“We need to stop being shallow and look further than the panda,” said Simon Watt, an evolutionary biologist and president of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society.

“The ugly animals get overlooked next to attractive species that usually front campaigns, but they are much more interesting.”…

Mr Watt, however, argues that the Proboscis monkey, with its odd shaped orange nose, could equally be an instantly recognisable symbol for the need for conservation.

He said: “The Proboscis Monkey is endangered and faces the same problems as the Orangutan” and sadly there are only around 7000 left in the wild.”

Some ugly animals could even prove invaluable to the human species.