Some of the featured artwork will be created through various different painting methods including paw print canvases by the zoo's popular meerkats, Olaf, Aleksandr, Sergei and Leon.

One of the major attractions for this year's exhibition will be Hummer the giraffe, who has been making some strides with his artwork.

"It's such a new thing for him [Hummer], doing some painting and art works" senior wildlife keeper Renee Osterloh said.

Ms Osterloh said the trainers at the zoo had been working with Hummer to get some intricate artwork ready for auction.

"Targeted training is an important tool for us, like conditioning animals going into different areas or new environments, it's a positive reinforcer, he looks at that tennis ball and if he touches it he gets a treat," Ms Osterloh said.

Featured work will come from Otay and Arataki, who are sun bears that are a species threatened in the wild by poachers; Sian and Tunku will also be making a contribution.

Both Sian and Tunku are Siamangs, a type of Gibbon, which are threatened in the wild by traffickers and poachers. Both came to the zoo as part of a new breeding program earlier this year.

"Those two are inseparable, they are adorable and they have to be next to each other, touching each other and mucking around and playing. Hopefully they can start a successful breeding program," Ms Osterloh said.

The possibility of expanding the initiative to include extra animals is a pertinent topic within the zoo. Ms Osterloh believes that rhinos could feature in next year's exhibition, if they can smooth out some of the kinks: "We've just started working with rhinos, who have tried to kiss the canvases, but they ended up smudging it."

All proceeds from the auction of animal artwork will be going to conservation groups TRAFFIC and Free the Bears, who assist in anti-poaching and anti-trafficking initiatives. The event is on Friday, October 14 and tickets cost $25 from the zoo's website. Canberra Zoo has fundraised over $17,000 in the past two years from the event.