Guys, there’s a new viral baby monkey called Yuji and my heart can’t take this again

Just as we all got over the heartbreak of Punch, there’s a new viral monkey in Mexico called Yuji who has been given a dog toy after being abandoned by his mother. Not again.

Punch, a baby snow monkey at the Ichikawa City Zoo near Tokyo in Japan, captured the whole world’s hearts earlier this year after he was spotted dragging an orangutan teddy around his enclosure. He was raised by staff at the zoo and given the plushy to keep him company as he was rejected by all the other monkeys.

Just weeks later, pictures of Yuji are going viral, a newborn patas monkey who is basically in exactly the same position. He was born on 3rd March at the Guadalajara Zoo in Mexico and is being raised by humans after being abandoned by his mother. Staff have given him a dog toy to socialise him.

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A post shared by Zoológico Guadalajara (@zoologicoguadalajara)

Adorable videos show him being fed milk in a bottle while hugging his dog teddy, and he’s already winning everyone over. Here we go again.

In an Instagram post this week, the zoo wrote: “Yuji keeps growing… and stealing hearts! At @zoologicoguadalajara we continue to take care of him with specialised care, constant support and a team that works with dedication at every stage of his development.”

A baby patas monkey Yuji at Guadalajara Zoo, Mexico is being hand raised after his first-time mother couldn’t care for him.

He is around 5–6 weeks old and being fed around the clock. The teddy bear he holds gives comfort and replaces maternal contact.pic.twitter.com/nKNpibrOKP

— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) April 14, 2026

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One of the vets at the Guadalajara Zoo in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, told Reuters that giving monkeys stuffed toys is actually really effective.

“[Baby monkeys] cling, and at that age, all the security they have comes from their mother. So in the absence of their mother, what we do is substitute her with a stuffed toy. This is completely natural behavior for him,” he said.

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A post shared by Zoológico Guadalajara (@zoologicoguadalajara)

“He needs to feel sheltered and safe in order to move around and even to feed himself. If you noticed, he clings completely to his stuffed toy. This toy will gradually be removed so that when he reaches an appropriate age, he can let go of it completely and integrate with other petas monkeys.”

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Featured image credit: Guadalajara Zoo/Instagram