22/02/2026
The story of a baby Japanese macaque named Punch (or Panchi-kun) at the Ichikawa City Zoo went viral because of his emotional bond with an orange IKEA orangutan plush toy. Punch was born on July 26, 2025, but was unfortunately rejected by his biological mother shortly after birth, possibly due to a difficult labor during a summer heatwave. To provide the comfort and security he was missing, zookeepers gave him the stuffed toy as a surrogate mother, which he began dragging and cuddling everywhere. The chronology of the viral "bullying" incident began in early 2026 when zoo staff started reintegrating Punch into the troop's main enclosure. A widely shared video showing an adult macaque dragging and spinning Punch across the ground sparked global concern, but the zoo later clarified that this was a natural form of social discipline within monkey society.
According to zookeepers, the adult monkey was likely "scolding" Punch for annoying another baby monkey, a necessary part of his learning process to understand troop hierarchy and social boundaries. As of February 2026, Punch is showing significant progress and has begun to be accepted by the troop, even being seen participating in social grooming sessions with other monkeys
