Tiny Monkey Yuji Finds Comfort in Plush Toy at Mexican Zoo

A tiny patas monkey weighing less than a pound at birth is melting hearts across Mexico as he clings to a stuffed dog for comfort at the Guadalajara Zoo.

Yuji arrived on March 3 weighing just 15.6 ounces. His mother Kamaria, a first-time parent, didn't have the instincts to hold or nurse him properly in those critical first hours.

Zoo staff immediately moved the fragile infant into an incubator kept at a warm 95 degrees Fahrenheit. A team of more than a dozen veterinarians and biologists now provide him 24-hour care, including four bottles of fortified formula daily.

The team gave Yuji something else crucial for his survival: a plush stuffed dog to cuddle. Veterinarian Iván Reynoso explains that infant monkeys cling to their mothers for security at this age, so the soft toy serves as a substitute mom.

"In the absence of his mother, what we do is substitute her with a stuffed toy," Reynoso said. "This is completely natural behavior for him."

Staff rotate between a dog, bear, and monkey plushie to keep them clean. But Yuji's routine stays the same: drinking bottles and napping while wrapped around his fuzzy companion inside a crate equipped with a small hammock and climbing ropes.

Yuji has already more than doubled his birth weight to 23.7 ounces. He's following in the tiny footsteps of Punch, a Japanese macaque who went viral earlier this year for clinging to a stuffed orangutan after his mother rejected him.

Sunny's Take

Social media users are calling Yuji "Mexican Punch" and showering him with love online. Veterinarian Sandra Arely Franco chose his name from the anime series "Jujutsu Kaisen" because the character is known for "unbreakable strength."

As Yuji approaches six months, staff will gradually wean him off the plush toys and transition him to solid foods like fruits and vegetables. Eventually, he'll join the zoo's main patas monkey habitat with 12 adults and three other infants.

The zoo even tried to find another patas mother to adopt him, but the intervention became a matter of survival. "If he was not fed and comforted, it could have had negative consequences for his life," Reynoso said.

For now, this tiny fighter continues proving his namesake right, showing unbreakable strength one bottle and cuddle at a time.