Arty ape

Science World, May 7, 2007 by Susan Gaidos

What do animal actors do when they retire from the big screen?

One famous ape is staging a comeback as an artist. Cheeta, a 74-year-old chimpanzee and star of Tarzan films, now lives in a California primate sanctuary. There, he paints colorful "ape-stract" art.

Cheeta is handy with a paintbrush because, like humans, chimpanzees and other apes have opposable thumbs, says Anne Pusey, a primatologist at the University of Minnesota. This bendable fifth digit helps wild chimps create and grasp makeshift tools to hunt or fish for termites and ants. Cheeta even signs his paintings with a thumbprint.