The paint is dry on Banksy's animal-themed street art that appeared across London over 9 days

LONDON (AP) — On the 10th day, after creating the mountain goat, elephants, pelicans, a rhinoceros and a gorilla, among other animals, Banksy rested.

The elusive street artist's menagerie that appeared around London over nine consecutive days apparently came to a conclusion after a final mural surprised staff who arrived early to feed the animals Tuesday at the London Zoo.

There was nothing new posted Wednesday on the artist's website or his Instagram page, where his avid fans typically learn of his recent work. Those who live close enough often rush out to view it and snap photos — sometimes before it can be snapped up.

The zoo mural depicting a gorilla lifting up the entrance gate as birds took flight, a sea lion waddled away and three sets of eyes peered out from the darkness inside, was the last in the series, the BBC reported. A spokesperson for Banksy did not return multiple messages by The Associated Press.

Fans of the artist, whose real identity is not known, continued to debate the meanings of the paintings online. Some suggested the animals represented people and that the murals spoke to the Israel-Palestinian war. Others said they referred to the recent riots in Britain blamed on the far-right.

Banksy, who has been known to advocate for human and animal rights, could have been suggesting the creatures needed to be liberated from incarceration, some said. Others suggested more innocent whimsy: the final painting was the big reveal of where all those other animals came from.

Jasper Tordoff, the Banksy expert at MyArtBroker, said there had been a theory as the number of animals multiplied successively from one to two to three in the first works that the artist was creating a Noah's Ark theme that mirrored his previous religious satire. But that theory seemed shot when the fourth work was a lone wolf that “came out of nowhere,” he said.

Banksy's art is often pointedly political and Tordoff said these recent murals, created using stencils and spray paint, are clever but simple works that are meant to be fun. The artist's company told the Observer that the series was meant to bring some joy during a period of dark news.

But Tordoff said Banksy may be making a commentary on human nature and the desire for possessions as at least one of the works has been stolen and others moved to preserve them.

"We’re in this pantomime of Banksy. We’re part of this installation in a way," Tordoff said. “Banksy undoubtedly knew that all of this would be covered with photographs and CCTV about what the public reaction is, and that might be part of it, because that’s been just as entertaining in my view.”

Here's a look at the nine works that were mostly painted as silhouettes:

— Aug. 5: A mountain goat perched on a narrow building buttress and looking down as crumbling rocks appear to fall in west London.

— Aug. 6: Two elephants painted on boarded-up windows on the side of a rowhouse in Chelsea face each other and reach out with their trunks. Followers on Instagram suggest they are the proverbial “elephants in the room” — that can't be missed but no one wants to discuss them.

— Aug. 7: Three monkeys swing and hang on the side of a railway bridge in east London. Some fans say they represent the “see no, hear no, speak no evil” wise monkeys from ancient Japan.

— Aug. 8: A lone howling wolf on a satellite dish breaks up what had appeared to be an ascending sequence of animals. The dish art had a short shelf life as masked men showed up with a ladder and climbed up on the roof above a storefront in south London, removed it and ran away.

— Aug. 9: Two pelicans were painted perched on the sign for a fish and chip shop in northeast London. One of the birds has its beak pointed upward and is catching a fish in its big mouth while the second one appears to be snapping up a fish that is part of the sign. The owners of the shop, which is closed until September, said on Instagram that it was “over the moon” Banksy decorated their shop. “Contrary to some beliefs, we didn’t ask him to do this, but are very grateful he did!" Bonners Fish Bar wrote.

— Aug. 10: A big cat stretches out on a dilapidated plywood billboard in north London. Crowds that had gathered to see it booed as contractors arrived to remove it for security reasons.

— Aug. 11: The windows of a small police guard post were painted with a circling school of piranhas so that it appeared to look like a fish tank. This is the only work in the series painted in color. The sentry box near the Old Bailey criminal courthouse was taken to City of London corporate offices to protect it, a spokesperson said. It will eventually be placed where it can be viewed by the public.

— Aug. 12: A rhinoceros painted on a brick wall appeared to be mounting a small Nissan car parked in front of it on the sidewalk. The rhino was later tagged with graffiti and the car was removed.

— Aug. 13: The zoo mural was discovered early Tuesday, said Dan Simmonds, animal operations manager at the zoo. “I’ve worked here for about 20 years, and this definitely wins the prize for my most surprising arrival at work,” he said. “A massive surprise for me. But indeed for all of London, indeed all of the world.” A day later, cyclists and runners stopped to snap selfies and photos of the painting that was behind barriers, protected by an acrylic shield and overseen by three security guards.

A cyclist takes a photo while passing a mural by the elusive street artist Banksy at the entrance to the London Zoo, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. The elusive street artist's recent works that appeared all over London on nine consecutive days apparently came to a conclusion after a final mural surprised staff who arrived early Tuesday to feed the animals at the London Zoo. (AP Photo/Brian Melley)

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)

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 mural by the elusive street artist Banksy is seen at the entrance to the London Zoo, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Melley)

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)

A man snaps a selfie with a mural by the elusive street artist Banksy at the entrance to the London Zoo, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. The elusive street artist's recent works that appeared all over London on nine consecutive days apparently came to a conclusion after a final mural surprised staff who arrived early Tuesday to feed the animals at the London Zoo. (AP Photo/Brian Melley)

A woman photographs a mural by the elusive street artist Banksy at the entrance to the London Zoo, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. The elusive street artist's recent works that appeared all over London on nine consecutive days apparently came to a conclusion after a final mural surprised staff who arrived early Tuesday to feed the animals at the London Zoo. (AP Photo/Brian Melley)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — How do you remove children from the harms of social media? Politically the answer appears simple in Australia, but practically the solution could be far more difficult.

The Australian government’s plan to ban children from social media platforms including X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram until their 16th birthdays is politically popular. The opposition party says it would have done the same after winning elections due within months if the government hadn’t moved first.

The leaders of all eight Australian states and mainland territories have unanimously backed the plan, although Tasmania, the smallest state, would have preferred the threshold was set at 14.

But a vocal assortment of experts in the fields of technology and child welfare have responded with alarm. More than 140 such experts signed an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemning the 16-year age limit as “too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.”

Details of what is proposed and how it will be implemented are scant. More will be known when legislation is introduced into the Parliament next week.

Leo Puglisi, a 17-year-old Melbourne student who founded online streaming service 6 News Australia at the age of 11, laments that lawmakers imposing the ban lack the perspective on social media that young people have gained by growing up in the digital age.

“With respect to the government and prime minister, they didn’t grow up in the social media age, they’re not growing up in the social media age, and what a lot of people are failing to understand here is that, like it or not, social media is a part of people’s daily lives,” Leo said.

“It’s part of their communities, it’s part of work, it’s part of entertainment, it’s where they watch content – young people aren’t listening to the radio or reading newspapers or watching free-to-air TV – and so it can’t be ignored. The reality is this ban, if implemented, is just kicking the can down the road for when a young person goes on social media,” Leo added.

Leo has been applauded for his work online. He was a finalist in his home state Victoria's nomination for the Young Australian of the Year award, which will be announced in January. His nomination bid credits his platform with “fostering a new generation of informed, critical thinkers.”

One of the proposal's supporters, cyber safety campaigner Sonya Ryan, knows from personal tragedy how dangerous social media can be for children.

Her 15-year-old daughter Carly Ryan was murdered in 2007 in South Australia state by a 50-year-old pedophile who pretended to be a teenager online. In a grim milestone of the digital age, Carly was the first person in Australia to be killed by an online predator.

“Kids are being exposed to harmful pornography, they’re being fed misinformation, there are body image issues, there’s sextortion, online predators, bullying. There are so many different harms for them to try and manage and kids just don’t have the skills or the life experience to be able to manage those well,” Sonya Ryan said.

“The result of that is we’re losing our kids. Not only what happened to Carly, predatory behavior, but also we’re seeing an alarming rise in suicide of young people,” she added.

Sonya Ryan is part of a group advising the government on a national strategy to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse in Australia.

She wholeheartedly supports Australia setting the social media age limit at 16.

“We’re not going to get this perfect,” she said. “We have to make sure that there are mechanisms in place to deal with what we already have which is an anxious generation and an addicted generation of children to social media."

A major concern for social media users of all ages is the legislation’s potential privacy implications.

Age estimation technology has proved inaccurate, so digital identification appears to be the most likely option for assuring a user is at least 16.

Tama Leaver, professor of internet studies at Curtin University, fears that the government will make the platforms hold the users’ identification data.

The government has already said the onus will be on the platforms, rather than on children or their parents, to ensure everyone meets the age limit.

“The worst possible outcome seems to be the one that the government may be inadvertently pushing towards, which would be that the social media platforms themselves would end up being the identity arbiter,” Leaver said.

“They would be the holder of identity documents which would be absolutely terrible because they have a fairly poor track record so far of holding on to personal data well,” he added.

The platforms will have a year once the legislation has become law to work out how the ban can be implemented.

Ryan, who divides her time between Adelaide in South Australia and Fort Worth, Texas, said privacy concerns should not stand in the way of removing children from social media.

“What is the cost if we don’t? If we don’t put the safety of our children ahead of profit and privacy?” she asked.

This version removes incorrect information that the eSafety Commissioner proposed adopting the role of “authenticator” of people’s ages. The commissioner’s office says it never proposed such a role..

Online safety advocate Sonya Ryan attends a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on June 15, 2021. Ryan knows from personal tragedy how dangerous social media can be for children. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)

In this image made from video released by Leo Puglisi, 17-year-old Leo Puglisi records his online streaming news service 6 News Australia, from Melbourne, Australia in January 2024. (Leo Puglisi via AP)