Japan's Viral Monkey Punch Turns 1, Receives Over 2,500 Birthday Cards

CHIBA (Japan), July 27 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- The viral Japanese monkey Punch marked his first birthday Sunday at a zoo near Tokyo, receiving over 2,500 messages from well-wishers within and outside Japan, Kyodo News reported.

Punch went viral for clinging to an orangutan plushie after being abandoned by his mother, but has become accustomed to living in a group, according to Ichikawa City Zoo. The zoo in Chiba Prefecture exhibited the messages at a corner of the facility.

Punch has recently started spending time with other baby monkeys and lying down on his back, city officials said. "He is acquiring sociability and finding his own place within the troop," Takashi Yasunaga, one of the officials, said.

The zoo held no birthday event for Punch based on its policy of caring for all animals equally. It invited people to send messages instead and received many words of encouragement including from Britain and Canada, some with hand-drawn illustrations.

The messages will be shown until Aug 30.

-- BERNAMA-KYODO