ELEPHANTS ARRIVE AT CIRENCESTER PARK TO SOUND A TRUMPET CALL FOR WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

Published On: November 2nd, 2020

THERE’S A NEW HERD IN TOWN:

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The Earl and Countess Bathurst join HRH The Duchess of Cornwall in support of the CoExistence campaign at their home, The Bathurst Estate, Cirencester Park, Gloucestershire from the 20th October 2020.

20th October saw the migration of a herd of life-size elephant sculptures to Cirencester Park as part of CoExistence, a campaign to raise awareness about human-wildlife conflict.

Conceptualised by Mark Shand’s conservation charity Elephant Family, in collaboration with The Real Elephant Collective, CoExistence is an epic environmental art campaign which will see 125 life-size elephant sculptures migrate through London’s Royal Parks in Summer 2021. The exhibition will mark the occasion of the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) scheduled for May 2021, which plans to negotiate a new global framework to safeguard all life on Earth.

The funds raised from the sales of these elephant sculptures will support innovative solutions to the growing conflict between humans and wildlife who are pitched against each other in a deadly battle for food and space. In India, this is a conflict that on average ends in the death of one elephant and one person, every day.

Lady Bathurst personally oversaw the installation of the family on arrival: ‘ We are so privileged to have these gorgeous elephants living with us, and they really are exquisitely made, but they also carry an incredibly important message and I feel it’s a wonderful way to deliver that message, in the surroundings of Broad Avenue, with The Militia Barracks as a backdrop, reminding us how we all live surrounded by nature in this modern and slightly chaotic world, and how we can meaningfully co-exist with that beauty, if we really think about it.

Flocks of endangered or biologically extinct native UK birds such as storks, cranes, white tailed eagles, corncrakes and great bustards, created by UK artists will also land on the herd to highlight rewilding efforts closer to home. In partnership with the farming community of Norfolk and Suffolk, the funds raised from the birds will go into WildEast an initiative which was recently celebrated on BBC One’s ‘Countryfile’.

Leading the charge with her own herd at Highgrove, HRH the Duchess of Cornwall has established an elephant adoption agency to provide temporary residences for these sculptures ahead of their debut in the Royal Parks next summer.

Lord and Lady Bathurst have answered the ‘trumpet call’, by kindly ‘adopting’ a herd of these magnificent creatures to the Bathurst Estate to raise awareness of the CoExistence campaign.

Lady Bathurst is besotted with the beautiful creatures and both The Earl and Countess have been surprised at the response they have had in the first week since the elephants arrival, with people coming to visit from far and wide, whilst of course observing social distancing rules.

But the elephants ‘adopters’ remain focussed on the underlying message:

Lady Bathurst says: ‘We must remember the vital role they play in raising awareness for the conservation work being done on a daily basis in their native country. It is heart breaking to think of the conflict caused by the ever-growing presence of humans and their needs, with the inevitable result of the shrinking of the natural habitat. And because of the human spread and intervention, the serious threat to their long-term survival is very real, so I hope very much we can all work together to change that.’

About CoExistence:

As human populations expand and natural habitats shrink, people and animals are fighting a deadly battle for food and space. The Asian elephant is the poster child for a new generation of homeless animals attempting to live in human dominated landscapes.

As the most densely populated continent on Earth, Asia is where the greatest number of wild animals face extinction. Destroying natural habitats triggers mass biodiversity loss and creates deadly zoonotic diseases, and as humans continue to encroach on wild spaces, the likelihood of another global pandemic is high.

To protect global biodiversity and build a future without conflict and global pandemics, we must find ways for humans and animals to live closer together than ever before without killing each other. This is what CoExistence is all about.

About the Sculptures:

These magnificent elephants are ambassadors for the entire animal kingdom, and bring with them a plea for help to protect their home, so that they can live peacefully alongside their human neighbours.

The sculptures have all been crafted by a team of conservationists, tribals and artists who live alongside the herd in the jungles of Southern India, and have pioneered innovative solutions that can be applied globally to help humans and animals to live in CoExistence with each other.

CoExistence is a creative collaboration between Elephant Family and The Real Elephant Collective.

Working under the creative direction of Elephant Family’s Ruth Ganesh and The Real Elephant Collective’s Shubhra Nayar, a collective of artists in the jungles of Tamil Nadu, Southern India, have spent the past four years recreating the real-life elephants they live alongside, in intricately detailed sculptural form.

The sculptures are composed of Lantana camara, an invasive weed first introduced by British tea planters in the 1800s, which is choking the forests of Asia and destroying natural habitats. By crafting these elephants from Lantana camara, CoExistence is not only helping to improve habitats and biodiversity, but is also providing livelihoods for local communities.

To find out more, or to purchase an elephant or two, please visit www.coexistence.org

Instagram: @coexistence.story

Twitter: @CoExistence_UK

Fellow Adoption Agency supporters:

CoExistence sculptures are being installed in the coming weeks across the Cotswolds thanks to the warm generosity of a number of supporters.

Also open to the public:

•Their Royal Highnesses Prince Charles and The Duchess of Cornwall, Highgrove House

•Duchess of Beaufort, Badminton Estate

•Lord Rothschild, Waddesdon Manor

About Elephant Family:

Together with our Joint Presidents, TRHs The Prince of Wales & The Duchess of Cornwall, Elephant Family is dedicated to building landscapes that support coexistence between humans and wildlife.

The ongoing conflict between people and wildlife affects 90% of India and over 500 million people, with on average one human and one elephant death every single day.

Preventing these human-wildlife conflict situations by working with the communities affected is key to making meaningful conservation changes.

Elephant Family’s human-wildlife coexistence work aims to create landscapes that allow humans and wildlife to coexist peacefully without killing each other.

About The Real Elephant Collective:

The Real Elephant Collective is a not for profit, socio environmental enterprise for everything elephant. Their mission is to keep the elephant alive on the ground and in people’s minds. Their devoted team are equally dedicated to protecting elephants by learning and teaching people to coexist with them.

They do this by creating interactive art and immersive experiences that collect and transmit the stories, memories and dreams of local communities.

About the Wild East Initiative:

Headed up by Oliver Birkbeck, Hugh Somerleyton and Argus Hardy, the Wild East Initiative is challenging landowners across East Anglia to make a pledge to return 20% or 250,000ha of their land to nature. Their aim is to lead the UK towards a future of greater biodiversity, and to bring the wild back to our landscapes.

Lord and Lady Bathurst hope all their visitors will enjoy the wonderful Elephant Family, and perhaps consider buying one of these magnificent beasts, or donating to the CoExistence Project via the QR code, which will be on display by the exhibition sculptures.