Edinburgh, 5th September 2011

The capital city of Scotland ‘Edinburgh’ has been turned into a Jungle City by UK charity ‘The Elephant Family’.  For the past one month following the start of the Edinburgh festival - artists from different spheres and talent have worked on 130 life-size animal sculptures unleashed in the Royal Botanical Garden - Edinburgh. Today, 5th of September 2011, the sculptures have come to the main city and will be on display in places like Princess Street, Royal Mile, Victoria Street in both the old and new towns of the city to name a few from tomorrow the 6th of September 2011.

The Elephant Family is UK’s biggest funder for the Endangered Asiatic Elephant. This charity works to save this iconic animal from extinction in the wild. Along with the elephant they work on other species like the orangutan, crocodile, tigers and hornbills that exist in this ecosystem. They work with local NGOs and partners where they currently fund 12 running projects across asia and invest more in areas where they are needed the most; to protect habitats; prevent conflicts and reconnect corridors / homes of the endangered asiatic elephant.

Most of the sculptures have been sponsored by many businesses directly or indirectly linked to saving species in the wild. One of the Orangutan called ‘Fragile’ has been sponsored by The Great Projects

When asked Mr. Afzaal Mauthoor, Managing Director of The Great Project about their support to this initiative - he said ”it is an opportunity which we at The Great Projects did not want to miss - for many years we have involved ourselves in some of these amazing wilderness through our Wildlife Volunteer Tourism Experiences especially in places like Borneo and sponsoring an Orangutan was certainly very close to our ongoing projects. We are happy to be involved with the Elephant Family and will continue our support with them on their future initiatives wherever they go’‘.

Along with The Great Project, some of the other sponsors included The Rangers Football Club with an artists impression defining the clubs football colours

and the Celtic Football Club being one of the other many sponsor.

The Online auctions of these sculptures will start on the 23rd of September - 2nd of October and the final grand auction of Jungle City sculptures / followed with formal dinner will be held on the 29th of September at the National Museum of Scotland - people interested in getting miniature sculptures of these fascinating artwork can buy them at Harvey Nichols Edinburgh.

With Jungle City this year, the charity hopes to raise £1million for the survival of these endangered species. Come, join in and show your support for this cause.