Tiny Baby Wonder Indian Elephant

 
NAME

TITLE
Tiny Baby Wonder Indian Elephant

GENDER
Female

AGE
1

FOUND
Mainland Asia

CONSERVATION STATUS
Endangered

This baby girl loves trekking through her forested home in India, single file with her mum and aunties as they march around finding food. She finds it amazing watching how high her mum can reach to get the tastiest food, she will be that big one day too! But the matriarch of her herd has told her how far they used to march on their quest for food. It was so much bigger before, now as they walk their old routes they bump into parts with no trees, just funny buildings with lots of people. The people don’t like it when they go in there but what choice do they have?

These gentle giants are not just found in India as their name suggests, but many countries in mainland Asia including Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malay Peninsula, Laos, China, Cambodia, and Vietnam. They are considered megaherbivores and need to consume huge amounts of food every day, a whopping 150 kg! They spend about 19 hours of their day dedicated to eating, wandering a huge area to find everything they need. This is great for the plants as well because the elephants distribute their seeds as they wander 
around. Their trunks have a special finger-like part which makes it very easy to grasp their intended food.


Indian elephants are constantly on the move, never staying anywhere for more than a few days. They travel in groups of females and their young, led by the oldest matriarch. They communicate with each other using low-frequency noises which can be herd for away. When they get hot, they flap their ears which helps them to release heat. They love water and can smell it up to 3 miles away. Once there they can take a long drink and have fun, diving and swimming. They have a natural buoyancy which gives their joints a nice break.

When a female is about to give birth, the other members of the herd crowd around to protect her. Her very large baby starts feeding on the mother’s milk and can stand after 2 hours. The entire herd helps to look after the calves so the baby is blessed with many dotting ‘aunties’. They are weaned at 2-4 years and the females are ready to mate themselves when they are 10 years old.

One of the biggest threats to Indian elephants is habitat loss and fragmentation. Increasing human populations means that expansion is booming with illegal encroachment into protected areas becoming a real problem. This takes away food and shelter for the elephants and can also stop them from walking their ancient migratory routes and meeting other herds. This is also a problem when they are forced to look for alternative food sources and move into human crops. They have caused millions of dollars worth of damage which results in very angry farmers who will often kill them to stop it from happening again. Another big problem is the illegal ivory trade. The males, the only ones with tusks, are poached for their precious ivory, a market that is still increasing despite being banned worldwide. This leaves the sex ratio severely unbalanced with far more females than males making it harder to find a mate.

HOW TO HELP 
Based off real animals that Gillie and Marc met while travelling, the public will be able to meet individual animals. 

With public art, more people will come into contact with these sculptures, will stop and consider them, will take a photograph, and will discuss this with their friends and family. Through this increased exposure, the message of love, family, and conservation will be spread much further than any piece of art in a gallery ever could. It will bring people into close contact and will help them to fall in love. With love comes a greater urge to want to create a change and save all endangered animals. 

​The sculpture will be aligned with the hashtag #LoveTheLast to raise unparalleled awareness about the sculpture’s cause across the globe.

ABOUT GILLIE AND MARC
Gillie and Marc’s highly coveted public artworks can be found worldwide including in New York, London, Singapore, Shanghai, and Sydney. They are Archibald Prize finalists, won the Chianciano Biennale in Italy, took out the Allens People’s Choice Award in 2016 and 2018 and Kids’ Choice Award in the 2016 Sculpture by the Sea and received the Bayside Arts Festival People's Choice Award in 2019 in Sydney.

The husband-and-wife duo are on a mission to make art for a better tomorrow. They are best known for their beloved characters, Rabbitwoman and Dogman, who tell the autobiographical tale of two opposites coming together as best friends and soul mates.

Gillie and Marc are also passionate eco-warriors and have dedicated their lives to protecting nature.

Gillie grew up with the wildlife in Zambia and Marc studied chimpanzees in Tanzania as a young man. Over time, the artists developed a deep appreciation for all living things and a desire to preserve the magnificence of the natural world. 

Through their art, Gillie and Marc aim to transform passive audiences into passionate advocates for animal conservation. Their mission is to use their work as a platform to continue spreading awareness about endangerment, which will ultimately lead to change and save species from extinction.

Their art has raised hundreds of thousands in donations for the many wildlife charities and causes they support through their project Love The Last.

Please follow @gillieandmarcart