Woodland Park Zoo Press Release

SEATTLE - For a limited time, you can bid to own a one-of-a-kind masterpiece painted by Woodland Park Zoo’s primate artist-in-residence, Towan (toe-WAHN). The 40-year-old male orangutan (oh-RANG-uh-tan) experiments with color and texture in the artwork he creates as part of his ongoing behavioral enrichment at the zoo. This spring, two of his paintings will be auctioned off on eBay, just in time for a unique Mother’s Day gift. Online bidding ends Wed., May 7, 2008, at 3:19 p.m.

Each of Towan’s masterpieces is painted on a 12x16-inch canvas using finger paints and sidewalk chalk, the ape’s preferred media. The first painting up for auction is a moody twilight of purple and green with yellow highlights. The second painting evokes a neon-drenched midnight scene with bold green and yellow swirled onto a black background, embedded with straw. These instant classics will be a guaranteed conversation piece perfect for your home or office. Each painting is skillfully matted in a glass-encased 21x25-inch black wood frame and comes with a certificate of authenticity from Woodland Park Zoo as well as a photo and biography of Towan.

Bidding on a painting gives you more than just a piece of art created by a talented orangutan. Your winning bid will also go toward helping to fund the September 2009 combined conferences of the International Congress of Zoo Keepers (ICZ) and the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK) hosted by Woodland Park Zoo and the Puget Sound AAZK chapter. This conference represents the first time these two professional zookeeper organizations have joined together to bring animal care professionals from around the world to the United States. The conference will improve the levels of communication between keepers internationally and serve as a basis for supporting the development of zoo keeping as a profession in regions where professional keeper associations do not currently exist.

Towan, along with four other orangutans, resides in the zoo’s award-winning Trail of Vines exhibit located in the Tropical Asia bioclimatic zone. Orangutans belong to the family Pongidae, which includes all three great apes: gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans. Distinct species of orangutan live on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in Southeast Asia. The orangutan’s opposable thumbs and manual dexterity, used primarily for locomoting and picking fruit, are also helpful in making art.

To bid on the painting, visit the Towan Painting page on the zoo's website or visit eBay.com and search for “Woodland Park Zoo.”

International Conference Zoo Keepers website:
www.iczoo.org/

American Association of Zoo Keepers website:
www.aazk.org/

American Association of Zoo Keepers – Puget Sound Chapter website:
www.pugetsoundaazk.org/.

Accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), award-winning Woodland Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting international standards for zoos all over the world. Conservation, education and excellent animal care are at the core of the zoo’s mission. The zoo is helping to save animals and their habitats in Washington state and around the world including tree kangaroos, snow leopards, red-crowned cranes, African wild dogs, western pond turtles and Oregon silverspot butterflies. By inspiring people to care and act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s future.