If you've been anywhere near the internet over the past few days, chances are, you've already come across the very tragic and very viral story of Punch the monkey. You've probably already seen the baby monkey's mournful eyes as he drags his dirty stuffed monkey, his only friend, across the concrete. Or perhaps you've come across videos of sweet little Punch sitting alone, eyes wide, head tilted pitifully to one side, as the other, bigger monkeys taunt him from afar.
An adorable little macaque born in Ichikawa Zoo in Japan last July, Punch was abandoned at birth by his mother and rejected by the other adult monkeys. Soon, Punch had found his one and only friend in the form of a stuffed orangutan – he sleeps with it, eats with it, plays with it and painstakingly drags it all over his enclosure. It is, honestly, heartbreaking to watch.
Needless to say, we are all obsessed. TikTok is overflowing with videos of poor little Punch. Everyone from the BBC to the Guardian to the Independent has covered his story. Apparently, Punch's fans have begun to flock to Japan to visit Punch in person. In fact, the zoo has even had to introduce stricter security.
No, the answer to brain rot is, amazingly, not more scrolling.
Why was Punch the monkey abandoned?
So, why was Punch rejected by his mother?
Although this type of rejection is rare, it can happen.
“In Punch’s case, their mother was a first-time mother, indicating inexperience," said Alison Behie, a primatology expert at Australian National University to The Guardian.
“Zookeepers also suggest Punch was born during a heatwave, which would be a high-stress environment. In environments where survival is threatened from outside stress, mothers may prioritise their own health and future reproduction rather than continue to care for an infant whose health may be compromised by those environmental conditions.”
Why does Punch have a stuffed animal?
It's not just to make us all feel like weeping. Punch's stuffed friend is actually intended to help him develop social skills he'll need as he grows up.
"This stuffed animal has relatively long hair and several easy places to hold," zookeeper Kosuke Shikano said. “We thought that its resemblance to a monkey might help Punch integrate back into the troop later on, and that's why we chose it.”
From your friendly neighbourhood Chinese baddie.
Will Punch the monkey ever find monkey friends?
You can wipe away your tears and tear your eyes away from the screen, because apparently, things are looking up for Punch. Over the past few days, Punch has finally begun to bond with his fellow macaques in his tribe. "It's been great to see him starting to groom, because that's the key way these primates can start to build up friendships with the monkeys within their group", Matt Lovatt, director for the UK's Trentham Monkey Forest, told BBC Breakfast.
Why can't we tear our eyes away?
I suppose Punch's viral moment was only to be expected. After all, he ticks all of the prerequisite boxes needed for social media stardom: Cute baby animal? Tick. Tear-jerking story of bullying and abandonment? Tick. A pathos-filled image of a neglected baby monkey mournfully clinging to his stuffed toy? Tick.
Punch is pulling on our heartstrings and inspiring even the coldest amongst us to start frantically researching how to adopt baby monkeys from Japanese zoos. And that is the stuff that viral moments are made of.
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