A US chimpanzee who paints with his tongue has won a $10,000 (£6,450) prize in a chimpanzee art competition.

Brent, 37, created a delicate, vibrantly coloured work featuring daubs of violet, blue and yellow on paper.

The entries were judged by noted primate researcher and conservationist, Jane Goodall.

The prize in the contest, sponsored by the Humane Society of the US will benefit Chimp Haven, Brent's sanctuary in the US state of Louisiana.

Cheetah and Ripley won second and third prizes in the competition that garnered 27,000 votes.

Brent is a retired laboratory animal, and the Humane Society says he is protective of an elder companion, named Grandma, and "loves to laugh and play".

"All of the art was beautiful and unique, just like chimpanzees," Jane Goodall said, in a statement distributed by the Humane Society.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23892289

As chimps paint better than Gus, it's time to hang up my boots... Though I did not get lobotomised or laboratorized like the winner, Brent... This could be where I went wrong... I escaped from the zoo before they could fiddle with my brain...

But can Brent sign his name?... Unimportant Meanwhile, Bravo, Trent... Bravo, cousing, would you be prepared to share your prize with me? In bananas of course...

Meanwhile, the former US president, George W Bush, has been outed as a painter of black and white cats... Dog painted by a president, I can cope with... But CATS?...