It’s a stampede — with a message.
The “Great Elephant Migration,” one of the largest outdoor art installations to hit the streets of New York, has placed 100 life-sized elephant sculptures in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District.
“It’s amazing! This reminds me exactly of my vacation in Africa,” said Lisa Kievit, 75, who joined the throngs of locals and tourists alike who Sunday stopped to pet the gentle giants set up on Ninth Avenue between West 15th and Horatio streets.
The elephants – made of layers of fine, woody reeds – were created by the Coexistence Collective, a community of 200 indigenous artisans living in India’s Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, to raise money and awareness for wildlife conservation.
Each sculpture is a life-sized facsimile of a specific, real-life elephant roaming the bush in Southern India.
“We were just in Thailand and were so amazed at how lifelike these elephants are,” said Meemee Xie, a wellness coach who lives nearby.
They were so realistic, in fact, that one little girl was afraid to come near.
“I think it’s a good thing to have here in New York,” said the girl’s father, Ivan Luppi. “This is showing us that we should be in harmony with the animals to live with them.”
The artists fashioned the beasts from lantana – an invasive weed that has swallowed up more than 100,000 square miles of Indian forest, threatening the food supplies of local animals.
“This global fundraising adventure benefits indigenous and community-led conservation efforts—specifically, conservation NGOs supporting remarkable people around the world who have found ways to live alongside lions, leopards, elephants, and some of the planet’s most challenging animals,” according to the Meatpacking District web site.
Lanita Hobbs, 67, wished the elephants would make New York their forever home. “They are magnificent. They should leave them here,” she said.
Those wanting to catch a glimpse of the majestic creatures have until Oct. 20 before they pack up their trunks and leave for Miami Beach and then Los Angeles.