There are currently a herd of Indian elephants on the King's Road in Chelsea, London. So I went to have a look on 29 May 2021.
The project is known as CoExistence. Info from the
Herd the news link : "Raising awareness for ‘CoExistence’, the new environmental art campaign from wildlife conservation charity Elephant Family, this extraordinary display of one of the world’s most precious mammals aims to raise funds for conservation projects that enable people and wildlife to live peacefully alongside each other.
From babies and adolescents all the way through to full-grown male tuskers, there is a beautiful story behind these intricate sculptures, made using Lantana camara, a natural plant material that was introduced to Asia where it became a notorious weed; toxic to grazing animals and outcompeting native species leading to a reduction in biodiversity. Over five years, a great amount of skill has gone into their creation, each sculpture inspired by a real, wild elephant that lives alongside their creators.
These masters of their craft are from indigenous communities in India who coexist with these elephants. With great understanding of the forest they share, they show these animals respect and know what to plant, where to walk and how to live within natures laws and rhythms. To find out more about the makers, visit their website
here."
The 50 handcrafted life-size elephants are in Chelsea from 17 May to 6 June. A map of the Chelsea migration -
I started with the Royal Avenue herd, where there are 5 elephants -
The biggest herd is just up the King's Road, at Duke of York Square, aka Cadogan Estate.
A smaller group facing the Saatchi Gallery -
Elephants next to statue of
Sir Hans Sloane , the nearby Sloane Square and Sloane Street are named after him.
On Pavilion Road are 2 more elephants -
The rest of the herd are further away in Cadogan Place Garden. This is a private garden for residents only. There are 2 groups of elephants -
The herd will migrate to Green Park, St James’s Park and Berkeley Square and stay there from 14th June to 23rd July.
The sculptures are available for sale, with babies starting at £6,000 to £30,000 for an adult. See more on CoExistence Elephant Shop.
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There is an unrelated herd of elephants at Spitalfields, which I have also seen.
And in 2010 there was a herd of colourful elephants in London which I saw.
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