Abandoned chimpanzee Punch being dragged by old macaque in heartbreaking video – National
Punch, the abandoned baby macaque at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan, stole the hearts of many after a video showed him dragging a stuffed orangutan out of its enclosure.
The baby monkey was abandoned by its mother at birth and raised by zoo staff, according to the zoo’s website. The stuffed animal was given to Punch to act as a contractual mother and provide comfort to the now seven-month-old macaque.
Recently, a video taken by TikTok user @tate_punch shows a monkey being dragged down by a giant macaque on Thursday. After the interaction, Punch ran to his plushie and hugged it while a few other macaques came to check on him.
This photo taken on February 19, 2026 shows a 7-month-old male monkey named Punch, who was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth, spending time with a stuffed toy orangutan at the Ichikawa City Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Chiba Prefecture.
JIJI PRESS / AFP via Getty Images
After the photos went viral online, the Ichikawa City Zoo said in a statement on Friday that while Punch was talking to the baby monkey and trying to communicate with him, the other baby monkey avoided him.
When Punch sat down and stopped trying to play with the monkey, he was “scolded and dragged away by the old monkey,” the zoo said.
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“The old monkey that dragged Punch may be the mother of the monkey that Punch tried to communicate with, perhaps she heard that her child had upset Punch and became angry, saying ‘don’t be disrespectful,'” the statement continued.
The zoo said Punch “has been scolded by other monkeys many times in the past and has learned to interact with them.”
“In this video, Punch runs to his stuffed toy orangutan after being dragged away. However, as usual, he left the stuffed toy after a while and was interacting with other monkeys,” the statement continued. “The video was probably recorded in the morning of February 19. During lunch at 12 pm and 3 pm, Punch acted differently than any other day.”
The zoo said that in order to integrate Punch with other Japanese monkey soldiers, they expected this kind of challenge to arise.
“Although Punch has been scolded many times by other monkeys, not one monkey has shown much anger towards him,” said the zoo.
“While Punch is being scolded, he shows strength and mental strength. When you see these disciplinary behaviors of other members of the army towards Punch when he tries to communicate with them, we would like you to support Punch’s effort rather than sympathize with him.”
Punch was born on July 26, 2025 and has been with the troop since January 19, according to a post on X from the zoo.
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