'Great Elephant Migration' becomes one of largest outdoor art installations ever in NYC
MEATPACKING DISTRICT, Manhattan (WABC) -- An impressive art installation in Manhattan's Meatpacking District depicting 100 life-sized elephants is aiming to raise money and awareness for the animals.
The "Great Elephant Migration" is one of the largest outdoor installations ever in New York City.
"All of my dreams are coming true right now and the reaction of New Yorkers, it's the dearest," said The Coexistence Collective Co-Founder Ruth Ganesh.
The elephants are scattered throughout the Meatpacking District mostly along Ninth Avenue, and each one has a different shaped ear, making it an easy way to distinguish them.
Each one is unique - an exact replica of a real elephant now freely roaming on plantations in parts of Southern India.
"I think you can kind of sense which ones are adventurous, which ones are a bit shy," Ganesh said.
And there's a message behind it.
The international organization Elephant Family USA has teamed up with The Coexistence Collective. A group of 200 artisans spent years making the sculptures in India where they have demonstrated humans and animals can live harmoniously in the same space.
"The elephants are almost telling people, that the world's largest land mammal is able to live with people, surely everything else can better co-exist," said The Coexistence Collective Co-Founder Tarsh Thekaekara.
The elephants are made of lantana, an invasive weed that is taking over forests and displacing wildlife.
"Ironically, the one material that's pushing them out, they are being made our of to save them," Ganesh said.
The herd is on a cross-country journey, which started in Newport, Rhode Island. They will be in New York City through October 20, but that doesn't have to be the end.
The elephants are for sale, from $8,000 to $22,000. The money will help fund projects focused on this issue: nature is good for human beings.
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