Punch, a baby orphan macaque, is beginning to outgrow the orangutan plushie that once comforted him after being rejected by his mother and other monkeys.
Photos of Punch dragging the toy—larger than his tiny body—captured the attention of visitors at a zoo near Tokyo. Whenever other monkeys shooed him away, Punch would hurry back to the plush orangutan, wrapping his arms around it for comfort.
Recently, though, he has been relying on the toy less and less. On one recent day, Punch was seen climbing onto the back of another monkey, sitting among the adults, and even receiving grooming and occasional hugs—signs that he is slowly finding his place within the troop.
Punch, the baby Japanese macaque, eats in the monkeys’ playground at the Ichikawa City Zoo.
“It was good to see him grow, and I’m relieved,” said Sanae Izumi, a 61-year-old fan from Osaka who visited the zoo because she had been worried about the young monkey. “He is adorable!”
Punch was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth, likely due to exhaustion.
Zookeepers stepped in to care for him and gave him a plush toy to help him practice clinging—an essential skill newborn macaques need to survive.
“Helping Punch learn the rules of monkey society and be accepted as a member is our most important task,” said Kosuke Kano, a 24-year-old zookeeper.
Punch was recently seen climbing onto the back of another monkey, sitting among the adults, and occasionally receiving grooming or gentle hugs.
