Japan’s monkey sensation Punch gets thousands of birthday messages as he turns 1 on Sunday

ICHIKAWA, Japan (AP) — Punch, the orphaned monkey at a Japanese zoo that stole many people’s hearts by clinging to an orangutan plushie, is marking his first birthday with a flood of well-wishing messages from his fans around the world — even though he now has friends and is no longer holding on to the toy.

Punch was abandoned by his mother after his birth a year ago Sunday, presumably because of exhaustion. Zookeepers nursed him and gave him the toy to develop his gripping ability, something newborn macaques need to survive.

Punch is no longer a plump baby with the plushie and he’s hard to distinguish from other monkeys as he mingles and plays with them at an enclosure at the Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Garden.

He still attracts big crowds, and has received some 2,500 birthday cards from inside and outside Japan, said Takashi Yasunaga, head of the zoo. Many of the cards and other messages fill the walls at an indoor Punch birthday exhibit where visitors can also view video chronicling Punch from his earliest days.

“As Punch was trying very hard struggling to live each day, his two keepers did everything they can while other staff watched over him,” Yasunaga said, recalling the past year. “It was extremely hot when Punch was born. The memory is still clear to me as the hot season returns.”

In mid-January, after six months of special care by his keepers, Punch was placed into the zoo’s monkey enclosure to join some 50 other monkeys — a challenge that led to his fame.

In February, images of Punch with his toy posted by the zoo on social media immediately became a sensation and drove tens of thousand of visitors to the zoo, half of them from overseas, Yasunaga said.

When other monkeys shooed the baby away, Punch rushed back to the toy orangutan, hugging it for comfort. Fans cheered him with a #HangInTherePunch tag on social media.

It was not just the cuteness factor of seeing Punch with his toy, but also his lone struggle to be gradually accepted by others that struck a chord, fans say.

Kumi Ishizawa, a Kobe resident who was at the birthday exhibit, said she found Punch on social media earlier this year. From then on, overcoming her illness to come see him had become her goal.

“He moved me ... I kept on telling myself that I’m going to get well and come visit to see Punch,” said Ishizawa, who has since recovered and dropped by the zoo after wrapping up a business trip. “And here I am, I made it. I’m very happy I could finally see him in person.”

Yeye Lights, a longtime resident in the city, had never visited the zoo until she became a Punch fan and now has an annual visitor pass. She was hooked by Punch after her daughter in the Philippines told her about the monkey.

“I have a cake for Punch-kun, I’m celebrating with my friends,” Lights said, using an affectionate Japanese honorific for boys. She thanked the monkey’s two carers for taking good care of him.

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Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.