Punch the Baby Monkey Update: Attack By Fellow Monkeys at Ichikawa Zoo Sparks Concern

A Difficult Day for Punch-kun

If you've been following Punch's story, you know this week was supposed to be a turning point.

Recently, things had started to look better. He was eating on his own. He was playing with other monkeys. Just last week he was seen cuddling with another macaque and even hitching a ride on her back. The internet exhaled. Maybe the worst was behind him.

Then came this afternoon. At around 3pm on March 7, visitors at Ichikawa City Zoo watched as Punch was attacked and pushed into the pond shortly before feeding time. His neck was bitten, and he screamed loud enough for nearby visitors to hear. It was the kind of setback nobody wanted to see. It also appears to be part of a worrying pattern of dominance behavior that has been unfolding over several days, with the same larger monkey reportedly targeting Punch again and again.

What Happened Today — March 7

The zoo's official X account (@ichikawa_zoo) confirmed the incident in a post this afternoon.

Translated from Japanese, keepers wrote that Punch appeared to fall into the pool before the 3pm feeding, but that by 5pm he was seen playing with monkeys his own age, and that indoors he ate well and ran around. Their words: "the usual energetic Punch."

Footage from visitors who were there told a different story in real time. X user @__mytier__ posted video from the scene, writing: “Punch-kun was attacked and dropped into the water before dinner. Worried he might be injured since his neck was bitten.”

Source: Screenshot from X (@__mytier__ via X), March 7, 2026

Fan account @vinaverdemusic, one of the most closely followed English-language Punch trackers, shared video footage showing what appeared to be a larger monkey biting Punch at the neck and pushing him into the water.

Source: Screenshot from X (@vinaverdemusic via X), March 7, 2026

Shortly afterward, @vinaverdemusic said that after reviewing additional video from the past two days, it appeared the conflict may have been triggered when Punch wandered between older monkeys during feeding periods.

Source: Screenshot from X (@vinaverdemusic via X), March 7, 2026

In primate groups, meal times can heighten tensions, and younger animals sometimes get pushed aside or disciplined if they approach too closely. Even so, the account urged the zoo to continue monitoring Punch closely, noting that he is still very young and may struggle to navigate the troop’s complex social hierarchy.

Meanwhile, fan accounts that have been closely tracking Punch all week began flagging something more troubling. Several believe the same monkey may be responsible for attacks on three consecutive days, with incidents following a pattern: always in the afternoon, and always just before feeding time, when competition for food is highest.

X user @Yuzuru_Mao, whose post gained nearly 4,000 views within an hour, wrote: “The organized hounding by a specific family lineage, and the act of targeting the vital neck area to drop into water, goes beyond ordinary dominance struggles.”

Source: Screenshot from X (@Yuzuru_Mao via X), March 7, 2026

The Good News — Punch Is Okay

By early evening, Punch had been checked and was eating, running, and behaving normally indoors.

Friends named Moe and Momiage, fellow monkeys who have become reliable presences in his life over recent weeks, were seen hugging him after the incident. That video, too, went viral within hours.

As of March 5, multiple accounts have reported that Punch was clinging to his plushie toy less and had begun to socialize more freely with other monkeys, a significant milestone for a baby who spent his first weeks at Monkey Mountain hiding in a cinder block with Oran-Mama pulled in after him for protection. The progress is real.

Photo: Courtesy of Ichikawa City Zoo (@ichikawa_zoo via X)

Who Is Punch? For Anyone Just Finding This Story

Punch was born on July 26, 2025, at Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. He was named after Monkey Punch, the manga artist who created Lupin the Third.

He was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth. Zookeepers believe his mother most likely abandoned him because of a difficult and lengthy labor during a heat wave, and may have prioritized her own survival over continuing to nurse him.

Zookeepers stepped in to hand-rear him and gave him a stuffed toy that he began dragging everywhere he went. That toy, a Djungelskog orangutan plushie from IKEA now known online as "Oran-Mama," became the image that made Punch famous. Videos of him wandering his enclosure clutching the stuffed animal, rejected by his mother and struggling to integrate with other monkeys, spread to millions of people around the world.

Photo: Courtesy of Ichikawa City Zoo (@ichikawa_zoo via X)

On January 19, 2026, the zoo officially began the process of reintegrating Punch into Monkey Mountain, a rocky enclosure housing around 60 Japanese macaques. The transition has never been smooth.

In February, a video of Punch being dragged across the ground by his leg by an older monkey garnered over 11 million views in a single day. The hashtag #がんばれパンチ, meaning #HangInTherePunch, began trending globally.

IKEA Japan donated 33 stuffed toys to the zoo, Google added a search animation to queries about Punch, showering pink hearts from the top of the screen, and the number of visitors to the zoo in February doubled from the previous year.

What the Zoo Has Been Doing

The Ichikawa Zoo has been notably transparent throughout Punch's story, posting daily updates on their official X account (@ichikawa_zoo) in Japanese and fielding an extraordinary amount of international attention for a small municipal zoo east of Tokyo.

Punch quickly became a symbol of loneliness and resilience, and the zoo has seen unprecedented crowds. This morning's posts noted a 15-minute entry queue at 9:45am, asked visitors not to drive, and reminded people of the 10-minute viewing rule at Monkey Mountain so everyone gets a fair turn.

Today the zoo also held a preview of "Osaru-room," a new indoor facility for the monkeys funded through a crowdfunding campaign that raised 10 million yen (around $66,000 USD) last year, with Ichikawa City Mayor Ko Tanaka attending in person.

The zoo has consistently asked the public to cheer Punch on rather than feel sorry for him, and has reiterated that no single monkey has shown serious sustained aggression toward him.

Photo: Courtesy of Ichikawa City Zoo (@ichikawa_zoo via X)

Whether today's incident changes that assessment remains to be seen.

What's clear is that the zoo is dealing with something genuinely difficult. Punch's problems trace primarily to being abandoned by his mother, which left him without the social foundation a young macaque needs to navigate troop hierarchy. The bullying, or what appears to be bullying to human observers, is in part a function of that. He doesn't always know the rules yet. And some of the older monkeys, apparently, are not patient teachers.

What Happens Next

The zoo opens Osaru-room on March 20, designed specifically to improve the living environment for the macaques, a direct result of the crowdfunding campaign and, implicitly, of everything Punch's story brought to light about the challenges of his enclosure. Whether that changes Punch's daily reality is something his global fanbase will be watching very closely.

For now, he's okay. He ate his dinner. He ran around indoors. Moe hugged him. And somewhere on Monkey Mountain, Oran-Mama is waiting for him.

The internet is not done worrying. But for tonight, at least, Punch is fine.

FAQ: Punch the Baby Monkey Update—Attack at Ichikawa Zoo Sparks Concern

Was Punch attacked at the zoo today, March 7?

Yes. Around 3pm on March 7, Punch was attacked by another monkey and dropped into the pond at Monkey Mountain before feeding time. His neck was bitten. The zoo's official account @ichikawa_zoo confirmed the incident and stated that by 5pm Punch was playing with monkeys his own age, and that by evening he had eaten well and was running around normally indoors.

Is Punch okay after today's attack?

Yes. The zoo confirmed Punch showed no injury after the incident. He ate his dinner, ran around, and was seen being hugged by fellow monkeys Moe and Momiage shortly afterward.

Who is Punch the monkey?

Punch is a baby Japanese macaque born on July 26, 2025 at Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. He was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth and raised by zookeepers, who gave him an IKEA stuffed orangutan toy for comfort. Videos of him clinging to the toy while being ignored or bullied by other monkeys went viral in February 2026, making him an international sensation.

Why does Punch get bullied by other monkeys?

Punch was hand-reared by humans rather than his mother, which means he missed the early social education that young macaques receive by watching and clinging to their mothers in the troop. Without that foundation, he doesn't always know the social rules, which leads to conflict with older, more established monkeys.

Where is Ichikawa City Zoo and can I visit to see Punch?

Ichikawa City Zoo is in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, about 20 minutes by train from central Tokyo. It's a 20-minute walk from Omachi Station on the Hokuso Railway Hokuso Line. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30am to 4pm. Admission is 440 yen for adults and 110 yen for children. The zoo currently asks visitors not to drive due to high crowd levels, and asks those at the front of the Monkey Mountain viewing area to rotate after 10 minutes.

What is Punch's stuffed toy and where is it from?

Punch's toy is a Djungelskog stuffed orangutan from IKEA, affectionately nicknamed "Oran-Mama" by fans online. The toy became so associated with Punch that IKEA Japan donated 33 replacements to the zoo in February 2026. Sales of the plushie spiked globally, selling out at most IKEA locations.

Who are the best accounts to follow for Punch updates in English?

The zoo's official account is @ichikawa_zoo and posts in Japanese. For English-language updates, @vinaverdemusic has been one of the most consistent and closely followed fan accounts throughout the week, regularly translating zoo posts and sharing visitor footage.