Today marks the start of Chinese New Year, with millions of people around the world taking part in colourful celebrations. Each Chinese New Year is characterised by one of 12 animals which appear in the Chinese Zodiac. This year it’s the Year of the Monkey, the 9th of the 12 animals in the Zodiac.

As well as sharing the monkey sign with celebrity environmentalists Tom Hanks, Bo Derek and Gisele Bündchen, people born under the monkey sign are said to share certain character traits. To mark the start of the New Year, we’ve swung around the Arkive collection to reveal the personality traits people born in the Year of the Monkey share with their wild relatives.

Witty

People born in the Year of the Monkey are thought to have a good sense of humour, like this guy…

…they’re also partial to monkeying around like this pair having a snowball fight…

Japanese macaques play fighting in snow

and they’re not afraid of taking risks…

Barbary macaques playing dangerously near a cliff edge

Intelligent

With expressive faces monkeys are really charismatic but they aren’t just interesting to look at, they are also very intelligent. They are particularly bright when it comes to finding food.

From swimming to find the best food…

Assam macaque swimming

…to washing it before eating it…

Japanese macaque running to sea to clean a sweet potato

…many monkey species know how to feed their appetites. But they also know to make sure they get their vitamins and minerals. Take these gray langurs licking rocks to obtain salt…

Group of gray langurs at natural salt lick

…and this dusky leaf monkey whose found water on tap…

Dusky leaf monkey drinking from tap

Mischievous

The Endangered Barbary macaque is the only native species of primate to occur in Europe. But like its relatives, this monkey has a rather mischievous side. Like all macaques, they have cheek pouches beside the lower teeth that are used to store food when foraging and can hold as much food as the stomach. But why forage when you can just steal? Watch this cheeky monkey steel food from another’s cheek pouch.

Click image to watch video of Barbary macaque stealing food from another’s mouth

Ultimately, monkeys they know how to have a good time…

Click image to watch video

新年好

新年好

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We’ve asked conservation organisations around the world to nominate a species that they believe to be overlooked, underappreciated and unloved, and tell us why they think that they deserve a fair share of the limelight, this Valentine’s Day.

Each nominee’s story is featured on the Arkive blog with information on the species, what makes them so special, the conservation organisation that nominated them and how they are working to save them from extinction.

Click the ‘unloved species’ tag above to see all of the nominations and their blogs.

Once you have perused the blogs you can vote for your favourite to help get them into the top ten unloved species and get them the recognition that they truly deserve! Share your favourite with others using the #LoveSpecies hashtag on Twitter and Facebook and tell them why they should vote for them too. Voting closes on February 14th at 23:59 PST (07:59 GMT).

Join us and our conservation partners in celebrating and raising awareness for some of the world’s most unloved species this Valentine’s Day!

Species: Mangrove finch

Nominated by: Charles Darwin Foundation

Conservation status: Critically Endangered

Why do you love it? The mangrove finch (Camarynchus heliobates) is one of 14 species of Darwin’s finches that only live in the Galapagos Islands. It is the rarest bird in the archipelago with an estimated population of 80 individuals, inhabiting just 30 hectards at two sites on Isabela Island.

What are the threats to the mangrove finch: The main known threats to this species are the introduced parasitic fly, Philornis downsi and the introduced black rat (Rattus rattus).

What are you doing to save it? The Mangrove Finch Project is a bi-institutional project carried out by the Charles Darwin Foundation and Galapagos National Park Directorate in collaboration with San Diego Zoo Global and Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. The project is supported by Galapagos Conservation Trust, The Leona M and Harry B Helmsley Charitable Trust, and The British Embassy in Ecuador.

Find out more about the work of the Charles Darwin Foundation

Discover more of Darwin’s finches on Arkive

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We’ve asked conservation organisations around the world to nominate a species that they believe to be overlooked, underappreciated and unloved, and tell us why they think that they deserve a fair share of the limelight, this Valentine’s Day.

Each nominee’s story is featured on the Arkive blog with information on the species, what makes them so special, the conservation organisation that nominated them and how they are working to save them from extinction.

Click the ‘unloved species’ tag above to see all of the nominations and their blogs.

Once you have perused the blogs you can vote for your favourite to help get them into the top ten unloved species and get them the recognition that they truly deserve! Share your favourite with others using the #LoveSpecies hashtag on Twitter and Facebook and tell them why they should vote for them too. Voting closes on February 14th at 23:59 PST (07:59 GMT).

Join us and our conservation partners in celebrating and raising awareness for some of the world’s most unloved species this Valentine’s Day!

Species: Mountain chicken

Nominated by: Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust

Conservation status: Critically Endangered

Why do you love it? Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but we believe the mountain chicken is a beautiful frog! It’s the largest frog in the Americas and top native terrestrial predator on Montserrat and Dominica and culturally important to the islanders. It has a unique breeding system, with a high degree of parental care making it more like a bird than a frog and living up to its common English moniker. Once abundant across the islands its population has been decimated and its once familiar deep call has disappeared from the night-time.

What are the threats to the mountain chicken? Primary threat is the amphibian fungal disease chytridiomycosis.

What are you doing to save it? The Mountain Chicken Recovery Programme is a partnership between Durrell, ZSL, Chester Zoo, Norden’s Ark and the Governments of Montserrat and Dominica.

One key activity this year is that we want to unite the last two known wild mountain chickens on Montserrat – one male and one female – in the hope that they will breed, and with everyone’s support provide a happy Valentine’s ending for all.

Find out more about Durrell’s work with the mountain chicken

Find out more about the collaborative effort to save the mountain chicken from extinction

Discover more frog and toad species on Arkive

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We’ve asked conservation organisations around the world to nominate a species that they believe to be overlooked, underappreciated and unloved, and tell us why they think that they deserve a fair share of the limelight, this Valentine’s Day.

Each nominee’s story is featured on the Arkive blog with information on the species, what makes them so special, the conservation organisation that nominated them and how they are working to save them from extinction.

Click the ‘unloved species’ tag above to see all of the nominations and their blogs.

Once you have perused the blogs you can vote for your favourite to help get them into the top ten unloved species and get them the recognition that they truly deserve! Share your favourite with others using the #LoveSpecies hashtag on Twitter and Facebook and tell them why they should vote for them too. Voting closes on February 14th at 23:59 PST (07:59 GMT).

Join us and our conservation partners in celebrating and raising awareness for some of the world’s most unloved species this Valentine’s Day!

Species: Smalltooth sawfish

Nominated by: Sharks4Kids

Conservation status: Critically Endangered

Why do you love it? The smalltooth sawfish is a perfect ambassador for the diverse, weird and wonderful world of elasmobranchs. The sawfish is a remarkable creature and we’ve been fortunate enough to see a couple in the wild. Most students know about tiger sharks and great whites, but we want their knowledge, curiosity and compassion to spread beyond the celebrity sharks.

What are the threats to the smalltooth sawfish? Their range and population has been drastically reduced over the last century due to fishing. Once a targeted species, they are now mostly caught as bycatch. Because of the teeth on their rostrum, they are easily caught in nets, including gill nets and trawling equipment. Habitat loss has also had an impact, with development removing critical mangrove and estuary areas.

What are you doing to save it? Our main focus is to teach students all around the world about elasmobranchs, the threats they face and how people can help. We do a lot of work with students in Florida and The Bahamas, so the smalltooth sawfish is a very relevant species to discuss. We have created posters and information sheets for kids and teachers to have in the classroom, as well as collaborating with other organisations like Shark Advocates International to promote better global protection of the 5 species of sawfish, all listed as Critically Endangered. We have also done blog interviews with researchers studying these animals, as a way of sharing even more information about these incredible creatures.

Find out more about Sharks4Kids and their conservation work

Discover more ray and skate species on Arkive

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We’ve asked conservation organisations around the world to nominate a species that they believe to be overlooked, underappreciated and unloved, and tell us why they think that they deserve a fair share of the limelight, this Valentine’s Day.

Each nominee’s story is featured on the Arkive blog with information on the species, what makes them so special, the conservation organisation that nominated them and how they are working to save them from extinction.

Click the ‘unloved species’ tag above to see all of the nominations and their blogs.

Once you have perused the blogs you can vote for your favourite to help get them into the top ten unloved species and get them the recognition that they truly deserve! Share your favourite with others using the #LoveSpecies hashtag on Twitter and Facebook and tell them why they should vote for them too. Voting closes on February 14th at 23:59 PST (07:59 GMT).

Join us and our conservation partners in celebrating and raising awareness for some of the world’s most unloved species this Valentine’s Day!

Species: Yellow-shouldered parrot

Nominated by: Provita

Conservation status: Vulnerable (IUCN Red List), Endangered (Venezuelan Red Book)

Why do you love it? This is the first species that we actively worked on, and whose population has recovered due to our work. Our first population surveys in the late 80s showed that 650 to 700 birds lived on Margarita Island, the site of Provita’s hand-on conservation projects during the last 3 decades. At present, numbers have reached 1600 to 1700 birds. We feel a great sense of accomplishment and responsibility.

Poaching pressure is still very high and habitat conversion has not ceased, but through a combination of nest monitoring, habitat restoration and conservation education, risk of extinction has decreased. A major alliance has been built around the parrot on Margarita. From the police and military, to universities, state and municipal government, the private sector, civil society and local communities, numerous people and institutions work together every year. Our work on behalf of the yellow-shouldered parrot symbolises Provita’s conservation model and shows that long-term, participatory engagement works to recover threatened species. This is the species for which we are better-known.

What are the threats to the yellow-shouldered parrot? Primarily the poaching of nestlings for the pet trade, and habitat conversion by open-sky sand-mining (which removes all the vegetation, including nesting trees).

What are you doing to save it? We have been working on behalf of the yellow-shouldered parrots since the late 80s. We protect nests from poachers during the breeding season (between April and August), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We engage with local schools in environmental education and development of greenhouses to raise native trees for habitat restoration. We engage with land owners that run mining operations and assist them in ecological restoration of degraded lands. We organise a major parrot conservation festival every year that celebrates the breeding season’s success and engages schools and cultural organisations throughout the island. We are present on the mass media regularly, to share our work and encourage participation in the parrot festival and in habitat restoration campaigns. We also own 730 hectares of dry forests and have established the Characacual Community Conservation Area (CCCA), which we manage in collaboration with the EcoGuardians Cooperative (ex-poachers that now offer their professional services to field projects) and the people of the town El Horcón, the nearest settlement to CCCA.

Find out more about Provita

Discover more parrot and parakeet species on Arkive

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