Featured Image: (Pacer Graphic / Sophia Phillips)
Punch the monkey has recently gone viral for his love for his stuffed monkey and his ultimate cuteness.
Punch the monkey was born in July 2025 at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan. The zoo speculates that he was abandoned by his mother because she was a first time mom and inexperienced. At the time, they were also going through a heat wave which can make the environment stressful.
Punch has made desperate attempts to connect with other monkeys , but Punch has been rejected and has been facing a lot of bullying recently. He doesn’t have a maternal figure to protect him and he lacks social skills.
Punch the monkey carries a plush monkey around for comfort and support. In recent videos, he can be seen being dragged around by another monkey. You can see that once he’s free, he runs to the monkey plush. The plush monkey is from IKEA which has completely sold out. Since then, IKEA has donated dozens of the monkey plush to the zoo.
The plush originally sells at ikea for $19.99 and resellers have been selling them for $100 and up which I think is awful.
Punch has brought out a lot of opinions, with most people commenting on how cute he is and how sad it is that he’s getting bullied, which I completely agree with. Another opinion that people have been arguing over is whether it is acceptable to turn Punch into a tourist attraction by using his sad backstory.
My opinion on this topic is that he’s already an animal at a zoo. Whether people knew him or not he is already an attraction. Of course, now he’s an even bigger attraction, but he’s there either way. The only thing that matters is that he is receiving the love and care he deserves.
Since he has gone viral the zoo has seen an increase in revenue due to people wanting to see him. The more people that visit, the more care the animals will get, and there can even be improvement for the zoo.
Punch has had a rough start, but as of now he has currently been accepted by the other monkeys, making him a part of their troop. He no longer has to rely on his stuffed monkey for support.
I am so happy that Punch has been accepted, and that he doesn’t need to rely on a stuffed monkey for support. I hope that people do continue to visit Punch at the zoo and show him support even after the hype dies down.
