Banksy unleashes animals on London, but what do they mean?

LONDON (Reuters) - A goat, two elephants, three monkeys and one wolf.

Four Banksy murals which have appeared in London this week have left many pondering the meaning behind the elusive street artist's latest work.

It began with the mountain goat on Monday, appearing to be perched on a ledge with rocks falling off and depicted in Banksy's signature stencil style on a wall in Richmond, west London.

Next came two elephant heads, peering out of two blocked out windows on the side of a house in affluent Chelsea, followed by three monkeys which appear to be hanging from a railway bridge near east London's Brick Lane.

The silhouette of a wolf, howling at the sky, appeared on a satellite dish atop a heavily graffitied building in Peckham, southeast London, on Thursday. Banksy has posted pictures of each on his Instagram account.

London's Metropolitan Police said the satellite dish had been reported stolen within hours of being unveiled. Pictures in local media showed it being removed by a person who had their face covered with a mask.

Theories swirled on social media as to the meaning of the works, by an artist who has highlighted themes such as war and climate change in his previous work.

Some speculated they could be related to the riots and racist attacks that have swept the country in the past week, others to the idea that humanity is seeding its own downfall.

"Nice one Banksy. I see this as a critique on the wild and chaotic behaviour currently erupting across the UK. Far right thugs on the prowl," one user "barrybrexiter" commented on Banksy's Instagram post.

Another "leticia_vega" wrote "Humanity is not going to last ... animals will be taking over."

The Bristol-based artist's last mural, also in London, depicted green paint sprayed across the side of a building to mimic the foliage of a real, heavily pruned tree that stands a few metres in front of it. Many took that mural as speaking to a need to preserve nature.

In December, Banksy depicted three drones on a stop sign, again in Peckham. It was stolen very shortly after it went up.

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by Christina Fincher)