Zoo sells drawings by chimpanzees

November 12th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under

Liberec, North Bohemia, (CTK) – The Liberec Zoological Garden will on December 1 sell the drawings by its chimpanzees to the persons who will offer the highest sums and the proceeds will go in support of the apes’ further breeding, zoo director David Nejedlo told CTK yesterday.

The zoo now breeds eight chimpanzees, but only five of them draw and the apes’ sense of arts is subsiding, Nejedlo said.

Liberec chimpanzees’ drawings have already been displayed both at home and abroad.

Nejedlo said the apes bred by people are more talented. One female chimpanzee draws with both the left and right hands, sometimes with both of them at a time. She also uses a dish sponge or her tongue in drawing.

A male chimpanzee even spreads colours on paper with his head.

The apes can draw once or twice a month as a sort of relaxation and entertainment, or as a means to divert their attention from romping, zoologist Lubos Melichar said.

He said a male chimpanzee lost his ear in one such brawl recently. “We found the ear lying on the ground of the chimpanzees’ playroom,” Melichar said.

The Liberec zoo has bred chimpanzees since 1964.
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