About

Punch the Monkey or Punch-Kun is a baby macaque monkey at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan who was abandoned by his parents and raised by hand at the zoo. Punch is known to carry around a plush monkey toy, which he seems to use for companionship. The Ichikawa City Zoo's videos of Punch went viral on social media in February 2026, inspiring reactions and discourse online. In particular, a video of Punch being attacked by another monkey and retreating to his plush toy inspired worried reactions towards Punch. Punch became a major subject of memes that month.

Origin

On February 3rd, 2026, X^[1] user @Euphorbia10182 posted a video of Punch with his stuffed monkey, garnering over 113,000 views in two weeks.

On February 5th, the official @ichikawa_zoo X^[2] page quoted the post with a photo of Punch, writing what translates to, "Currently, there is a baby monkey holding a stuffed toy inside Saruyama. Born on July 26, 2025, it was rescued from being abandoned and raised through hand-rearing, and has been living with the troop since January 19 this year. His name is Punch, a boy! Please watch over Punch’s growth with warm support!"

Spread

Clips of Punch continued to go viral through February 2026, inspiring reactions and memes. Many posts about Punch share sympathy and sadness for the monkey, who often seems lonely and without friends.

On February 15th, 2026, X^[3] user @volcaholic1 posted a video of Punch seemingly hiding from other monkeys in a cinder block with his monkey plushie, writing, "Little Punch, scared by the bigger monkeys, jumps into a hole and tries to drag Ora-mama in… she’s too big," garnering over 43,000 likes in five days.

On February 19th, X^[4] user @TheInsiderPaper reposted a video of Punch being "bullied" by an older monkey and dragged around on the ground by his leg, garnering over 11 million views in a day. After he is released by the monkey, Punch runs to his plushie for comfort.

That day, several clips of Punch being groomed by and spending time with other monkeys were posted online, suggesting Punch is making friends. That day, the @Overtime TikTok^[5] page posted a How It Started / How It's Going edit compiling footage of Punch being bullied, followed by him making friends, garnering over 3.2 million views in a day.

That same day, it was reported^[6] that Ikea Japan donated plush toys to Punch.

On February 20th, the Ichikawa City Zoo released a statement on X^[7] about the video of Punch getting dragged by the older monkey. In the statement they suggest that the "bully" monkey likely did this thinking that Punch was annoying her baby. The note encourages people to "support Punch's efforts" rather than feel sorry for him, insisting this is a normal and expected part of his integration process.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References