No monkeying around! 16ft orangutan mural highlights plight of animal

By Alexandra Warren

When it comes to environmental activism, artist Louis Masai is not monkeying around.

The painter and sculptor has just finished a 16ft mural of an orangutan in Greenwich to raise awareness for the endangered animal – and a plea to the public to stop buying products with palm oil.

The colourful ape painting in Calydon Road, Charlton, was the last piece created in a month-long tour of the UK, organised in partnership with palm oil-free nut butter brand Meridian and International Animal Rescue.

The orangutan is made up of a patchwork of bananas, palm trees and chainsaws which symbolise the destruction of their home.

Mr Masai said: “I have become fixated with the discussion of animal conservation. It’s difficult to make people stop, think and change habits which impact a species on the other side of the world. But #ProtectPongo is designed to challenge people to consider a world without orangutans in it.”

Masai’s tour started in Glasgow and continued in Manchester and Birmingham before coming to London – where he created a total of five murals.