E-Paper
Sign In
Viral video: Japanese monkey 'Punch' with plushie mum gets bullied; zoo says 'don't feel sorry'
Punch sat down and gave up on communicating with another baby monkey when he was 'scolded and dragged by an adult monkey'
- PUBLISHED: Fri 20 Feb 2026, 11:28 PM
In the age of cute animal videos being created by AI, a clip of a real baby monkey carry a plushie has refreshingly moved the internet.
Meet 'Punch' or 'Punch-kun', a six-month-old monkey in Japan who spends a whole lot of his time with his toy orangutan mum. The macaque at Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan recently gained massive popularity after videos of him with the toy went viral.
Recommended For You
Recently, however, another clip of the monkey getting "dragged around" by another bigger monkey in the zoo was posted. Netizens shared the clip widely, with many feeling sorry for the little monkey as he scurried away to gain comfort from the toy orangutan.
The zoo, in return, issued a statement on the video, giving context behind the video. It said that "Punch approached another baby monkey from the troop in attempt to communicate," the baby monkey, however, avoided him.
Punch then later sat down and gave up on communicating with the monkey, when he was "scolded and dragged by an adult monkey."
"The adult monkey that dragged Punch is probably the mother of the monkey with whom Punch tried to communicate. She probably felt that her baby was annoyed by Punch and got upset, expressing 'don't be mean,' the zoo said.
In the video, Punch runs to his stuffed orangutan toy after being dragged. However, as usual, he left the stuffed toy after a short while and was communicating with other monkeys. Watch the viral video below:
Ichikawa Zoo explained the video of baby monkey Punch being bullied by an older monkey:
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 20, 2026
âWhen Punch approached another baby monkey to interact, the other baby avoided him. Punch then sat down, apparently giving up, after which he was scolded and dragged by an adult monkey.â pic.twitter.com/tX8PXrdKkI
The zoo added that this was an anticipated challenge, saying that although the monkey has been scolded many times by others, no single monkey has shown serious aggression toward him.
While Punch is scolded, "he shows resilience and mental strength," the zoo said. It added, "we would like you to support Punch's effort rather than feel sorry for him."
