Banksy London Zoo mural offers clue to why wild animals have been appearing all over city

LONDON (AP) — Workers arriving at the London Zoo early Tuesday were surprised to discover an unexpected exhibit that suggested the animals were being set free.

A mural by elusive street artist Banksy showed a gorilla holding up the entrance gate as birds took flight and a sea lion waddled away. Three sets of eyes peered out from the darkness inside.

The painting may explain why Bansky-created creatures — from a mountain goat perched on a building buttress to piranhas circling a police guard post to a rhinoceros mounting a car — have been showing up in the most unlikely places around London for nine straight days.

Each of the works posted on Banksy's Instagram page have included a London Zoo hashtag, said Dan Simmonds, animal operations manager at the zoo. But he didn't imagine the artist would decorate the zoo's own doorway.

“Part of the enigma of Banksy is obviously that everything is a surprise,” Simmonds said. “We certainly didn’t expect it was actually going to happen right here, on one of our huge admission shutters. But coming in and seeing it, kind of realized that, yeah, we’re so lucky.”

Simmonds said he discovered the mural around 6:30 a.m. when he arrived to begin feeding the hungry animals. Cyclists who circle Regent's Park, where the zoo is located, every morning were already posing for selfies.

The roll-down shutter was closed all day to show off the work. It's the busy season for the zoo, but the renowned street artist quickly draws his own followers and crowds show up to view it and snap photos.

Banksy began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England, and has become one of the world’s best-known artists.

His paintings and installations sell for millions of dollars at auction and have drawn thieves and vandals. The latest group of works is no exception and workers at the zoo shielded it later in the day with a see-through plastic covering.

The rhino that appeared Monday was tagged with graffiti. A wolf silhouette on a roof-mounted satellite dish — appearing to howl at the moon — was stolen hours after word got out about the artwork last week.

A big cat, stretching out on the back of a dilapidated billboard, was removed within hours by three men who said they had been hired to take it down for safety reasons.

The police sentry box that looked like a fish tank was removed from near the Old Bailey courthouse to the City of London corporate offices to protect it, a spokesperson said. It will eventually be placed where it can be viewed by the public.

It was not clear if the zoo mural would be the final in the series.

Simmonds said the zoo was honored Banksy had chosen it for one of his canvases. He was particularly excited to see the big ape because he had once been the gorilla keeper.

He said he's assuming the primate in the mural is an endangered western lowland gorilla, the subspecies they have at the zoo. Simmonds identified one of the birds as possibly being a macaw and another critter as a bat.

“As for the eyes, who knows, maybe some cats peering out,” he said. “That’s the beauty of it. Literally only Banksy will know.”

Associated Press journalist Hilary Fox contributed.

People remove a new artwork by Banksy, depicting a howling wolf painted on a satellite dish that was placed on a shop roof in Peckham, south London, Thursday Aug. 8, 2024. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Contractors begin to dismantle a billboard with the new Banksy artwork depicting a stretching cat in Cricklewood, north-west London, Saturday, August 10, 2024. (Jordan Reynolds/PA via AP)

A covered-face person removes a new artwork by Banksy, depicting a howling wolf painted on a satellite dish that was placed on a shop roof in Peckham, south London, Thursday Aug. 8, 2024. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

People take pictures of a new mural by elusive street artist Banksy at the London Zoo, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in London. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

A man takes a selfie by a new design of swimming fish by Banksy, which appeared on a police box in the City of London is cordoned off, in London, Monday Aug. 12, 2024. (Emily Pennink/PA via AP)

A new design of swimming fish by Banksy, which appeared on a police box in the City of London is cordoned off, in London, Monday Aug. 12, 2024. (Emily Pennink/PA via AP)

A man photographs a new artwork unveiled by Banksy, depicting a rhinoceros which looks as though it is climbing on top of a car, the eighth artwork in his animal-themed collection, on Westmoor Street in Charlton, south east London, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. (Lucy North/PA via AP)

The new artwork unveiled by Banksy at London Zoo, depicting a gorilla lifting up a shutter at the entrance allowing a number of birds to escape, while the eyes of other animals can be seen lurking in the darkness, the ninth artwork in his animal-themed collection, in London, Tuesday Aug. 13, 2024. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

A new mural by elusive street artist Banksy is seen at the London Zoo, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in London. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mixed on Tuesday after Wall Street rolled to more records, with Hong Kong's benchmark losing more than 3%.

Oil prices shed more than $3 a barrel.

Germany's DAX gained 0.3% to 19,564.16, while the CAC 40 in Paris dropped 0.7% to 7,547.36. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.5% to 8,253.07.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less than 0.1%.

Chinese shares extended losses after the government reported late Monday that growth in exports fell sharply in September, adding to signs of weakness in the economy.

The Shanghai Composite index lost 2.5% to 3,201.29, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gave up 3.7% to 20,318.79.

Weaker than expected data on lending and prices have undermined already fragile market sentiment that has wavered as investors await fresh details on the government plans for stimulus to help rev up the economy.

“Market participants continue to seek for clarity around fiscal stimulus support from Chinese authorities, but the lack of commitment remains a source of reservation for risk-taking in Chinese equities,” Yeap Jun Rong of IG said in a commentary.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.8% to 39,910.55, while the Kospi in Seoul gained 0.4% to 2,633.45.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.8% to 8,318.40.

Also early Tuesday, the dollar fell to 148.89 Japanese yen from 149.83 yen. The euro rose to $1.0915 from $1.0911.

U.S. benchmark crude dropped $3.73 to $70.10 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, skidded $3.79 to $73.67 per barrel.

“The oil market is on a wild ride, caught in a whirlwind of geopolitical tension, OPEC+ strategy shifts and a slowdown from its biggest customer, China,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a report. China's usual growth in demand of about 600,000 barrels per day has fallen to 200,000 barrels.

Despite uncertainty over how conflict in the Middle East might affect oil supplies, “the real threat to crude isn't war, it's oversupply,” he said, noting that many oil exporters are committed to ramping up their output.

Besides oil, prices also have been falling for copper and other commodities that a healthy Chinese economy would devour.

On Monday, Wall Street rolled to more all-time highs.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to build on its record set on Friday, closing at 5,859.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% to 43,065.22, adding 201 points to its own record. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.9% to 18,502.69.

The gains followed relatively quiet trading in Europe, while the U.S. bond market remained closed for the day because of a holiday.

This week will have few top-tier economic reports outside of an update Thursday on sales at U.S. retailers. That leaves the emphasis on corporate earnings reports, which will pick up the pace this week after big banks began the reporting season last week.

Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson and UnitedHealth Group will all report their latest results on Tuesday. Later in the week will come United Airlines, Netflix, American Express and Procter & Gamble.

Analysts expect S&P 500 companies to deliver overall growth of 4.1% in earnings per share for the latest quarter from a year earlier, according to FactSet. If they’re correct, it would be a fifth straight quarter of growth.

Stocks have broadly rallied to records on relief that interest rates are finally heading back down, now that the Federal Reserve has widened its focus to include keeping the economy humming instead of just fighting high inflation.

Recent reports showing the U.S. economy remains stronger than expected have also raised optimism that the Fed can pull off a perfect landing where it gets inflation down to 2% without causing a recession that many had thought would be necessary.

FILE - People pass the entrance for the Wall Street subway station on Sept. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

FILE -A passerby moves past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index and stock prices outside a securities building Friday, Oct. 11, 2024 in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File)