Together, We Will Make A Huge Difference

Susie Kearley finds out about the father and son team whose mission is elephant conservation.

- Susie Kearley

WALK through the market town of Princes Risborough and you might be surprised to see a couple of shop windows adorned with colourful painted elephant sculptures.

Inside, I find dozens of them, all painted with different designs. They’re created by artists and celebrities for Elephant Parade to raise funds for elephant conservation around the world.

Elephant Parade began in 2006, when father and son Marc and Mike Spits were on holiday in Thailand. Marc met a baby elephant named Mosha who had lost her leg after stepping on a landmine.

Mosha inspired the two men to start the business so they could raise awareness of the challenges faced by elephants, both in the wild and in captivity overseas, and do more to help them.

“We wanted to do something that would be profitable in the long run,” Mike says. “This is the only way in which we can provide the elephant with a sustainable future.”

The projects they support focus on the health and wellbeing of elephants, promoting solutions to end conflict between humans and elephants, and raising awareness of conservation issues through education.

“We reach out to people around the world with positive messages that make them want to be part of our campaign to protect elephants,” Mike explains.

“We place visually captivating herds of up to 250 art elephants in popular destinations and this raises awareness of the plight of elephants around the world: most people don’t realise that the situation is as dramatic as it is.

“Our work was initially inspired by Mosha, a baby elephant who stepped on to a landmine and lost her right front leg when she was just seven months old.