ICHIKAWA – Punch, the orphaned monkey at a Japanese zoo who won hearts by clinging to a stuffed orangutan, is celebrating his first birthday with an outpouring of messages from admirers around the globe. These days, he has companions of his own and no longer depends on the plush toy that first made him famous.
Born a year ago Sunday, Punch was rejected by his mother, likely because she was exhausted after giving birth. Zookeepers stepped in to raise the newborn macaque, giving him the plush orangutan to help build the gripping strength that infant monkeys need to survive.
The once-round baby monkey is now growing up fast. At the Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Garden, Punch blends in more easily with the other macaques as he plays and moves through the enclosure without his familiar stuffed companion.
Still, his popularity has hardly faded. Takashi Yasunaga, the zoo’s director, said Punch continues to draw large crowds and has received about 2,500 birthday cards from Japan and overseas. Many of the cards and messages now cover the walls of an indoor birthday exhibit dedicated to Punch, where visitors can also watch video footage tracing his journey from his earliest days.
“As Punch was trying very hard, struggling to live each day, his two keepers did everything they could while other staff watched over him,” Yasunaga said, looking back on the past year. “It was extremely hot when Punch was born. The memory is still clear to me as the hot season returns.”
By mid-January, after six months of round-the-clock care from his keepers, Punch was introduced to the zoo’s monkey enclosure, joining roughly 50 other macaques. That difficult transition would soon turn him into an internet favorite.
In February, the Ichikawa zoo shared images on social media showing Punch holding his toy. The posts quickly went viral, bringing tens of thousands of visitors to the zoo, with about half coming from outside Japan, Yasunaga said.
Whenever other monkeys pushed the young macaque away, Punch would hurry back to the stuffed orangutan and wrap his arms around it for comfort. Supporters rallied behind him online, sharing encouragement under the hashtag #HangInTherePunch.
It was not just the cuteness factor of seeing Punch with his toy, but also his lone struggle to be gradually accepted by others that struck a chord, fans say.
Kumi Ishizawa, a Kobe resident who was at the birthday exhibit, said she found Punch on social media earlier this year. From then on, overcoming her illness to come see him had become her goal.
“He moved me … I kept on telling myself that I’m going to get well and come visit to see Punch,” said Ishizawa, who has since recovered and dropped by the zoo after wrapping up a business trip. “And here I am, I made it. I’m very happy I could finally see him in person.”
Yeye Lights, a longtime resident in the city, had never visited the zoo until she became a Punch fan and now has an annual visitor pass. She was hooked by Punch after her daughter in the Philippines told her about the monkey.
“I have a cake for Punch-kun, I’m celebrating with my friends,” Lights said, using an affectionate Japanese honorific for boys. She thanked the monkey’s two carers for taking good care of him.
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Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.
