Edinburgh became a jungle with elephants, tigers, crocodiles, orangutans and hornbills taking over the city, in what was Scotland's biggest ever outdoor art exhibition - Jungle City.
More than 130 brightly painted creatures, designed by artists and celebrities from around Britain, invaded Edinburgh in summer 2011 raising almost £800,000 to protect some of the world's most endangered species. The sculptures had pride of place on buildings, park benches, lampposts and even traffic lights at the height of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
The animals, beautiful collections of art, graced The Royal Botanical Gardens from mid August and were then unleashed onto the streets of Edinburgh throughout September. The exhibition saw Scotland's capital obsessed with finding every last creature. For six glorious weeks, Edinburgh was transformed into a jungle!
The exhibition attracted the backing of HRH The Prince of Wales, Goldie Hawn, Jack Vettriano, Professor Gordon Murray, Sir Brian Ivory and Geri Halliwell.
HRH Prince of Wales comments: "This remarkable initiative aims to help alleviate the crisis facing so many species on our planet today... Your generous support of Elephant Family and Jungle City in Edinburgh will quite simply make all the difference so I can only urge you to support this innovative campaign in any way you can".
100% of proceeds will be channeled into conservation initiatives and buying strategic habitat, which is the only real way to save the endangered Asian elephant, along with all the other animals who share the same habitat - hornbills, crocodiles, orangutans and tigers - from extinction. The sculptures were sold at a glittering grand auction in aid of Elephant Family and five UK conservation charities on 29th September in Edinburgh.
"Conserving elephants is much more than an issue about how to protect a single species. It is about protecting one of the forces that shapes ecosystems and helps sustain the wealth of wildlife found across much of the continent. It is about saving the creative power of nature."
Douglas Chadwick
Read on:
