Japan's Ichikawa City Zoo is the latest zoo to benefit from one of their animals having a viral moment online. This time the animal star is Punch, a baby snow monkey who started getting a lot of attention earlier this year due in part to his sad origin story: He was abandoned by his mother shortly after his birth last summer, and in her absence Punch got attached to a stuffed orangutan toy from IKEA. Other macaques at the zoo, oblivious to the outcast's rising fame, have been documented bullying poor Punch. But in recent weeks, the folks at Ichikawa say Punch has been doing a much better job socializing, he's clinging to his plushie less often, and he's even able to go a full day without getting bullied. Now Punch is hanging out with real-deal celebrities.
Yesterday Lisa from Blackpink posted photos on her Instagram stories of herself visiting the macaque exhibit at Ichikawa City Zoo, holding up an orangutan plushie in Punch's honor. Lisa is not the only musician to proclaim solidarity with Punch; like from the massive queues of visitors outside of the zoo, David Byrne and Noah Kahan held some Punch-honoring plushies on the latest Graham Norton. Judas Priest’s Rob Halford has also showed off his Punch merch. I hope all the other monkeys are jealous and regret ostracizing their most famous peer. See for yourself below.
