Contest picks top banana of artist chimps

This wasn’t your average art contest. With six of the top painters in their field and a judge known all over the world, competition was fierce — especially when half the contestants couldn’t stop tasting the paint.

Six primate sanctuaries competed to prove their resident chimpanzee is the next Monet. There were Brent, a 36- year- old who paints only with his tongue; Jamie, who would rather paint on the walls; Jenny the prankster; Cheetah; Ripley; and Patti.

The sanctuaries, all part of the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance, entered an original piece of artwork created by one of their chimpanzees. The winners, announced Thursday, were awarded grant prizes ranging from $ 500 to $ 10,000 from the Humane Society of the United States to help care for retired chimpanzees.

The top prize, $ 10,000, was up to the public to decide through online voting. In that category, which attracted more than 27,000 votes, Brent took top honors. “Brent is a natural,” said Cathy Willis Spraetz, president and CEO of Chimp Haven in Keithville, La. “We were ecstatic. We were thrilled. We had a pant hoot or two with Brent.”

To some, the paint looks randomly splattered across the canvas, but the judge — famed primatolo- gist Jane Goodall — said these chimps are meticulous.

“All of the art was beautiful and unique, just like chimpanzees!” Goodall said. “It’s so important that the public support all of these sanctuaries in their mission to provide exceptional care to chimpanzees, and other primates, who have suffered through so much.”

The Humane Society of the United States says it hopes the unusual art competition showcases the abilities of the chimpanzees, and the sanctuaries that care for them, after years in laboratories or entertainment.

Goodall’s primate of choice and the winner of a $ 5,000 grant: Cheetah, who was used for 19 years of medical research and in that time had more than 400 liver biopsies, according to his sanctuary Save the Chimps in Fort Pierce, Fla., which is home to 261 chimpanzees.

In June, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a rule to list all chimpanzees as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. If finalized, that proposal will have a significant impact on the use of chimps in biomedical research, entertainment, and the interstate pet trade.

MEREDITH LEE, HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES, VIA AP The winning artwork by Brent, a chimpanzee who paints with his tongue. He won $ 10,000 for Chimp Haven in Keithville, La.