"Dozens of curious visitors on Friday flocked to Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba to witness baby macaque Punch and his love for his unique companion – an IKEA orangutan plush toy, after videos of the pair went viral. Footage shows crowds gathered around the enclosure filming Punch as he plays with the toy, drags it from other monkeys, and falls asleep clutching the orange plush. Punch was abandoned by his mother shortly after his birth seven months ago, prompting zoo authorities to intervene. To help the baby macaque cope, an alternative 'huggable orangutan' toy, costing 19.99 USD (17 EUR), became his source of comfort. Monkeys are deeply social animals. Their emotional well-being is tied to relationships, troop dynamics, and the constant presence of companions. Isolation can lead to stress, abnormal behaviours, difficulty integrating, and long-term psychological harm. Infant abandonment is relatively uncommon among monkeys, occurring in about one to three percent of cases. Punch's biological mother is believed to have abandoned him after failing to cope with her first litter. Most infant macaques and baboons depend on their mother's care for an extended period of time, generally breastfeeding for at least a year. Zoo authorities confirmed the viral videos circulating online in which Punch can be seen being 'scolded and dragged' by an adult monkey. "It is believed that the monkey who dragged Punch was the mother of the young monkey Punch had tried to interact with," zoo authorities wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "Up to now, Punch has been scolded many times, and through these experiences, he has been learning how to communicate in order to live as a monkey," they added. Zoo authorities requested visitors' cooperation, as they expect many guests during the three-day weekend, and urged people to use public transport instead of private cars to avoid congestion around the area."