Meerkat paintings to be sold for conservation charities

CANBERRA, Australia, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- The National Zoo and Aquarium in the Australian capital announced paintings made by meerkats will be sold to benefit wildlife conservation efforts.

Zookeepers said paw print paintings by female meerkats Mbali, Makena and Sekai will go on sale next month and proceeds from the artwork will be donated to conservation charities, including the Orangutan Project and the Free The Bears Fund, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Thursday.

"This is the beginning of a career as some sort of artist, but these guys have only done paw prints for us so far," zookeeper Shelley Russell said.