Monkey Day is a celebration of everything monkey. Unlike many other conservation and wildlife days, it has a fun atmosphere, with a focus on doing things a little bit wild – or, a little bit “monkey”. There is a serious side to it, with people promoting monkey conservation and highlighting the risks that many monkeys face around the world. The ice-breaker for those important issues, however, is the fun and general silliness that are also part of the day.
Held on the 14th December each year, the origins of the day are not fully known, but it appears to be an occasion that really did have humble (and, keeping with the theme, not very serious) beginnings. As the story goes, Monkey Day started as a practical joke, with an art student writing Monkey Day on his friend's calendar. It took off at the university, with students embracing the day by dressing up and generally fooling around.
It soon became much bigger, and now the day has become an important annual event on the conservation world calendar.
What It Is About
Monkey Day still has a light-hearted feel, but behind the fun and silliness are serious issues. The fun element gives space and attention to the serious issues and the work undertaken by a range of different organisations in a way that is not always achieved.
This includes educating people on controversial issues like medical research, raising awareness of the often terrible conditions that monkeys endure, all in the pursuit of science.
Other goals of the day include promoting monkey conservation and educating people about what is one of the best-loved animals on the planet.
How Monkey Day Is Celebrated
The first thing you might notice when you start looking into Monkey Day is that monkeys are not the only animals talked about or focused on. Animals like apes and lemurs are also included, widening the appeal.
People plan various activities to take part in Monkey Day - in fact, anything with a monkey theme will do. Some of them are fairly significant, though. An example is the 2005 blockbuster movie King Kong. It was released on the 14th of December, Monkey Day. Crystal the Monkey, from the Night at the Museum movies, has also been involved in promoting the day and raising awareness.
Zoos around the world participate as well, encouraging children to have fun with the day while also raising awareness.
Fundraising is another important part of the celebrations. People and organisations plan events each year for the 14th of December to raise money for various monkey conservation and protection projects around the world.
In comparison to other days celebrated and marked by conservationists and animal lovers, Monkey Day is small. People take part in places all over the world, but it is far from being global. Most of the action, events, and enthusiasm for the day are in the US, where it all started.
Monkey Day is growing in popularity though, because of the importance of the subject, and because it takes an unashamedly light-hearted approach. The ethos is that monkeys are fun and funny animals, and people can learn about them and proect them by being fun and funny too.
