Punch, the baby monkey has captivated international audiences and has shown no signs of releasing the internet from his adorableness. The seven-month-old Japanese macaque’s story has warmed hearts all the world, however, we can’t help but draw comparisons to a disturbing double standard in who (or what) actually receives empathy, and who doesn’t.
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The Root previously told you about Punch; the viral phenomenon whose story escaped “white people Twitter” and has found a home on the Black side of social media. Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, we’ll catch you up quickly.
Described online as only “three apples tall,” Punch is the smallest monkey in his enclosure at Japan’s Ichikawa City Zoo. He was abandoned by his mom after he was born in July 2025 and was ostracized, beaten and even bitten by the other monkeys in the zoo.
He eventually found comfort in an IKEA orangutan plushie given to him by his favorite zookeeper as a surrogate.
Ever since, folks online have followed his near every move. TikTok users made edits of Punch set to John Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy),” IKEA Japan donated 33 replacement orangutans to the zoo and you can grab one for yourself for just $20.
Over on X, hashtag #HanginTherePunch trends and with just one Google search of his name your screen is decorated with falling, heart Punch icons.
But as the clicks on Google’s digital hearts climbs into the tens of millions, a much colder reality is unfolding a few thousand miles away. While many celebrate the zookeepers who provided a plushie…for a monkey…most remain strangely silent about the human children stripped from their parent’s arms at U.S. borders.
According to early 2026 reports from UN human rights experts, nearly 2,500 children remain separated from their families due to federal zero tolerance policies. Those policies allow the Department of Justice to prosecute “all adult aliens apprehended crossing the border illegally, with no exception for asylum seekers or those with minor children.”
Furthermore, recent cuts to legal funding have left another 26,000 children navigating the U.S. immigration system alone, The New York Times reported.
Why is it easier for some folks to demand a happily ever after for a primate in a zoo than it is to demand basic human dignity for a child separated from their parents?
Psychologist Paul Slovic coined it “compassion fade,” a phenomenon where empathy, and the willingness to help, decreases as the number of crisis victims increases. “Large numbers are not good for empathy. People who are far away from us is not good for generating empathy,”Azim Shariff, a social psychologist at the University of British Columbia, told CNN.
Studies show people have a “tendency to offer greater aid to one person who is suffering rather than to a large group with the same needs.”
Even when it comes to the vast amount of lives lost during the Covid-19 pandemic. “When the number of deaths is as large as it is now, it is impossible to craft a vivid picture of each and every one of the individuals lost and all of their affected families,” Emily Balcetis Ph.D. wrote.
“Human hearts can be tapped out,” she added. “It is likely impossible to forget that people are dying every day. The challenge for us personally is to continue to care.”
Therefore, a single monkey with a stuffed toy is a narrative the human brain can actually grasp and seemingly “fix” with a single click of a computer mouse, as opposed to detained children miles away. The latter forces folks to look into an uncomfortable mirror to face a reality most would rather not look into.
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