Pic of the Day: Künstler in Aktion...Ganuk the Artist

 source

"Thank goodness Ganuk loves to paint!! And just to show you how much ... we hope you enjoy this shot of him in action."

 Polar Bear Habitat

"And how do you get a polar bear to paint?
The keepers at the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat in northern Ontario say very carefully — and with a lot of peanut butter....

The keepers spread Ganuk’s favourite treat on walls in his holding pen and place various colours of edible, non-toxic paints near the entrance and paper on the floor. Once Ganuk has circled the pen a few times, he’s coaxed out of the pen so his artwork can be retrieved.

Ganuk’s original art is priced between $50 for an unframed piece to $130 for one that’s large and framed.Zoos have long used painting as an activity for primates and elephants, but the Cochrane facility believes it’s the only one currently painting with polar bears.

“On the day he painted with red I had to post what we were doing with him on Facebook and tell guests so people wouldn’t think he had an accident,” said Karen Cummings, manager of the polar bear habitat."

By the way, former known polar bear artists are Kavec from Tulsa Zoo, who died in May 2009, and Aurora from Rochester Seneca Zoo.

Related & more:

- Cochrane: Der Nachwuchskünstler Ganuk/ Ulli J's Eisbärblog 06.01.2013

- Peanut butter prompts polar bear paintings/Herald News 14.01.2013

- Keepersblog

- Aurora paints-Video

- Untamed Art in Tulsa