Abandoned baby monkey finds comfort in stuffed toy
A baby monkey broke millions of hearts online after being spotted hugging a stuffed orangutan given to him as a substitute for his mother.
The baby macaque Punch’s mother abandoned him when he was born seven months ago at the Ichikawa City Zoo outside Japan and when an onlooker noticed and alerted zookeepers, they swung into action.
Japanese baby macaques typically cling to their mothers to build muscle strength and for a sense of security, so Punch needed a swift intervention, zookeeper Kosuke Shikano said.
The keepers experimented with substitutes including rolled-up towels and other stuffed animals before settling on the orange, bug-eyed orangutan.
En japon a un monito lo abandono su madre
Lo estan siguiendo para ver si se adapta a vivir con otros monos
Pero el bicho quiere estar solo con un muñeco porque cree que es su mama pic.twitter.com/IoLajWdbKm— ElBuni (@therealbuni) February 14, 2026
“This stuffed animal has relatively long hair and several easy places to hold,” Shikano said. “We thought that its resemblance to a monkey might help Punch integrate back into the troop later on, and that’s why we chose it.”
Punch has rarely been seen without it since, dragging the cuddly toy everywhere even though it is bigger than him, and delighting fans who have flocked to the zoo since videos of the two went viral.
Shikano thinks Punch’s mother abandoned him because of the extreme heat in July when she gave birth.
Punch has had some differences with the other monkeys as he has tried to communicate with them, but zookeepers say that is part of the learning process and he is steadily integrating with the troop.
“I think there will come a day when he no longer needs his stuffed toy,” Shikano said.