AZUMINO, Japan, March 10 (Reuters) - Punch the baby snow monkey and his stuffed orangutan have captured hearts around the world, spawned memes and even won over the White House with their charm. But in the wild,

Over the past few weeks, a baby macaque at Japan’s Ichikawa City Zoo named Punch has taken the internet by storm. Viral videos capture the 7-month-old monkey getting shoved away by older members of his group and turning to a stuffed orangutan toy for comfort.

The zoo says Punch is adjusting to troop life amid growing attention, with staff insisting “animal welfare is the top priority” following visitor concerns.

Punch, a baby Japanese macaque at Ichikawa City Zoo, has become an internet sensation, even as wild snow monkeys in Japan face culling due to population concerns.

Japanese snow monkeys don’t just soak in hot springs to escape the winter chill — their steamy spa sessions may also be reshaping their invisible world. Researchers in Japan found that macaques who regularly bathe show subtle but intriguing differences in lice patterns and gut bacteria compared to those who stay dry.