It is fair to say that one of the stand out moments of London’s street art scene in 2024 was Banksy’s nine day London Zoo extravaganza. Love him or hate him, everyone on the scene was paying attention to each new work as the days unfolded. The works were placed up all around London, and certainly kept us busy over the nine days, cycling around North, South, East and West London in order to see the works before they were removed, covered in perspex or vandalised. By the end of the ninth day’s artwork appearing only one artwork was visible as it was placed up, and a week or so later that was covered in perspex also.

Of this series of works, Banksy stated they were intended to off a bit of fun and a distraction in London after the country was struck by a series of right-wing marches and attacks on minority groups, setting to bring people together in a positive manner.

The works certainly received mixed reactions, but we felt they demonstrated the artist’s ability to expertly utilise a space to excellent effect, that said, our favourite of the series was Day 8 which was the only non-site specific work. However what was best about this series of works was the ongoing speculation as to what was the concept behind it, something that only become apparent with the final work on Day 9 which showed the animals that had been spotted all around London had in fact escaped from London Zoo.

We have shared all nine works below in chronological order as the series unfolded, and below that we have provided a  more in-depth run of pictures for each piece.

Day 1 – With a Mountain Goat placed superbly on the tiny ledge at the centre of this wall. This work was placed up along Kew Bridge.

Day 2 – with a pair of Elephants reaching out to each other from their respective windows. This work was placed up in Edith Grove, Chelsea.

Day 3 – a trio of Monkeys swinging across the Overground bridge in Brick Lane, set as if they had escaped from a passing train and were heading to the tree on the right.

Day 4 – a lone Wolf set howling in what if viewed at night would of been silhouetted to appear as if front of a full moon. Unfortunately it wasn’t possible to get a night time shot as this work was stolen an hour after it was placed up. This work was placed up on Peckham Rye, Peckham.

Day 5 – with a pair of Pelicans set stealing and eating the fish from this chip shop’s sign. This work was placed up in Pretoria Avenue, Walthamstow.

Day 6 – with a Panther set having stepped out of the jungle and used this old billboard as a scratching post. This work was particularly interesting as the owner of these long-neglected boards, was very aware of what had landed on their property and showed up promptly to remove it, however the group of fans who had arrived to view the artwork prevented this, resulting in the owner having to get the Police to protect them whilst they removed the artwork. This work was placed up along Edgeware Road, Cricklewood.

Day 7 – with an excellent installation and the most clever piece of the series, featuring a school of Piranhas in this former City of London Police viewing box now converted into a fish tank. This work was placed up at Ludgate, City of London.

Day 8 – after everyone thought the series was over after the Piranha’s in the City of London, a Rhino appeared, having a some fun with this car posing as a mate. Of all the works this was our favourite – the broken suspension at the back of the car, buckling under the weight of the Rhino was amazing.  This work was placed up in Charlton.

Day 9 – brought the series to an end by taking the narrative back to the beginning with a rare shutter work from Banksy on the entrance to the iconic London Zoo, featuring a Gorilla, Seal, Hummingbird, Macaw and some Bats all escaping from the zoo to account for the various sightings about London over the previous eight days.