Banksy has seemingly wrapped up his week-long, fan-dubbed ‘London Zoo’ series with two final surprises over the weekend. On Saturday, a wild cat stretched across an abandoned billboard in Cricklewood, and on Sunday, a police box in London’s financial district transformed into a tank of bloodthirsty piranhas. Finally, the elusive artist revealed the meaning behind these works as explained in a new report by Artnet.
Each day last week, Banksy dropped a new black silhouette of an animal in various locations across London. A goat appeared in Richmond on Monday, two elephants in Chelsea on Tuesday, three monkeys on a Brick Lane overpass on Wednesday, a howling wolf on a satellite dish in Peckham on Thursday, and two hungry pelicans perched atop a fish bar in Walthamstow on Friday.
As usual, Banksy claimed the series on Instagram without much explanation, sparking wild speculation from his fans. The goat on the ledge? Some thought it symbolized humanity teetering on the edge, while others saw it as a nod to the scapegoating of minorities during recent far-right riots in the UK.
But a spokesperson from Pest Control Office, the group behind Banksy, put the rumors to rest, suggesting people were reading too much into it. Instead, the works were meant to bring a moment of unexpected joy and highlight the human knack for creative play over destruction as per the Observer.
Banksy’s new pieces turned urban landscapes into visual puns, like monkeys swinging from an overpass or a jungle cat stalking through a leafy part of London. But not all the art survived the week. On Thursday, thieves swiped the satellite dish with the howling wolf in broad daylight, and on Saturday, contractors dismantled the billboard with the wild cat, drawing boos from the crowd.
One of the workers claimed he’d keep the artwork safe in case Banksy wanted it back, but otherwise, it was bound for the trash. Meanwhile, the billboard’s owner has other plans, hinting he might donate it to an art gallery.
