Monkey Day

Monkey Day

Monkey Day is an unofficial international holiday celebrated on December 14. The holiday was created and popularized in 2000 by artists Casey Sorrow and Eric Millikin. Many zoos hold annual Monkey Day events to educate children about wildlife issues and encourage people to adopt monkeys.

About Monkey Day in brief

Summary Monkey DayMonkey Day is an unofficial international holiday celebrated on December 14. The holiday was created and popularized in 2000 by artists Casey Sorrow and Eric Millikin when they were art students at Michigan State University. Monkey Day celebrates monkeys and other non-human primates such as apes, tarsiers, and lemurs. Many zoos hold annual Monkey Day events to educate children about wildlife issues and encourage people to adopt monkeys. The National Zoo & Aquarium in Australia holds a range of activities and educational talks, raising awareness for all primates and raising money for conserving critically endangered species like Cotton-top Tamarins in Columbia. In 2008, the official Monkey Day celebrations included an auction and silent auction to benefit the Chimps Inc.

animal sanctuary; the auction included art by human artists as well as paintings from chimps Jackson and Kimie, residents of the sanctuary. For 2013, the International Protection League is celebrating Monkey Day by offering life-drawing classes where people can draw portraits of Gary the gibbon and raise money for conservation by offering a free banana with each purchase. The official World Monkey Day celebration includes art competitions and educational events about monkeys, including over a hundred children wearing monkey masks, poetry readings about monkeys and performances to highlight the threats monkeys face.