Punch is a baby Japanese macaque (also called a snow monkey) living at Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan.

Quick Scoop

  • Species/type: Japanese macaque, a small Old World monkey native to Japan.
  • Nickname: Punch (often written as Punch‑kun in Japanese).
  • Backstory: He was born in July 2025 and was rejected/abandoned by his mother, so keepers hand‑reared him.
  • Why he’s viral now: Videos and photos of Punch clinging to an orange orangutan plush toy as a ā€œsurrogate motherā€ spread widely online and in news stories in February 2026.
  • Current update: The zoo says he’s slowly integrating with the rest of the monkey troop, playing, being groomed, and learning normal monkey social behavior.

So, if you’re wondering ā€œwhat type of monkey is Punch?ā€ — he’s a Japanese macaque , not an orangutan or a fictional ā€œPunch Monkeyā€ from movies.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.