

“It was good to see him grow, and I’m reassured,” said Sanae Izumi, a 61-year-old Punch fan from Osaka who came to the zoo because she was worried about the baby monkey. “He is adorable!”

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Punch was abandoned by his mother after his birth, presumably because of exhaustion. Zookeepers nursed him and gave him the toy to train him to cling, an ability newborn macaques need to survive.

Punch, a Japanese macaque, climbs on the back of another in the monkeys' playground at the Ichikawa city zoo on Mar 3, 2026. (Photo: AP/Hiro Komae)

A baby Japanese macaque named Punch sits next to a stuffed orangutan at Ichikawa City Zoo, in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, on Feb 19, 2026. (File photo: Reuters/Kim Kyung-hoon)

“Helping Punch learn the rules of monkey society and being accepted as a member is our most important task,” said Kosuke Kano, a 24-year-old zookeeper.

Punch was so popular after images of him and his toy showed up online last month, the zoo had to set rules to make visitors be quiet and to limit viewing to 10 minutes to reduce stress for the more than 50 other monkeys.