We’ve mentioned the Elephant Parade a couple of times on Facebook and Twitter but here’s the low-down for those of you who aren’t bumping into baby elephants at every corner these days.

Elephant painted by Samantha Buckley

Charity Elephant Family is raising money and awareness for the conservation of the Asian elephant by placing 260 life-sized baby elephant sculptures all over London, hand-painted by artists, designers and students. Amongst the big names who’ve taken up their brushes are Marc Quinn, Sacha Jafri, Diane Von Furstenberg, Tommy Hilfiger and Lulu Guinness.

Asian elephant and baby (Photo by SuperJew)

The idea is to get people thinking about the danger Asian elephants are due to overcrowding and poaching. Elephant Family estimate that in the last century the Asian elephant population has shrunk from 250,000 to about 25,000 and this trend continues, wild elephants in Asia will be gone by 2050.

But they’re also raising money for their work and in the most eye-catching way. All of the elephants on display around London are for sale and would make a pretty funky addition to any collection.

Elephants being coated with resin before heading out to various locations