Punch the macaque hugged by troop as videos draw millions

Punch, a Japanese macaque born in July 2025 at Ichikawa City Zoo near Tokyo, has made a public turn from solitary survivor to an emerging member of his troop after footage showed adult monkeys grooming and embracing him. Videos of the interactions have racked up millions of online views and prompted dozens of visitors to queue outside the zoo.

Keepers say Punch was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth and was rescued and hand-reared by staff. The zoo’s translated post on X said he “was rescued from being abandoned and raised through hand-rearing.” In early weeks, zookeepers gave Punch a small orange orangutan plush toy that he clung to as a comfort object while he remained socially isolated.

That isolation has eased. An X account, @dondawastaken, posted a caption accompanying one widely shared clip that read: "After enduring days of rejection, Baby Punch finally experienced the comfort of love. Today, the adult monkey Onsing drew little Punch into a firm, deeply reassuring embrace." Other clips show an adult gently grooming Punch, a behavior primatologists say is central to social bonding among macaques.

"It's been great to see him starting to groom, because that's the key way these primates can start to build up friendships with the monkeys within their group," said Matt Lovatt, director of Trentham Monkey Forest, commenting on the footage and its significance for Punch's reintegration.

Public interest has spilled into the physical world. Visitors have travelled to Ichikawa City Zoo specifically to see Punch, and staff reported an influx of guests they described as both unexpected and substantial. In a public message the zoo expressed "heartfelt gratitude" to the crowds who came to watch the young macaque’s progress.

Social media has amplified the story and driven civic attention. Supporters have used the hashtag がんばれパンチ, roughly translated as "Hang in there, Punch," while some users proposed more organized forms of support: "we, as a society, should create a panchi-kun protection squad," one post suggested. The soft toy that accompanied Punch became a symbol of the case and drew offers of assistance from companies and civic leaders.

Ichikawa City Mayor Ko Tanaka posted on X that Petra Fare, president and chief sustainability officer of IKEA Japan, would donate multiple replacements of the DJUNGELSKOG Soft orangutan toy, which is sold at about $20, and additional plushies for Punch. The mayor's post named the donor and the specific toy style as part of a wave of offers to support the animal's wellbeing.

Experts and zoo staff say the sequence observed — abandonment, attachment to a substitute, and then grooming and embrace by other monkeys — aligns with known macaque social dynamics. Wildlife biologist Mikaela Gerwing has discussed Punch’s recovery and interactions in broadcast segments, underscoring the practical role of grooming in rebuilding connections.

The zoo’s public communications have focused on immediate care and gratitude; it has not issued a detailed public plan for Punch’s long-term management beyond the account of hand-rearing and gradual social integration. The animal’s story has highlighted how a single individual can drive public engagement with captive-animal welfare and how social media can accelerate both attention and on-the-ground visitation.