Banksy unveils ninth artwork at London Zoo

By Charlotte McLaughlin and Casey Cooper-Fiske, PA Entertainment Reporters

A new piece of artwork at London Zoo has been confirmed as belonging to Banksy, marking his ninth artwork in the capital in nine days.

The new piece, located on a shutter at the zoo’s entrance, shows a gorilla lifting it up allowing a number of birds to escape, while the eyes of other animals can be seen lurking in the darkness.

The work, which the artist has posted on his official Instagram account, appears to tie in to previous pieces, with animals scattered around London outside of their natural habitat.

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) confirmed that it will protect the image, and will leave the shutter down for the thousands of visitors to view the gorilla on Tuesday.

A post shared by Banksy (@banksy)

It comes after his last piece, a rhino mounting a silver Nissan Micra with a traffic cone on its bonnet, was defaced by a man wearing a black balaclava just hours after it went up.

Located in Charlton’s Westmoor Street, the rhino piece was revealed on Monday and a video obtained by BBC News shows a man walking up to the artwork and spray painting it, leaving a white tag on it.

The crowd gathered at the piece could be heard saying “don’t do that” and as the person walks away, a voice from the crowd asks: “Why did you do that? Why did you do it?”

Banksy has been posting artwork to his Instagram every day since August 5, and it is unclear how long he will continue dotting artwork around the capital.

Rebecca Blanchard, media manager at ZSL, told the PA news agency: “This was an incredible surprise and we are, quite frankly, thrilled that he’s chosen us to be what could be the grand finale of this series that’s been so talked about.”

She added that the latest Banksy artworks in London have “brought so much joy and cheer”, just like the Regent’s Park-based zoo.

Ms Blanchard added that they want to “protect it from the glare of the Sun” so are looking at how to keep the artwork preserved and will leave the shutter at the entrance down so visitors can see the work as they go into the zoo.

US celebrity photographer Kevin Mazur rushed down to the zoo on Tuesday.

Mazur, who was the official snapper for Justin Timberlake’s tour stop at the O2 on Monday night, disagrees that the London Zoo image is the last in the animal series.

He told PA: “Me and my sons had a lot of fun when he came to New York and he was doing one every day for a month.

“I’m hoping that he’s doing that for the people here in London, every day for a month. This is number nine, so maybe it’ll be more.”

Bristol street artist Banksy created the New York series in October 2013.

The rhino follows Sunday’s piece, piranhas on a police sentry box, which has now been removed from near London’s Old Bailey court to preserve it.

The anonymous artist appeared to have used translucent spray paint to turn the box into a giant fish tank for the piece which appeared on Ludgate Hill before being taped off by the local council.

The glass-paned box will be kept temporarily by the City of London Corporation’s offices, a walk of less than 15 minutes from the previous location.

A spokesman for the authority said: “We have moved the artwork to Guildhall Yard to ensure it is properly protected and open for the public to view safely.

“A permanent home for the piece will be decided in due course.”

Banksy’s first piece was a goat perched on top of a wall and has been followed by silhouettes of elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans, and a cat, all of which have popped up in various locations across London.

The sixth piece, a stretching cat on an empty, distressed advertising hoarding, was removed from its location in north-west London hours after it was unveiled on Saturday.

Crowds booed as the piece in Cricklewood was dismantled by three men who said they were “hired” by a “contracting company” to take down the billboard for safety reasons.

The cat design was the second piece to be removed last week after a howling wolf on a satellite dish was taken off the roof of a building in Peckham, south London, less than an hour after it was unveiled.

A spokesperson for Banksy told the PA news agency that the artist was neither connected to nor endorsed the theft of the wolf artwork and that they had “no knowledge as to the dish’s current whereabouts”.

The fifth piece to be unveiled was on Bonners Fish Bar in Walthamstow, east London, and shows a pelican stooping to scoop up a fish on the takeaway’s sign, while another is tossing one in the air.

The fish and chip shop had announced in July that it would close from August 1 until September 5, and a message on its Instagram page expressed their gratitude at the artwork.

It said: “The last few days have been a whirlwind, thank you to all who have sent such kind words, comments and messages.

“We’re so sorry if we haven’t replied, as you can imagine it’s been extremely overwhelming!

“We’re over the moon that Banksy decided to choose our little fish and chip shop in wonderful Walthamstow and love the design.

“Contrary to some beliefs, we didn’t ask him to do this, but are very grateful he did!”