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.
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.
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.
While 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!”
While 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 Monkey
A 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 Explains
Another 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.
@tootymcnooty Will you give Monke the Berry? ????
♬ Nen ten dawgs - Meepmurp
In 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.
@tootymcnooty This is what happens when you don’t give the monke a beeey ????????????
♬ Nen ten dawgs - Meepmurp
People 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.
Folks made references to a variety of media sources when they saw this chunky little man, from Star Wars to The Golden Compass.
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