AUSTIN, Texas — If you're looking to add some local art to your home for the holiday season, you can look to the Austin Zoo!
And no, it's not the zoo keepers doing the art -- it's the animals! No paint brush needed -- just their paws and claws.
Patti Clark, president of the Austin Zoo, explained depending on their schedules and routine, every animal at the Austin Zoo gets some kind of enrichment activity such as painting. It's a fun activity for the animals, but also an important opportunity for them to get to bond with their zoo keepers.
"Some of our zoo keepers said 'wouldn't it be fun to have our animals paint?' And that would be an enrichment activity for them and then when it turned out so well we decided we could sell the paintings online and in the gift shop to buy more enrichment items. Everything from scents where they can smell, to toys, to puzzle feeders for all the animals in the zoo and that would give us extra funds to do that with," said Clark. "They usually start off gingerly with the coaxing and sometimes it takes a few treats from the zoo keeper to encourage them to actually start touching and playing with the paint on the canvas."
Animals such as wolves, lizards, monkeys and bears (oh my!) all have the opportunity to show off their Bob Ross or Picasso skills. Clark said while "Rusty" the Capuchin Monkey is perhaps the best at painting, all the artsy animals enjoy the activity.
Despite their large claws Black Bears Tilly and Korben showed KVUE their watercolor talents with beautiful colors, some so pretty that they just had to taste them, often getting the paint on their fur as well.
"The animals are very curious when they're first presented with the paint, some of them want to sniff it. Some of them want to taste it, so we use only non-toxic watercolor. Sometimes they wear it and we'll always warn other staff members that if there's red on this animal it's not necessarily a bad thing!" said Clark.
The paintings can be purchased inside the Austin Zoo gift shop. You can also view their online gallery by clicking here.
The Austin Zoo is 501(c)3 nonprofit that relies on visitors to help them carry out mission to rescue animals and give them a forever home. Proceeds from the paintings go toward continuing the mission of the Austin Zoo and purchasing materials and toys for the animals' other enrichment activities.