The heartwarming story of Punch, the tiny macaque monkey who bonded with a stuffed orangutan after being rejected by his mother, has captured hearts around the world. Now other zoos are joining the trend by giving their own animals similar plush companions — and the results are just as adorable.
That’s exactly what happened at the San Francisco Zoo, where caretakers decided to surprise two Coquerel’s sifaka lemurs named Neil and Karen with their very own orangutan stuffed toy from IKEA.
A video showing the lemurs meeting their new plush friend has quickly started charming people online.
Inspired by Punch’s touching story at Japan’s Ichikawa Zoo, San Francisco Zoo staff wanted to see how their lemurs would react to a similar toy.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
At first, Neil and Karen weren’t quite sure what to make of the strange new addition to their habitat.
The curious lemurs cautiously approached the stuffed orangutan, sniffing and gently poking it while trying to figure out what exactly it was.
But after a little time, the pair began warming up to the plush toy and started interacting with it more playfully.
The moment, captured on video, quickly proved irresistible for viewers.
Watching the lemurs carefully investigate their new stuffed friend — and slowly start playing with it — had social media users melting.
Many people flooded the comments to share how adorable the scene was, while others joked about the animals getting into some classic “monkey business.”
Whether it’s a baby macaque finding comfort in a plush toy or curious lemurs discovering a new playmate, one thing is clear: animals with stuffed animals are guaranteed to make the internet smile.