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“World Animal Day” is celebrated each year on October 4. Animal life in all its forms is celebrated on this day and special events are planned in locations worldwide.  Many churches throughout the world observe the Sunday closest to October 4 with a blessing for the animals.

The holiday began in Florence, Italy in 1931 at a convention of ecologists.  Their intention was to highlight the plight of endangered species. October 4th was originally chosen for World Animal Day because it is the feast day of Francis of Assisi, a nature lover and patron saint of animals and the environment.

In New York City on October 4, and throughout the month of October — which is World Animal Month — pedicabs will traverse New York City’s highest traffic areas featuring ads of endangered species that RARE works every day of the year to protect.  ”Animals don’t need to evolve. We do”-themed ads featuring turtles and tigers will also be widely distributed throughout New York City. The ads can be viewed at http://www.evolvehumanity.com/ads.

On October 17 the third annual Ko’ko Road Race will take place in Guam to highlight the plight of the country’s near-extinct territorial bird (the Guam Rail or Ko’ko).

RARE is running a Pride campaign in Mongolia to save the Taimen (world’s largest salmon). We will increase the number of fishers who catch and release taimen back into the river by 15 percent by October 2010.

By October 2010, 90 percent of villagers in the Yunnan Province’s Baima will know that the Yunnan Golden Monkey is a precious species and that fuelwood threatens the monkey. They will learn the benefits of alternative resources by adopting fuel efficient solar water heaters, which reduces the number of trees logged for fuelwood.

World Animal Day is today. Show your support for @RarePlanet and tell us how you’ll #evolvehumanity to help protect endangered species.