Heartbreaking story behind Punch the baby monkey that has left everyone in tears

I don’t know about you, but my TikTok For You Page has been filled with heartbreaking clips of a certain baby monkey.

The cute little primate, who goes by the name Punch, has become a viral sensation overnight and stolen the hearts of people around the world, after videos of him and his fluffy stuffed toy companion began circulating on social media.

For those who aren’t chronically online and have no idea what we’re talking about, I’ll quickly catch you up.

Punch is an adorable six-month-old Japanese macaque who currently resides at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan.

However, his life got off to a difficult start, as, heartbreakingly, his mother rejected him after he was born in July last year.

The zoo explained in a social media post earlier this month that Punch has been raised by the keepers through hand-rearing and has been living with the monkey troop since January 19 of this year.

Punch the baby monkey has become a viral sensation (STR/Getty Images)

But it hasn’t been an easy transition for the little one, and videos circulating online have shown that he’s somewhat of an outcast.

It looks like baby Punch has been struggling to make friends in the group

As we say, zookeepers gifted him a big toy orangutan to help him acclimate to his new home and get used to the other macaques around him.

Nicknamed ‘Ora-mama,’ it’s become his constant companion, and he’s rarely been seen without it.

Tear-jerking pictures and videos of the little monkey carrying the stuffed animal with him everywhere he goes have circulated online - and the internet simply cannot cope.

Some particularly devastating videos showed Punch being thrown around and pushed away by the other monkeys, with social media users claiming he’s ‘being bullied’.

One X user penned: “My heart literally broke watching this. Punch deserves all the love and a forever safe troop. Protect this baby at all costs.”

While a second wrote: “This broke my heart… he just wanted comfort. Protect Punch at all costs.”

The Japanese macaque was abandoned by his mother at birth (Anadolu/Getty Images)

And a third quipped: “That plush toy is clearly his safe space. Adorable yet heartbreaking.”

Others chimed in with: “This breaks my heart” and “If anything cruel happens, WE RIDE AT DAWN.”

“This is very sad. He needs much more than this toy,” wrote someone else, while another person interjected with: “If I have to rescue Punch myself I’ll do it no problem.”

According to Dexerto, the zoo has since released a statement about Punch’s welfare after a particularly worrying video emerged, showing another monkey swinging him around, before he ran over to his cuddly toy for comfort.

Ichikawa City Zoo said, “We have confirmed that several videos have gone viral on the internet. When Punch approached another baby monkey from the troop in an attempt to communicate, the baby monkey avoided him.

“Punch then sat down, apparently giving up on communicating with the monkey, after which he was scolded and dragged by an adult monkey.”

The statement continued: "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."

He's rarely seen without his stuffed toy (Anadolu/Getty Images)

"Punch has been scolded by other monkeys many times in the past and has learned how to socialise with them.

"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."

They added, "In order to integrate Punch into other Japanese monkey troops, we anticipated that this kind of challenge may arise. Although Punch has been scolded many times by other monkeys, no single monkey has shown serious aggression toward him.

"While Punch is scolded, he shows resilience and mental strength. When you observe these disciplinary behaviors from other troop members toward Punch when he tries to communicate with them, we would like you to support Punch's effort rather than feel sorry for him."

While it's easy to feel defensive, it's important to remember that the zookeepers do know best - but little Punch now has millions of people watching over him, who'll be on the next flight out to give him a cuddle if any more 'bullying' goes on!