Elok, a 21-year-old male Sumatran orangutan at the Oklahoma City Zoo, is going to auction his set of artwork as non-fungible tokens later this week, Fortune reports.
The primate managed to create a total of 20 pieces on a digital canvas. The daily activity contributed to maintaining his mental health alongside digging and solving puzzles.
The orangutan did not paint the art pieces for free: he was rewarded with all sorts of snacks by his curator.
Elok had a bit of a learning curve when faced with the digital painting challenge, but he eventually got better, the Fortune report says.
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Alex DovbnyaLast August, Bored Ape Yacht Club, the most popular NFT project whose members tend to refer to themselves as apes, donated more than $200,000 to a charity called Orangutan Outreach, which is focused on protecting the majestic primates in their native forests of Sumatra and Borneo.
With a starting price of roughly $550 per piece, the Oklahoma City Zoo wants to raise enough funds to make a sizeable contribution to a local nonprofit that supports education and zoological research.
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