My 12 year old child has spontaneously started declaring animal awareness days, and I have been posting them to Bluesky. We thought it would be useful to have a record of them. Here, I will post all the days he's declared as well as the pre-existing more-or-less official animal awareness days in parentheses. We should definitely be aware of more animals.
JANUARY
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 - (National Bird Day)
6 -
7 -
8 -
9 -
10 -
11 -
12 -
13 -
14 -
15 -
16 -
17 -
18 -
19 -
20 -
21 -
22 - Elephant Bird
23 - Tayra
24 - Chiton
| Lined Chiton, 5" x 7" linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2024 |
25 -
26 - Rock Hyrax
27 - Tardigrade
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| Tardigrade, linocut 8.5" x 11" on Japanese paper, Ele Willoughby, 2016 |
28 - Skeleton Panda Sea Squirt
29 - Honduran White Bat
30 - Sulawesi Bear
31 - (International Zebra Day)
| Zebras: Grévy's and Burchell's, linocut by Ele Willoughby 2009 |
FEBRUARY
(third Saturday is World Pangolin Day, third Sunday is World Whale Day)
1 - Headless Chicken Monster
2 -
3 - Ping-Pong Ball Sponge
4 - Satanic Leaf-Tailed Gecko
5 - Greater Lophorina
6 - Aquatic caecilian
7 - Goliath Beetle
8 - Amphipod
9 - Muntjac
10 - Porcelain Crab
| Porcelain Crab Neopetrolisthes maculatus, linocut, 8" x 8" by Ele Willoughby, 2021 |
11 - Kookaburra
12 - Electric Eel
13 - Siphonophore
| Portuguese Man-o-war, 9.25" x 12.5" by Ele Willoughby, 2021 |
14 - (World Bonobo Day)
15 - (World Hippopotamus Day)
16 -
17 - Kodkod
18 - Wunderpus photogenicus
19 - Sea pansy
20 - Long-eared Jerboa
21 -
22 -
23 - Lowland streaked tenrec
24 - Potoo
25 - Spangled Coquette
26 - Long-Nosed Horned Frog
27 - (International Polar Bear Day)
| Polar bear and Aurora, 11" x 14", linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2012 |
28 - Spiny Flower Mantis Awareness Day
(29)
MARCH
(last Wednesday in March is Manatee Appreciation Day)
1 -
2 - Southern Pygmy Squid
3 - Pinocchio Anole (World Wildlife Day)
4 - (World Rat Day)
| Da Shu: The Rat: The Big Mouse, linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2008 |
5 - Tripod Fish
6 - Peanut-headed Lanternfly
7 -
8 -
9 - Mouse Opossum
10 - Chinese Mountain Cat
11 - Spanish Dancer Nudibranch
12 - Picasso Bug
13 -
14 - (World Butterfly Day)
![]() |
| A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies, 12.5" x 12", linocut by Ele Willoughby |
15 - (Buzzards Day)
16 - (National Panda Day)
| Panda Family, 12.5" x 12" linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2011 |
17 - Rufous sengi
18 - Piglet Squid
19 - Toadhead agama
20 - (World Frog Day and World Sparrow Day)
| F for Frog linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2013 |
21 - Southeast Asian Softshell Turtle
22 - (International Seal Day)
23 - (World Bear Day)
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| Black Bear linocut by Ele Willoughby |
24 - King's skink and also note: Zig zag skink
25 - Merlin
26 - Jaguarundi
27 - Alpine newt
28 - Pygmy Right Whale
29 - Masked Palm Civet
30 - Cyclops Copepod
31 - Fried Egg Jellyfish (Phacellophora)
APRIL
1 - Mongoose
2 - Barreleye Fish
3 - Sarahan Horned Viper (and World Aquatic Animal Day)
4 - Bagworm (World Stray Animals Day)
5 - Pygmy Marmoset
6 - Sea pig
7 - (International Beaver Day)
![]() |
| Beaver, 9" x 12" linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2020 |
8 - Chevrotain or Mouse Deer
9 - Gargantuan Stick Insect
10 - Thai Flying Dragon
11 - Venus girdle
12 - Pygmy Spotted Skunk
13 - Costa's Hummingbird and Northern Short-tailed Shrew
14 - New Guinea Amau Frog
15 - Northern Stargazer
16 - Uintetherium
17 - (Bat Appreciation Day)
18 - Gila Monster
19 - Regal Iridescent Tiger Moth
20 - Bunny Harvestman
21 - Marabou Stork
22 - Yeti Crab
![]() |
Yeti Crab, 8" x 10" linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2020 |
23 - (International Pallas's Cat Day)
| Pallas's Cat, A4 size, linocut by Ele Willoughby |
24 - Red-lipped Batfish
25 - Macrotermes bellicosus or the bellicose termite (World Penguin Day)
26 - Giant Cuttlefish
27 - Golden Tortoise Beetle (World Tapir Day, International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day and International Hyena Day)
Malayan Tapir, 10" x 8" linocut by Ele Willoughby 2011 |
| A Murder of Crows, 9.25" x 12.5" linocut by Ele Willoughby |
28 - Big-Dipper Firefly
| Fireflies, 9.25" x 12.5" linocut by Ele Willoughby |
29 - Hammerhead Worm
30 - Scaly-foot Gastropod
MAY
(second weekend of May is World Migratory Bird Day and Endangered Species Day is the third Friday)
1 - Ring-tailed Vontsira
2- Arabian Sand Boa (and World Tuna Day)
3 - (International Leopard Day and Wild Koala Day)
4 - Wallace's Giant Bee (and Bird Day)
5 - Sea gooseberry
6 - Peacock spider
![]() |
| Peacock Spider, linocut 8" x 8", Ele Willoughby, 2017 |
7 - Diprotodon or Giant Wombat
8 - (World Donkey Day)
9 - Lemming
10 - Sea Pickle
11 - Violet Ground Beetle
12 -
13 -
14 -
15 -
16 -
17 -
18 -
19 -
20 - (World Bee Day)
![]() |
| Our Fate is Tied to That of the Insects, 16" x 20" linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2025 |
21 -
22 - (International Day for Biological Diversity and World Fish Migration Day)
23 - (World Turtle Day)
![]() |
| Turtles, all the way down, world, 11" x 14" linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2024 |
24 -
25 - (World Otter Day)
26 -
27 -
28 -
29 -
30 -
31 - (World Parrot Day)
JUNE
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 - (World Oceans Day)
9 -
10 -
11 - (International Lynx Day)
12 - (National Cougar Day)
13 -
14 -
15 -
16 - (World Sea Turtle Day)
17 - (World Croc Day)
18 -
19 -
20 -
21 - (World Giraffe Day)
| A Tower of Giraffes, 9.25" x 12.5" linocut by Ele Willoughby |
22 - (World Camel Day)
23 -
24 -
25 -
26 -
27 -
28 -
29 -
30 -
JULY
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 -
9 -
10 -
11 -
12 -
13 -
14 - (World Orca Day, Shark Awareness Day and World Chimpanzee Day)
![]() |
| Orca linocut by Ele Willoughby |
15 -
16 - (World Snake Day)
17 -
18 -
19 -
20 -
21 -
22 -
23 -
24 -
25 -
26 -
27 -
28 -
29 - (International Tiger Day)
| Tiger, 8" x 10" linocut by Ele Willoughby |
30 -
31 -
AUGUST
1 -
2 - (International Golden Lion Tamarin Day)
3 -
4 - (International Clouded Leopard Day)
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 - (International Moon Bear Day)
9 -
10 - (World Lion Day)
| The Watchers, Ngorogoro, 11" x 14" linocut by Ele Willoughby |
11 -
12 - (World Elephant Day and World Hirola Day)
13 - (International Wolf Day)
| A Pack of Wolves, 9.25" x 12.5" linocut by Ele Willoughby |
14 -
15 - (National Honeybee Day)
![]() |
| Honeybee Dance, 9.25" x 12.5", linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2016 |
16 -
17 -
18 -
19 - (World Orangutan Day)
20 -
21 -
22 -
23 -
24 -
25 -
26 - (World African Painted Dog Day)
27 -
28 -
29 -
30 - (International Whale Shark Day)
31 -
SEPTEMBER
(first Saturday is International Vulture Awareness Day, third Saturday is International Red Panda Day, fourth Saturday is International Rabbit Day)
1 - (International Primate Day and Japan Dolphin Day)
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 -
9 -
10 -
11 -
12 -
13 -
14 -
15 -
16 -
17 - (World Manta Day)
18 -
19 -
20 -
21 -
22 - (International Tamarin Day and World Rhino Day)
| A Crash of Rhinos, 12.5" x 9.25" linocut by Ele Willoughby |
23 -
24 - (World Gorilla Day)
25 -
26 - (World Cassowary Day)
27 -
28 -
29 -
30 -
OCTOBER
(final Friday is World Lemur Day)
![]() |
| A Conspiracy of Lemurs, linocut, 9.25" x 12.5" by Ele Willoughby, 2023 |
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 - (World Animal Day)
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 - (World Octopus Day)
![]() |
| Dumbo Octopus, linocut 9.25” by 12.5” by Ele Willoughby, 2024 |
9 -
10 -
11 -
12 -
13 -
14 -
15 -
16 -
17 - (International Sawfish Day)
18 - (World Okapi Day)
19 -
20 - (World Sloth Day)
21 - (National Reptile Awareness Day)
22 - (International Wombat Day)
23 - (International Snow Leopard Day)
24 - (Freshwater Dolphin Day and International Gibbon Day and the other World Fish Migration Day)
25 -
26 -
27 -
28 -
29 -
30 -
31 -
NOVEMBER
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 -
9 -
10 -
11 -
12 -
13 -
14 -
15 -
16 -
17 -
18 -
19 - (World Anteater Day)
20 -
21 -
22 -
23 -
24 -
25 -
26 -
27 -
28 -
29 - (International Jaguar Day)
30 -
DECEMBER
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 - (International Cheetah Day and Wildlife Conservation Day)
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 -
9 -
10 -
11 -
12 -
13 -
14 - (Monkey Day)
15 -
16 -
17 -
18 -
19 -
20 -
21 -
22 -
23 -
24 -
25 -
26 -
27 -
28 -
29 -
30 -
31 -





















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