Who Would You punch for punch the monkey?

Regardless of the controversy around Punch, the consensus seems to be that the little Macaque monkey is adorable, loved by millions, an admirable story of hope, and is a beacon of unity and love around the world.

A baby macaque monkey has taken the internet by storm. Punch the macaque monkey was rejected by his mother after his birth in July of 2025 at the Ichika Zoo in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Punch was raised by zookeepers and given a stuffed orangutan from Ikea as a mother figure while he still lives among his biological mother in the zoo’s “Monkey Mountain” enclosure.  Punch has become the star of the zoo with around 8,000 people visiting in just one weekend, says the New York Times. Google has even added a fun graphic of Punch when his name is searched.

The Google search application featuring Punch the Monkey.

He has captured the hearts of people internationally and has sparked social media comments such as “Punch doesn’t know how loved he is” and “and then he hugged the fake monkey for comfort and protection,” including the image below attached to the comment. I have to agree, Punch's story is enough to inspire a Regina George-level breakdown myself, even.

This picture was attached to the comment above. It is also an accurate description of my condition when I heard about Punch.

Viewers feel sorry for Punch as he has spent much time away from the other macaques; the adults often push and drag him around. When this happens, he looks to his stuffed stand-in mother. Shunpei Miyakoshi, an animal keeper at the Ichika Zoo, told ANN news that baby monkeys cling to their mothers for comfort and to build their own muscles. Harlow, a behaviorist scientist, proved with experiments from the late 1950s that babies value the comfort of a mother over the physical nourishment and provisions a mother provides for her young. So in Punch’s case, it’s likely he seeks acceptance and motherly love rather than the nourishment she could provide, which is where his Ikea stuffy saves the day.

Punch the Monkey and his stuffed orangutan from Ikea.

But things aren’t all dark for Punch now; he has recently been seen with adult macaques, interacting with them and integrating into the troop. 

Some aren’t so thrilled with the ape’s rise to fame, and the uprising sale in tickets caused by it. PETA is urging social media users to stop reposting, liking, and sharing videos of Punch because the support for the zoo is keeping animals in captivity. Zoos are a controversial thing in today’s world. In this case, however, if the zoo does go out of commision the animals at Ichika Zoo would not be able to return to the wild. Most haven’t experienced being subjected to the elements and wouldn’t be able to acclimate to the harsh living conditions that require an animal to have instincts, hunting and foraging abilities, and knowledge of traditional social order found in animals. The animals would have to be transferred to a different zoo, which could potentially be at max capacity, and could perpetuate the cycle of instability for the captive animals. Although it wouldn’t be a positive thing for the current zoos to close down, there is merit in the discussion for people to vote against the construction and expansion of zoos

Punch and a zookeeper.

or vote on laws that upgrade the living conditions of captive animals in zoos.

Regardless of the controversy around Punch, the consensus seems to be that the little Macaque monkey is adorable, loved by millions, an admirable story of hope, and is a beacon of unity and love around the world. So the Lance wants to know, who would you punch for Punch the Monkey?