News

Elephant Parade in London

29 May 2010

Keep your eyes open if you're in London any time in May or June, and chances are you'll see some brightly painted life-size baby elephant sculptures around the city. There are 250 of them in all. Two members of Operation Charm - International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and WWF - are official conservation partners for the event.

Elephant Parade 2010, hosted by Elephant Family and the Greater London Authority, is raising awareness and funds for the crisis faced by the endangered Asian elephant.

Each of the 250 elephants started life as a blank sculpture. Artists and celebrities were then invited to design and decorate them – and their work will be seen all around central London, in parks, on street corners, even on or inside buildings.

Designers and artists involved include Jack Vettriano, Laura Ford, Tommy Hilfiger, Rosie Brooks, Storm Thorgerson, Dominique Salm and Nina Campbell. After two months on display, all 250 elephant statues will be sold at auction at Sotheby's, which aims to raise over GBP 1 million, benefitting more than 15 UK conservation charities working in Asia to conserve elephants.

Locations include Green Park, Hyde Park, St James's Park, King's Road, Queen's Walk, Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Street, Hamley's Toy Store, Selfridge's, Trafalgar Square, Westminster, Marble Arch, Chelsea Royal Hospital, the Natural History Museum, even as far out as Greenwich and Brixton. Download a map and a full list of all the elephants on display.

According to Boris Johnson, Mayor of London: "Elephant Parade is a brilliantly innovative way of using public art to benefit conservation. Not only will the parade brighten London's streets and enhance our public spaces, it will play a vital role in building a new generation of conservationists."

It was estimated in 2003 that there are only between 41,000 and 52,000 elephants roaming wild in the tropical forests of Asia. Accurate elephant figures are notoriously hard to gauge, because of the dense vegetation, difficult terrain and the fact that herds often move over large distances. But it's clear the overall trend is still downwards.

TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network and a joint progamme of WWF and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), also have an elephant or "Tigerphant" in the parade.