Punch the abandoned baby monkey has been winning hearts - and breaking them - all over the world after being spotted hugging an orangutan toy given to him as a substitute for his mother.
The young Japanese macaque at Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan went viral after videos showed him playing with the soft toy. Keepers said he had struggled to bond with the other monkeys in his enclosure.
The clips have been viewed and liked millions of times, with people showing their support by using #punchthemonkey and a Japanese hashtag that translates to #hangintherepunch. One video of Punch shared by an Australian media outlet on TikTok has had over 8 million likes.
BBC Bitesize Other Side of the Story has taken a trip back in time to recall other animals who have gone viral. How many have you heard of?
Paul the octopus
Paul, an octopus who seemed to have a knack for predicting the outcome of football matches, became an unlikely star of the 2010 World Cup. The German zoo cephalopod made his predictions by choosing a mussel from one of two boxes bearing the flags of the competing nations.
After Spain defeated Germany in the semi-final, BBC News reported that there were calls for Paul to be “roasted with lemon juice and olive oil or turned into a plate of paella.” He was instead rewarded for his efforts with his very own replica World Cup trophy.
Moo Deng
Moo Deng the pygmy hippo became an internet sensation in 2024 after clips showing off her playful personality went viral - inspiring memes, songs and merchandise. The hashtag #moodeng brings up more than 67,000 posts on Instagram and over 55,000 on TikTok.
Bosses at Khao Kheow Open Zoo near the city of Pattaya, Thailand said visitor numbers had nearly doubled in the three months after her birth. Beauty brands also joined in the craze, with Sephora suggesting four blushers to get Moo Deng's flushed look.
Pygmy hippos, otherwise known as dwarf hippos, are native to West Africa. They are classified as "endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Laughing orangutan
The sight of an orangutan bursting into laughter over a magic trick went viral back in 2015. It was featured in a 39 second clip filmed at Barcelona Zoo.
It shows the ape watching visitor Dan Zaleski placing a chestnut into a foam cup. After putting the lid on and shaking it, he then removes the top to show that the object has vanished.
The video was uploaded to YouTube and has had 175 million views and more than 40,000 comments.
April the giraffe
April was the world's most famous giraffe in 2017 as millions of viewers waited for her to give birth.
The Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York, put a live stream of the mum-to-be's pen on YouTube on 24 February 2017. Although the page is currently used as a "Tiger Cam" and we can't see figures from the time, BBC News reported that the web camera footage had almost 20 million views in just over a week.
April finally delivered her calf - a boy - on 15 April 2017.
Panda nannies
Could being a panda nanny be the happiest job in the world? That's what people were talking about in 2014 after videos were shared showing the work of panda caregivers at the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Ya'an, China.
One of the videos, uploaded to YouTube with the title 'What is the happiest job in the world? A panda nanny!' has had over two million views.
Applicants were asked to be at least 22 years old and have writing and photography skills along with "some basic knowledge of pandas" according to Xinhua News Agency, China's official state news agency. The story was shared by news outlets all over the world.
..and other World Cup animals
Marcus the mystic pig
Marcus the micro pig became known for his ability to sniff out sporting winners. In 2018, he picked World Cup semi-finalists by eating apples marked with the flags of all the teams.
Nelly the ‘psychic’ elephant
In 2014 Nelly the elephant was hailed for her “psychic” ability to predict the results of football matches. She made her selections by kicking a ball into a goal at her home in Serengeti Park in Hanover, Germany.
Flopsy the ‘Predictaroo’
Flopsy, who was later renamed Predictaroo, made her picks at Australia Zoo in 2014 by opting for one of two bowls of food labelled with team names. Her official X account doesn’t have any posts as of February 2026 but it still has over 5,000 followers.
Why do animal stories go viral?
Stories about animals, and especially videos, often go viral on social media because they're fun to watch and share, especially if you love animals.
They also prompt an emotional response - Punch's situation also feels very human and familiar to us, even when we know it involves zoo animals. His need for comfort and what seems like a struggle to make friends is something many of us will be able to relate to.
The more interactions you make with this sort of content on social media, the more you will see it on your fyp. This is because social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram use algorithms to suggest similar content to what you have previously engaged with.
This article was published in February 2026
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