Camille Naredo

Article (news)

Punch

Reuters Wires

Shoppers have gone bananas for an IKEA orangutan plush toy on Tuesday (February 24), after a baby Japanese monkey went viral after adopting one as its mother figure. Punch, a seven-month old baby Japanese macaque, was abandoned by his mother at the Ichikawa City Zoo. When an onlooker noticed and alerted zookeepers, they swung into action.Japanese baby macaques typically cling to their mothers to build muscle strength and for a sense of security, so Punch needed a swift intervention, zookeeper Kosuke Shikano said. The keepers experimented with substitutes including rolled-up towels and other stuffed animals before settling on the orange, bug-eyed orangutan, sold by Swedish furniture brand IKEA.Videos of the dynamic duo have gone viral, prompting a surge of visitors to the zoo. The toy&#x27;s popularity has sparked a run on the same orangutan model at IKEA stores, with the plush selling out in multiple countries, according to local media.In Singapore, an IKEA sales associate said the plush had been completely sold out since Monday (February 23). Punch has had some differences with the other monkeys as he has tried to communicate with them, but zookeepers say that is part of the learning process and he is steadily integrating with the troop.<div>(Production: Nicoco Chan, Tom Bateman, Rikako Maruyama)</div>

Shoppers have gone bananas for an IKEA orangutan plush toy on Tuesday (February 24), after a baby Japanese monkey went viral after adopting one as its mother figure.

Shoppers have gone bananas for an IKEA orangutan plush toy on Tuesday (February 24), after a baby Japanese monkey went viral after adopting one as its mother figure.

IKEA sells out viral orangutan plushie favored by Punch, the abandoned monkey

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IKEA sells out viral orangutan plushie favored by Punch, the abandoned monkey

Reuters

Published Feb 24, 2026 03:31 PM PHT

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monkey

IKEA

Punch

orangutan plushie

Japanese macaque

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