India, Feb. 23 -- The heartbreaking story of Punch, a baby Japanese macaque abandoned by his mother, has captivated the internet over the last few weeks. Punch is a resident of a zoo in Japan, where he has faced bullying from older inhabitants of his enclosure. Clips and photos of the tiny macaque clutching his cherished orangutan plushie have been shared millions of times on social media, sparking an outpouring of love and sympathy from viewers around the world.

Visuals of Punch getting beaten and slapped by older monkeys inside his enclosure at the Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Gardens had gone viral earlier this month. Punch, hand-raised by zoo staff, was given an orangutan plushie for comfort, which the pint-sized primate ha...