Why the internet can’t stop crying over Punch the Monkey: Oxford professor explains the science behind the obsession

One moment he’s being swatted away by another monkey. The next, he’s curled up in a quiet hug. Either way, Punch has the uncanny ability to leave thousands of humans teary-eyed, mourning his loneliness from behind glowing phone screens.From maternal rejection at birth to finding comfort in an IKEA plush toy whose soft texture became his emotional anchor, Panchi-kun, a baby macaque at Ichikawa City Zoo near Tokyo — has transformed from just another vulnerable animal into a global emotional phenomenon.Now, no update feels small. A hug. A step forward. A moment of play. Each becomes an event.And as viewers refresh their feeds in search of the next sign of hope in his story, an Oxford neuroscientist has explained why Punch has such an extraordinary hold on the human heart.Morten Kringelbach, Professor of Neuroscience at Linacre College and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, has explained what happens in your brain when you watch Punch the Monkey. Why do we find Punch so cute? Well, according to the professor, Punch looks like a baby. When humans look at babies or things that are juvenile like baby monkeys or kittens, the emotional part of the brain, "your orbitofrontal cortex," begins to be activated after the seventh of a second, which is before they become conscious. Thus, when humans have that experience they can't help but go "aww". Additionally, opening yourself up to the feelings of cuteness, also brings along larger feelings of empathy and compassion. "The reason why we find this story of Punch heartwarming is that it reminds us of it is really to be human, to care for other things, seeing that in animals of course, really touches our heartstrings," said the doctor in a video shared by the University of Oxford on X. According to the Journal of Psychiatric Neuroscience and Therapeutics, the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) represents expected reward value, outcome reward value, non-reward, and punishment and is thus the key cortical system in human emotion and emotional disorders. It is the key brain area in emotion and for humans who are wired to empathise with babies, especially those who are infants and helpless, Punch is the ideal candidate for loads of warmth and love. The response is highly shaped by emotional bonding, parental instinct and tendency to humanise and personalise incidents. One of the main reasons Punch's story triggers the human obsession for a happy ending. Happiness is a welcome emotion, especially when it comes after a time of struggle and sadness. “It turns out that people want happy endings,” said Martin Vestergaard, a cognitive and behavioural neuroscientist at Cambridge University.In 1993, behavioural economists George Loewenstein and Drazen Prelec published a paper in Psychological Review, suggesting that people prefer an improving trend or sequence in experiences, rather than a decreasing trend, because they revel in the anticipation of a positive event. Punch was born in July 2025 and quickly rejected by his mother, a devastating start for a Japanese macaque. Among the species, survival depends heavily on maternal bonding and social learning both of which require a female figure. He was hand-raised by zoo keepers and relied on a plush IKEA orangutan dubbed "Ora-mama" for comfort and security. He was introduced to the zoo's 'Monkey Mountain' in January and tried bonding with other members of his troop only to be rejected or bullied by them, videos of which went viral online. He often ran back to his plushie mom or waited for the zookeeper to arrive so he could latch on to him. This is where personalisation, a pattern of the human mind comes to life. Humans see the world as happening not around them, but to them. They internalise events they encounter- words, actions, developments, problems and magnify our roles in them. Not just that, they also take responsibility for how it went down, especially when it is a negative event. Punch's experiences of rejection, isolation, loneliness and unhappiness are not just humans watching an animal suffer. It's them finding moments they felt similar emotions and internalising themselves as another Punch. Rejected by a family member, scolded by the boss, separated by a friend group, all feelings came to life as they saw Punch cling to a plushie, just like they cling to themselves. Probably this is why the $19.99 plushie was sold out at IKEA stores in numerous countries worldwide. Moreover, viewers are so obsessed with the happy ending that rather than letting nature take its course, they have offered to intervene, to adopt the little baby monkey and save him from the emotional atrocities. While Tristan Tate, brother of controversial influencer Andrew Tate offered to buy out Punch for $250,000, American activist Ryan Fournier offered $50,000 to adopt him.Since that wasn't possible, people still cling to every video of the monkey that comes alive on the internet. His getting a hug, being protected, playing around with a stick and more. And it seems they will, until Punch finds acceptance, holding hope that their own might too.