It was feeding time on Monkey Mountain at the Ichikawa City Zoo. Grunts and squeals broke out among the 56 resident macaques as a zookeeper made the rounds with a bucket of apples, sweet potatoes and cabbage.<\/p>\n
Moments later, Monkey Mountain\u2019s most famous resident emerged: Punch, the now 9-month-old macaque who became an internet sensation after he was abandoned by his mother at birth<\/a> and turned to an orangutan toy for comfort.<\/p>\n \u201cLook at him go!\u201d said David Lena, 11, from Spain, who was visiting the zoo in the leafy suburbs of Tokyo with his parents for the third time in a week. \u201cI want to hold him so badly!\u201d<\/p>\n Punch twirled and leaped into the air. He hung upside down while chomping on a biscuit. He paraded around the enclosure on a zookeeper\u2019s arm.<\/p>\n Punch\u2019s journey began in July, when zoo officials said his mother abandoned him because of a difficult labor during a heat wave. He was reintroduced to the troop in January, but without his mother\u2019s guidance he had a difficult time integrating, often playing by himself.<\/p>\n In Japan, he is now affectionately known as \u201cPunch-kun.\u201d (Kun is a term of endearment for boys.) He has inspired \u201cTeam Punch\u201d T-shirts, social media stickers and action figures. IKEA sold out of the orangutan toy that he made famous. Hundreds of people have sent letters and drawings to the zoo.<\/p>\n Celebrity is no small thing for a six-pound macaque. It has come with hordes of photo-seeking fans, an abundance of gossip (\u201cPUNCH GOT A GIRLFRIEND \u2764\ufe0f,\u201d a YouTuber recently reported<\/a>, with TMZ-like excitement), and comedic scrutiny (\u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d pretended to interview<\/a> Punch\u2019s mother, and Jon Stewart lampooned him<\/a> on \u201cThe Daily Show\u201d).<\/p>\n Punch has handled the limelight better than most young stars. Since first hitting the headlines, he has slowly integrated into his troop and made friends \u2014 monkey and human alike.<\/p>\n He is also starting to shed some of the crutches of his youth, including the stuffed orangutan. He no longer gallivants around Monkey Mountain with the toy, though he still cuddles up to it at night. (The zoo keeps two plushies to allow for daily cleaning.)<\/p>\n Yet thousands of people still make the trek each day to the Ichikawa City Zoo, seeking a real-life glimpse of the monkey and the meme. Punch largely ignores them. He keeps busy playing with chains that dangle from rocks in his enclosure; sitting for grooming sessions by elders; or, very occasionally, stealing snacks from other members of the troop.<\/p>\n In tumultuous times, Punch has provided his legions of fans relief from doomscrolling about war, climate change, hunger or rising gas prices, becoming a global symbol of resilience.<\/p>\n Riko Kusumoto, 23, who sells home furnishings, took an overnight bus from Kobe, about 340 miles away, to Ichikawa on a recent day, carrying Punch\u2019s signature toy.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I look at Punch-kun, I don\u2019t have to think about things like rising prices or wars,\u201d she said. \u201cAll I could think was, \u2018Hang in there, Punch!\u2019 I just had a really heartwarming and pleasant time.\u201d<\/p>\n Yuko Tanaka, 66, visited the zoo with her daughter, Manami, 46. She said she was inspired by Punch\u2019s determination in the face of abandonment and bullying. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t give up and just lives his life to the fullest, and that\u2019s what\u2019s so moving,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Punch\u2019s celebrity has transformed the fortunes of the Ichikawa City Zoo, which had faced budget deficits and struggled to attract patrons. It has received more than $200,000, or about 32 million yen, in donations since February, when it announced Punch to the world. The number of visitors has roughly tripled from a year ago, reaching 90,000 in March.<\/p>\n The zoo had no sense of his potential when it first shared his story on social media on Feb. 5.<\/p>\n \u201cCurrently, there is a baby monkey in the monkey enclosure holding a stuffed animal,\u201d zoo officials wrote<\/a> on X. \u201cHis name is Punch, and he\u2019s a boy! Please watch over Punch\u2019s growth with warmth!\u201d<\/p>\n Soon, the zoo was flooded with messages of encouragement from around the world. There were also complaints, including from people worried about conditions at the zoo. Monkey Mountain is a crowded, man-made rock formation that lacks shade.<\/p>\n