Japan zoo shares another major update on Punch the viral monkey and it’s finally good news!

Everyone is still obsessed with Punch, the monkey at a Japanese zoo who went viral after getting rejected by his mum. And there has just been a major update!

The Ichikawa City Zoo near Tokyo, where he lives, revealed that Punch is now making friends! Yep, he’s finally integrating with the rest of the group. How am I this happy for a random snow monkey in Japan?

They shared three pictures of the baby Japanese macaque playing with a new friend, and one of them was even giving him a piggyback. My heart is so full. 

“It seems he slightly scraped his nose, so we lightly disinfected it. He’s eating his food in heaps, and as always, full of his mischievous energy. He even made a new friend among the baby monkeys and was playing very happily,” they wrote in the caption.

3/1(日)のパンチ
飼育員「少し鼻を擦りむいてしまったようなので軽く消毒をしました。ごはんはモリモリ食べていますし、相変わらずのワンパクっぷりですね。新しい子ザルの友達もでき、とても楽しそうに遊んでいました」#市川市動植物園#がんばれパンチ pic.twitter.com/vKvhBYOS66

— 市川市動植物園（公式） (@ichikawa_zoo) March 1, 2026

That update was on Sunday, 1st March, so it looks like Punch is finally well on the way to being accepted by the group and living his happy monkey life. Thank god.

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The snow monkey was born on 26th July 2025 and raised by staff at the Ichikawa City Zoo because he was abandoned by his own mother.

They fed him and gave him an oranguatan teddy from IKEA to keep him company, which became his best friend when he was eventually let into the enclosure with the other monkeys.

Pictures of Punch dragging the huge plushie around the enclosure went viral online, and that’s how everyone came to know and love the Japanese macaque.

So, it looks like the story is finally complete. Punch has made friends, and we can all stop worrying about him now. But if the zoo can please carry on posting pictures of him for the rest of his life, that would be great. He’s the world’s pet now.

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Credit: Ichikawa City Zoo/Twitter