She just paints on the hoof! Mechi, the 3,500-pound rhinoceros turned artist

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Mechi uses her lips to paint on her canvas at a zoo in Evansville in Indiana which is then sold in the gift shop


Her works of art sell like hot cakes at the gift store and some are even comparing her to Picasso.

But there is one big difference between the famous Spanish artist and Mechi - Mechi is a one-horned, 3,500 pound rhinoceros who lives at the Mesker Park Zoo in Indiana.

And not only that, but she paints with her lips rather than her feet or horn to create colourful swirls or designs.


Zoo keeper Brad Fichter holds Mechi's paper as she paints. Just before she starts to paint, she gets excited and can't wait to put her lips to paper


The staff call Mechi their Picasso in training and say they can sometimes even see a rhino in her paintings


Mechi came to the zoo three years ago after being found in the wilds of Nepal after her mother was killed by poachers.

Since then, zoo keepers have been encouraging her to paint after she took to the hobby like a duck to water.

They offered her the chance to paint as a form of stimulating entertainment for the long winter months when she couldn’t get out to mud wallow or sit by her pool in the sun.


The 3,500-pound rhino came to the zoo via Washington Zoo after her mother was killed by poachers in the Nepalese wild three years ago


According to the zoo, at first pieces of banana, carrot and sweet potato were placed on the paper for Mechi to move around and nibble on. Once she got used to the motions she made with her lips to move the treats, the keepers replaced these with blobs of non-toxic paint.

The zoo staff affectionately refer to her as their Picasso in training and some even believe they can see a rhino in some of her paintings.

Mechi’s art is sold in the zoo gift shop, and auctioned off to raise money for the zoo and other rhino-related causes.



The zoo had trained rhinos to paint before, so thought they'd offer Mechi the chance as a form of stimulating entertainment for the long winter months


source: dailymail