Herd of elephant sculptures arrive in London’s Royal Parks

A herd of 100 elephant sculptures have taken up space in London’s Royal Parks for the rest of the month to provide families the opportunity to take part in one of the country’s biggest outdoor exhibitions.

The free six-week exhibition, set up by the Elephant Family and The Real Elephant Collective, aims to help educate the public on the elephants and the ways in which humans can better protect the planet’s biodiversity.

A total of eight herds will be distributed between Green Park, St James’s Park and Berkeley Square each carrying a “unique story of human-wildlife coexistence.”

The project, supported by their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, acts as a reminder of The Duchess’ late brother, Mark Shand, who co-founded Elephant Family.

The elephants have been created in Tamil Nadu by indigenous communities who live in close proximity to their real-life counterparts.

The installation, for the CoExistence exhibition, is said to be brought to life with the support of Xerjoff perfumes “creating a multi-sensory experience through fragrance, transporting people to the Nilgiri Hills of Southern India where the elephants began their migration.”

Shubhra Nayar, Designer & Founder of the Real Elephant Collective, said: “For me designing these life-size elephants has been the bridging of deep research from The Shola Trust, hours of elephant footage to draw from – and the innate knowledge of elephants that our indigenous artists have, weaving life into these gorgeous replicas of the real elephants they coexist with.”

Any funds raised by CoExistence will be directed to grass-roots organisations across India that allow people and wildlife to live together more peacefully.

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