Art has been proven to be an important part of our lives and has a wide range of benefits to society. In younger children, a simple act of colouring help develop their fine motor skills and also brings their imaginations to life on paper.

For the adults, it not only helps destress but help us appreciate the beauty around us. Art also promotes creativity, which helps us design amazing and beautiful stuff in the world. Art has brought cartoons, comics and animes into our lives too!

However, does art benefit animals the same? The verdict is still out there but a study on elephants that paint in an Australian zoo provided disappointing results. The elephants’ stress levels did not reduce at all.

While the study did not provide any substantial benefits, some animals like the chimpanzees seem to enjoy painting strokes on canvas.

A different study in 2011 found that people are able to differentiate paintings done by professional artists and animals. Check out the paintings done by various animals below and try to guess which animal painted it.

Let’s see whether you have a keen eye! Answers are provided at the bottom.

1. Flower from UCL Grant Museum of Zoology

2. Untitled by Baka

3. Digit Master by Bakhari

4. Untitled (2011) by Samantha

5. Abstract Painting (2010) by Nong Bank

6. Watercolour by Nadia

Are you ready for the big reveal?