24 September 2007 ELEPHANTS IN HYDE PARK A herd of 12 life size elephants made out of willow (created by Steve Manning and Joe Crane) were seen in Hyde Park bewtween 4-18 September. They were there to promote awareness of the threats to the Asian elephant and to raise money towards a forest corridor project. Corridors can help protect elephants as conflicts with humans can be avoided when the elephants can move safely between protected areas.

The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is one of 3 living species of elephant. It is different from the African elephant in that it is smaller, have smaller ears, one finger on its trunk as opposed to two and the female elephant usually lacks tusks. It is endangered in the wild and there are only 25,000-30,000 of this species still alive in South and Southeast Asian forests.

The main threats to the remaining elephants are deforestation leading to habitat loss, and conflicts with humans. When forests are cut down there are usually small fragments of habitats left, resulting in small isolated elephant populations. These populations are vulnerable to extinctions. Networks of forest corridors are important for the elephants for them to be able to move between these small fragments of habitats. When elephants travel through human areas conflicts often arise, occasionally resulting in deaths of both elephants and humans. The elephants are being forced into moving to find food and with no habitat for them they will roam through farming areas to find food.

The Trunks meet Trunks' activities in Hyde Park was in aid of WLT's elephant corridor project in Kerala in Southwest India.

Links to websites

Trunks meet Trunks - Details of the herd in Hyde Park
Elephant Family - Conservation charity focusing on the endangered wild Asian elephant as well as captive Asian elephants
Wildlife Trust of India - An organisation for wildlife conservation, rehabilitation, rescue and protection
Worldland Trust - A wildlife conservation charity