Her works of art sell like hot cakes at
the gift store and some are even comparing her to Picasso.
But there is one big difference between the famous Spanish artist and Mechi - Mechi is a one-horned, 3,500 pound rhinoceros who lives at the Mesker Park Zoo in Indiana.
And not only that, but she paints with her lips rather than her feet or horn to create colourful swirls or designs.
Mechi
came to the zoo three years ago after being found in the wilds of Nepal
after her mother was killed by poachers.
Since then, zoo keepers have been encouraging her to paint after she took to the hobby like a duck to water.
They offered her the chance to paint as a form of stimulating entertainment for the long winter months when she couldn’t get out to mud wallow or sit by her pool in the sun.
According to the zoo,
at first pieces of banana, carrot and sweet potato were placed on the
paper for Mechi to move around and nibble on. Once she got used to
the motions she made with her lips to move the treats, the keepers
replaced these with blobs of non-toxic paint.
The zoo staff affectionately refer to her as their Picasso in training and some even believe they can see a rhino in some of her paintings.
Mechi’s art is sold in the zoo gift shop, and auctioned off to raise money for the zoo and other rhino-related causes.
They are also very coveted among the staff at Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden. They have been made into Zoo stationary, given as special thank you gifts to donors, and raffled to benefit Indian rhino conservation.
But there is one big difference between the famous Spanish artist and Mechi - Mechi is a one-horned, 3,500 pound rhinoceros who lives at the Mesker Park Zoo in Indiana.
And not only that, but she paints with her lips rather than her feet or horn to create colourful swirls or designs.
Mechi uses her lips
to paint on her canvas at a zoo in Evansville in Indiana which is then
sold in the gift shop
Zoo keeper Brad
Fichter holds Mechi's paper as she paints. Just before she starts to
paint, she gets excited and can't wait to put her lips to paper
The staff call
Mechi their Picasso in training and say they can sometimes even see a
rhino in her paintings
Since then, zoo keepers have been encouraging her to paint after she took to the hobby like a duck to water.
They offered her the chance to paint as a form of stimulating entertainment for the long winter months when she couldn’t get out to mud wallow or sit by her pool in the sun.
The 3,500-pound
rhino came to the zoo via Washington Zoo after her mother was killed
by poachers in the Nepalese wild three years ago
The zoo had
trained rhinos to paint before, so thought they'd offer Mechi the
chance as a form of stimulating entertainment for the long winter
months
The zoo staff affectionately refer to her as their Picasso in training and some even believe they can see a rhino in some of her paintings.
Mechi’s art is sold in the zoo gift shop, and auctioned off to raise money for the zoo and other rhino-related causes.
They are also very coveted among the staff at Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden. They have been made into Zoo stationary, given as special thank you gifts to donors, and raffled to benefit Indian rhino conservation.
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