Punch the monkey has a girlfriend viral zoo animal spotted smooching sweet playmate Momo-chan

The internet’s favorite monkey might have gotten his fairytale ending.Punch — the baby macaque at Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan that went viral for seeking comfort in a plush toy after his mother abandoned him — has been spotted canoodling with another monkey at the zoo.New social media posts show the famous monkey kissing, cuddling and affectionately playing with a female macaque believed to be named Momo-chan, with many calling her Punch’s new girlfriend.In clips posted to social media, the duo was captured hanging out together — and Punch’s beloved stuffed animal even made a cameo.Punch and Momo-chan’s new affair suggests that Punch’s time as a lonesome monkey might have finally ended.“Punch found a girlfriend and you’re still single,” one person quipped on X.Another noted that Momo-chan seems to be a similar color to the plush monkey Punch lovingly carried around.Along with his new companion, some photos and videos circulating online have shown that Punch has started to integrate with the other monkeys in the zoo, clinging less to his toy mama.Born in July 2025, Punch was rejected by his mother after birth, and caretakers at the zoo stepped in to hand-raise him — but his fellow monkeys weren’t as kind at first.They moved Punch into the enclosure with other monkeys and noticed that he was ostracized and struggling to integrate. Heartbreaking videos online have shown some of the other monkeys pushing Punch away when he tried to interact.However, Ichikawa City Zoo insisted that while Punch may have been ostracized by his fellow monkeys, he was never outright bullied.Instead, the behavior represented a “strict hierarchical society” where “dominant individuals show ‘disciplining actions’ toward their subordinates.”“Although Punch has been scolded many times by other monkeys, no single monkey has shown serious aggression toward him,” the zoo said in a statement released on X.“When you observe these disciplinary behaviors fr...