ICHIKAWA, Japan – It was feeding time on Monkey Mountain at the Ichikawa City Zoo. Grunts and squeals broke out among the 56 resident macaques as a zookeeper made the rounds with a bucket of apples, sweet potatoes and cabbage.

Moments later, Monkey Mountain’s most famous resident emerged: Punch, the now 9-month-old macaque who became an internet sensation after he was abandoned by his mother at birth and turned to an orangutan toy for comfort.

“Look at him go!” said David Lena, 11, from Spain, who was visiting the zoo with his parents in the leafy suburbs of Tokyo for the third time in a week. “I want to hold him so badly!”

Punch twirled and leaped into the air. He hung upside down while chomping on a biscuit. He latched onto a zookeeper’s arm and paraded around the enclosure.

Punch’s journey began in July, when zoo officials said his mother abandoned him because of a difficult labour during a heat wave. He was reintroduced to the troop in January, but without his mother’s guidance, he had a difficult time integrating, often playing by himself.

In Japan, he is now affectionately known as Punch-kun – kun is a term of endearment for boys. He has inspired “Team Punch” T-shirts, social media stickers and action figures. Ikea sold out of the orangutan toy that he made famous. Hundreds of people have sent letters and drawings to the zoo.

Celebrity is no small thing for a 3kg macaque. It has come with hordes of photo-seeking fans, an abundance of gossip, and comedic scrutiny – Saturday Night Live pretended to interview Pun...