Monkeys are interesting creatures – cute, mischievous, and sometimes downright obnoxious (anyone who disagrees has obviously never had their laundry torn down by a family of primates when it’s hanging to dry). Many species of primates are also endangered, and then there are questions of animal rights and the usage of primates in medical research. That’s why there’s Monkey Day, a day that’s been dedicated to raising awareness about non-human primates.
Monkey Day has been created to celebrate monkeys, as well as “all things simian,” which includes lemurs, tarsiers, apes, and other non-human primates. It is a great day when it comes to raising awareness about different types of monkeys and primates around the world, as well as the issues they face and how we can help them.
Environmental activists and animal rights activists are especially vocal and passionate about this date. The same goes for art institutions and visual artists. Supporters and celebrates of this date include the Smithsonian Institution, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre Museum, London’s National Portrait Gallery, National Geographic, Greenpeace, and Jane Goodall.
History of Monkey Day
Back in 2000, Casey Sorrow was an art student at Michigan State University, and he ended up writing “Monkey Day” on his friend’s calendar as a prank. But then they actually celebrated the occasion with other art students at MSU, and Sorrow later started collaborating with fellow MSU student on the Fetus-X comic strip, where the holiday was mentioned and popularized. Since then, Monkey Day has been observed internationally as a day to celebrate primates (including monkeys, but also apes, lemurs, and tarsiers).
Sorrow himself still does much to promote the holiday and the cause of primate welfare, and in addition to the Monkey Day website, he also maintains a “Monkeys in the News” blog which discusses primate-related news around the world and comes out with a list of the top ten primate-related news stories from the past year every Monkey Day.
Since Monkey Day was created, it really has gone from strength-to-strength. It is now celebrated in many different corners of the world. This includes Scotland, Turkey, Thailand, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Pakistan, India, Germany, some African countries and Canada. It has been described by the Washington Post as a day to do the following:
“Learn something about these adorable and highly intelligent primates. Or you could use this day to act like a monkey.”
