Banksy’s latest piece of artwork - spraypainted on the front of London Zoo - has been confirmed as the last in his recent series of work that has delighted fans.
The latest piece, discovered on Tuesday morning, appears to show a gorilla prising open the zoo’s shutters, releasing animals including butterflies, exotic birds, and a sea lion.
It was the ninth in the elusive street artist’s latest series of work, which has seen one piece featuring animals pop up every day across the capital.
Banksy’s team has now confirmed to the BBC his latest piece is the final work in the series.
Each of the artworks appeared to have been created overnight, before being spotted by members of the public the following morning, and then claimed by Banksy at 1pm the same day on Instagram.
His first piece depicted a goat and was followed by silhouettes of elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans, a big cat and piranhas, which have all popped up in various locations across London.
The artist’s 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.
Earlier on Tuesday it appeared the silver Nissan Micra that was part of a Banksy rhino artwork in Charlton had been removed.
The artwork was also defaced on Monday by a man wearing a balaclava just hours after it was unveiled by the artist.
Also on Monday the Banksy artwork of piranhas in a police sentry box was moved from near the Old Bailey to a safe location by the City of London.
Banksy’s animal series has sparked debate online about a possible deeper meaning, with previous Banksy artworks analysed for their political statements.
But Banksy’s support organisation, Pest Control Office, appeared to put this to bed when it indicated to The Independent that the animal series has been created to simply to cheer people up and “inject some fun and lightheartedness into summer”.
Either way, Londoners appear to be enjoying the series, with one posting on Instagram: “It has been such a fun week!”
Rebecca Blanchard, media manager at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), previously spokes of the charity’s delight at being graced with a Banksy.
“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 said.
She added that the latest Banksy artworks in London have “brought so much joy and cheer”.
“We know that animals, wildlife, they bring joy to people,” she said.
“They improve people’s mental health, physical health, your general wellbeing is improved by being around nature and wildlife, and Banksy’s done that around London, and he’s then gone, ‘hey, I know who else does that’. That’s my interpretation.”
