By now, the whole world knows about Punch the Monkey. Born on July 26, 2025, Punch is currently located in Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Garden in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Punch’s sad backstory has caught hearts globally, causing for thousands to flock to the zoo just for Punch.
Punch first caught the internets attention when videos of him dragging around a stuff orangutan plush, or the DJUNGELSKOG, as it’s referred to by Ikea, began to pop up all over social media. The zoo stated on their X account that the DJUNGELSKOG “stimulates clinging to a mother but also prevents excessive dependence on humans.” Basically, punch treats his plush as his mother.
So, where is Punch’s biological mother? She is currently in the same enclosure as Punch, alongside all the other monkey’s, but she has purposefully abandoned him. According to Alison Behie, a primatology expert at Australian National University, there are multiple reasons why Punch’s mother chose to abandon him, including “age, health and inexperience,” all stuff she had no control over.
Monkey mom’s may “prioritize their own health and future reproduction rather than continue to care for an infant whose health may be compromised” explains researcher Maya Yang in her own article titled “The tragedy of Punch the monkey: why do mother animals abandon their offspring?” This especially applies to Punch’s case, as he was born during a massive heatwave.
Despite the publics outrage at this, the zoo refuses to point out which monkey is Punch’s mother. They do not want any of the blame going towards her, as she is just following her biological in picking herself over Punch.
When monkey’s are not brought into tribes by their mother’s, they tend to be disrespected or ignored by their fellow primates. Such behavior is exhibited through Punch’s situation, as elder’s in his group of roughly 60 constantly scold, belittle, and punish him. However bad this may sound, this is actually a good thing for Punch. To establish social hierarchy, elder monkey’s scold the younger ones, and as the younger monkey’s continue to grow from it, it shows maturity, and the elder monkey’s accept the younger into the group.
Despite Punch’s constant belittling, more and more female monkey’s have begin to accept him, doing task such as grooming and playing with him. There’s even recent rumors that Punch has found a “girlfriend” in the 5 year old Momo-chan, but experts would classify her more as an older sister to Punch. The pair have been caught cuddling, kissing, and running around together.
As to why Punch has gone so viral, “Punch reminds us of the loneliness and sadness we’ve felt in our lives from loss or rejection,” says Louie Villalobos, writing for USA Today. “But he is also teaching us that there is always hope through perseverance in the face of rejection.”
Sentiments like this have begun viral hashtags such as “#HangInTherePunch” and “#IamPunchHeisMe”. Punch’s virality has even caught the eyes of Ikea, with the company donating 33 DJUNGELSKOG’s to Punch alone; DJUNGELSKOG sales have risen since Punch has become famous, too. Even popular celebrities like Lisa from the girl group BLACKPINK have traveled to visit the tragic yet hopeful Punch.
As of now, it appears Punch’s life is only improving, and we hope it stays that way!
