She's shown lots of talent as an artist and has nearly 100 works to her name - she's even had some of her work exhibited in Tokyo galleries.

"When she was two and a half, I tried to see if she could draw on my notebook and she was able to," said Asuka's trainer Yasunobu Sakamoto.

"I got some canvas and got her to paint and discovered she was quite talented."

Asuka rarely uses black, opting for bright colours and when she is an creative mood she can toil over the canvas for hours creating a number of works, each of them unique.

Experts say many apes, especially female or baby apes, will draw if given the tools and the creative flair is a sign of their intelligence.