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The Golden Snub-nosed Monkey Meme: A History
Posted on Jul 19, 2024 Updated on Jul 19, 2024, 2:43 pm CDT
The golden snub-nosed monkey meme emerged from a 2021 viral video of a golden snub-nosed monkey accepting and eating handfuls of berries from a human. His adorable human-like interaction had sparked memes ranging from the "you're so precious I can't stand it" to the "monkey is gonna steal yo girl" variety.
@zachsilberberg/X The original video of the Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey eating berries The original compilation video from April 9th, 2021 (and possibly, the entire GOLDEN MONKEY account) that the golden snub-nosed monkey meme came from has been deleted from YouTube after the video went viral, amassing well over 13,000 views within just four days of the internet picking it up.
Luckily, netizens uploaded the clip of the adorably pudgy little monkey on a variety of websites before it disappeared from the internet for good…although, once again, many of the original accounts that made the monkey go viral have also been suspended from X and TikTok.
The clip in full was reuploaded to YouTube by @SoggyToothpicks69 on April 15th, 2021, and has racked up well over 7.4 million views.
@silentrival/Twitter 
@silentrival/Twitter 
@silentrival/Twitter In the video, the stout golden snub-nosed monkey looks up at the person recording the video with his dark, soulful eyes, reaching out one furry hand until he is handed some berries, which he promptly scarfs down with audible munches before reaching out his hand once more to demand more.
History of the golden snub-nosed monkey memeWhile the tweets and various posts that went viral no longer remain, we can piece together some of the interactions related to this little monkey through a bit of internet sleuthing.
Twitter user @King_Hehehe replied to one of the original viral posts after noticing people fawning over the precious interaction, saying, "To those asking in the comments, this looks like a very well-fed golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana), indigenous to central China!"
Golden snub-nosed monkey meme soundWhile the posturing and politely demanding expression on this golden snub-nosed monkey's face make it a meme in its own right, you have to turn on the sound to hear the little man chomping away at the berries he's been handed.
TikToker @mndiaye_97, known for the amusing ways he talks about various animals and the fascinating amount of research he does about them for each video, gave a deep-dive about the critters, amassing over 1.6 million views and 1.7k comments.
@mndiaye_97 #monkey#nature#learnontiktok ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The MonkeyA parody TikTok account by someone who does a Snoop Dogg impersonation (@snoopexplains) shared the video of the golden snub-nosed monkey with a voiceover explaining what it is while also talking about how it looks eerily like a Star Wards creature, something that a lot of folks agreed with. The video ended up seeing 44.3k views.
@snoopexplains Snoop Explains -Golden Snub Nose Monkey #snoopexplains #OC #originalcontent #funny #animals #amazing #learn #Monkey #fypage #foryou #blackhistorymonth ♬ original sound – Snoop ExplainsAnother TikToker, @tootymcnooty, shared a set of 2D RPG-style "encounter" videos where the viewer "interacts" with the golden snub-nosed monkey, using the sound of the original video's monkey munching on berries in the clip.
@tootymcnootyWill you give Monke the Berry? 🦧
♬ Nen ten dawgs – MeepmurpIn the second clip, they created an alternate ending to the original video, where the viewer refuses to give more berries to the demanding primate, and in retaliation, it attacks.
@tootymcnootyThis is what happens when you don't give the monke a beeey 🦧🚫🫐
♬ Nen ten dawgs – Meepmurp Monkey memes and reactionsPeople couldn't get enough of the golden snub-nosed monkey when he went viral, and understandably so. Below are some of the best and funniest reactions, drawings, and memes to the golden snub-nosed monkey.
@unliterate/Twitter 
@unliterate/Twitter 
@zachsilberberg/Twitter 
@zachsilberberg/Twitter 
@pennepost/Twitter Folks made references to a variety of media sources when they saw this chunky little man, from Star Wars to The Golden Compass.
@pennepost/Twitter 
@CyberPunkCortes/X 
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@IGanaldrippp/X More monkey memes: The Monkey Who Went Into The Cold
This story appears in the February 2011 issue of National Geographic magazine.Tucked high in the Qin Ling Mountains of central China, a nimble primate with a peculiar mug has conquered a pitiless landscape. The golden snub-nosed monkey is one of five related species—remnants of once widespread populations whose ranges were squeezed by climate change after the last ice age. Enduring groups, living in territorial bands that can top 400 animals, are being squeezed again by logging, human settlement, and hunters wanting meat, bones (said to have medicinal properties), and luxurious fur. Many have been pushed into high-altitude isolation, where they leap across branches, traverse icy rivers, and weather long winters at nearly 10,000 feet, shielded by that coveted coat.
About 20,000 of the golden variety remain on Earth. Some 4,000 inhabit the mountainous region where Chinese officials set up the Zhouzhi National Nature Reserve to protect the species. Living both in and out of reserve boundaries, Rhinopithecus roxellana, whose Latin name was allegedly inspired by the snub-nosed concubine of a 1500s sultan, has made great adaptations to survive, subsisting on low-protein lichens and bark when trees are bare. Large social networks help fend off predators, like clouded leopards.
Moms outrank barren females in these snub-nosed societies, and males with multiple mates gain high status. So do males that display "courage and perseverance," says biologist Qi Xiao-Guang of Northwest University in Xian, China. Bands may clash when ranges overlap, and "males show their vigor by fighting and forcing the enemy out." Territorial animals, including these and other primates, often do more posturing than injuring—mainly to protect themselves.
Why the odd face? No one is sure, but Penn State primatologist Nina Jablonski suggests the flat muzzle evolved to combat extreme cold, "which would cause frostbite to bare, exposed, fleshy noses."
People Are Sharing Love For Viral Video Of Golden Snub-nosed Monkey With Fanart, Memes
A YouTube channel uploaded a video featuring a monkey standing upright and eating berries out of a person's hand on April 9. The apparent caretaker, who is seemingly the one filming the interaction, walks backward as the monkey totters after them, taking berries one by one and popping them in his mouth.
While the video, posted by the Golden Monkey YouTube channel, is extremely cute, its star looks almost like a CGI version of what a person would draw if they were drawing a monkey by memory only.
So when the video was shared by the Twitter account Cozy Club, it went viral and many questions were posed online: What kind of monkey is that? Where does it live? How do I get one? Are we sure that it's not just "a little man in a costume?"
@silentrival/Twitter @silentrival/Twitter @silentrival/Twitter Well, unlike many questions sparked by viral internet content, these are easily answered. Despite its resemblance to Ewoks, as many pointed out, the star of the video is a golden snub-nosed monkey, an endangered species native to China.
Naturally, when something that is both cute and funny is shared online, memes follow.
@unliterate/Twitter @unliterate/Twitter @pennepost/Twitter The monkey even popped up on TikTok, where it similarly went viral and is receiving even more love. "New monkey just dropped," @yothisshitcrazy posted with the video.
https://www.Tiktok.Com/@yothisshitcrazy/video/6949319919775386886?Sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6950618328726799878&is_from_webapp=v1&is_copy_url=0
@pennepost/TwitterPeople online have even been sharing fanart of the monkey. "I was rlly depressed but I drew monke frend so now I'm slightly feeling better," one Twitter user wrote, attaching their artwork of the viral sensation.
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