Ever wonder how those animal art prodigies do it? Well, the little ones are dipped in paint and made to scurry around canvases, leaving pricey expressionist paw smears. According to this news item, the bigger beasts “create the art while being examined in the veterinary hospital under sedation.”

While wallowing in paint mid semi-lucid tranquilizer stupor might sound fun to you, tigers and polar bears can’t exactly consent. Still, perhaps that’s not evil. After all, for their contribution to the Tulsa Zoo’s Art Untamed art sale, monkeys and bears get to be “mentally stimulated,” fundraise and “create” instead of staring at cage bars all day.

…Are they painting cage bars?