In the wild monkeys tend to depend on their mothers for 1-2 years, learning social skills and gaining protection from them. That’s not the case for Punch the monkey at the Ichikawa Zoo in Japan. He was abandoned by his mother who lacked the interest in raising him. This could be due to many reasons, one of them being that when monkeys give birth in a heatwave concerted it can cause a high stress environment for mothers giving birth. This could cause them to prioritize their health over the infant in that environment. Due to this, the keeper gave punch a stuffed monkey to help his socialization and muscle growth. Punch later becomes clingy to this stuffed monkey treating it as a surrogate mother. 

This moment was captured by someone who noticed a lonesome monkey walking around with a stuffed monkey. It was posted on the internet, which captured many people’s hearts and grew rapidly. Not since the Teddy Bear that was inspired by Theodore Roosevelt, has a stuffed doll captured such attention. Punch captured so many hearts the zoo started to gain traction, many going as far to fly to Japan just to see Punch the monkey. The zoo’s visitors doubled by February compared to other years. People became invested on how the monkey was doing and began posting updates on Punch the monkey. As of now we know punch is starting to get along with the other monkeys and is becoming more social. Can’t wait to see what is next for our adorable Punch!