The holiday was created and popularized in 2000 by artists Casey Sorrow and Eric Millikin while they were students at Michigan State University. They jokingly marked Monkey Day on a friend's calendar and then celebrated the day for the first time with other students by drawing monkeys, wearing costumes, and imitating monkey behavior. The holiday has continued to gain popularity each year as Sorrow and Millikin have incorporated Monkey Day into their illustrations and comics, which they have published online and exhibited at international exhibitions with other artists. Monkey Day has gained popularity among environmentalists, animal rights and environmental activists, and artists. Supporters of Monkey Day include Jane Goodall, Greenpeace, National Geographic, the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian Institution. And zoos around the world are holding events for Ape Day, including telling stories about monkeys to draw attention to the dangers faced by primates around the world, and also holding events to improve the conditions for keeping monkeys.
Mykolaiv Zoo traditionally joins in celebrating Ape Day – we organized an enrichment of our primates’ habitat for the holiday. In honor of the holiday, the monkeys received delicious gifts from the holiday elves – young biologists of the zoo.
And we invite you to view photos of our monkeys and visit them. It’s warm in the winter room of the Primate Department!
