Elephant Parade is a ‘parade’ of copyrighted, life-size model baby elephants which are being displayed in major cities around the world. Painted by local and international artists, each elephant is a unique piece of art.
The first Elephant Parade was organised in Rotterdam from September 1 2007 until November 17. The event was a huge success for the Elephant Parade organisation and city of Rotterdam. The Elephant Parade elephants were the most photographed objects ever for the city of Rotterdam.
The Elephant Parade baby elephants are adorable; they can be funny, eye-catching, newsworthy, strange and sometimes even shocking. It’s modern art ‘on’ a very sympathetic carrier.
September 6th 2008 will be the start of Elephant Parade Belgium. For more information on sponsoring, merchandise or licensing please contact
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For other countries please contact
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It is Elephant Parade’s mission to become one of the world’s largest financial support organizations for elephants. At the same time Elephant Parade events will attract worldwide attention as well as much needed public awareness and support for the cause of elephant preservation: Elephant Parade elephants will not go unnoticed by the wider public!
Interview
Marc (71) and Mike (44) Spits are father and son. And they're the founders of the Elephant Parade. Their passion is to create the biggest elephant charity in the world. With the Elephant Parade, they're well on their way...
Marc, Why did you start Elephant Parade?
I was on vacation in Thailand and had heard that Marc Faber a very smart investor,
had moved from Hong Kong to Chiang Mai, a city in Thailand that I had never heard of.
But I thought; there must be a reason that such a smart man moved there; why not check it out?
So we booked tickets to Chiang Mai and the travel agency put us in a big horrible hotel and I was not happy at all. Only when we went for a Thai cooking class and we met some really nice people from Australia I started to like it a bit better. We changed the big hotel for a small family owned guesthouse (for only ten euros) and got to know the very kind owner, a retired businessman from Bangkok.
He told me that Chang Mai used to be the elephant epicenter of Thailand, but that most of the elephants had died out. He also told me that the first elephant hospital is located near Chiang Mai, run by a very passionate and driven woman, Soraida Salwala.
Uaengkam, the baby elephant born this March is doing great.
She is growing as she should and as you see in the picture Uaengkam is playing in the small basin she uses as bathtub while mom keeps an eye on her month old baby.
Another newborn
Great news, the elephant hospital supported by the elephant parade celebrates the birth of a newborn baby elephant.
Soraida founder of the hospital told us that Kammoon, the mother elephant gave birth to a healthy female baby at 00.22, March 3rd 2008. The baby weighs a solid 120 kilo and measures 99 centimeters in height. "I have named her Uaengkam (golden orchid) as orchids here are blossoming" Soraida says.
Newborn Elephant
In Dierenpark Emmen in The Netherlands, an Asian elephant has given
birth to a male calf.
His name is Htoo Yin Aye. He was born on 25
February 2008. This is the 19th calf born in Emmen. Nowhere else in the
world Asian elephants
are breeding as fast as in Emmen, Htoo Yin Aye is the 18th calf born in
captivity in the Emmen zoo.
The Asian elephants are seriously
threatened in numbers. European zoo's are working together to keep the
Asian elephant
from extinction.
Mosha
First Elephant Parade
The first Elephant Parade auction, hosted by Christie’s, took place in the Rotterdam Zoo on November 17, 2007. The net proceeds of the auction amount (€248.500) will be donated to the Friends of the Asian elephants foundation (Thailand) and the Rotterdam Zoo elephant corridor project (India). Mike Spits, co-founder of Elephant Parade; “what a fantastic evening for the elephants in Thailand and India. With the available funds we’ll be able to make our first serious steps in helping the endangered Asian elephants”.
The Asian elephant is extremely threatened in its existence. In 1960, there were more than 40.000 elephants in Thailand. Today, 5.000 are left of which only 2.000 live in the wild. It’s the Elephant Parade mission to become one of the biggest elephant charities in the world.
Citylife-Thailand | 01/10/2007
Giants in the Concrete Jungle
by Cindy Tilney
It is 11.30 p.m. on a Tuesday night in Chiang Mai city. The traffic on Nimmanhaemin Road has begun to thin out, and for Boonsap and his mahout Somchai, it is almost time to head home. Somchai is neatly dressed in a navy blue, mandarin style shirt, one hand gripping the expansive ear of Boonsap, the five year old Asian elephant who earns his nightly income. Unlike many mahouts, Somchai does not use an ankush (a curved hook used to discipline uncooperative elephants), and Boonsap is in relatively good condition, but he sways slowly from side to side – a sure sign of stress in elephants. The pair stop briefly at the entrance to Fine Thanks bar and restaurant, where blaring music and multi-coloured neon lights announce a still crowded interior – potential to up the night’s takings. Boonsap in Thai means ‘to get more money’ and Somchai’s elephant does just that – the mahout says he can make around 1,000 baht a night selling overpriced fruit to tourists eager to feed his charge.
Uaengkam, the baby elephant born this March is doing great.
