Elephants brighten London streets

AP / Ian Nicholson ©

More than 250 brightly painted life-size elephants are making their mark in central London.

In an attempt to raise awareness and money to save the endangered Asian elephant, the Elephant Parade has hit the city's streets attracting an estimated audience of 25 million people.

Event organiser Elephant Family said the parade, which has been running since May, was expected to raise £2 million ($3.4 million) to benefit 17 conservation charities in the UK.

"The Asian elephant is a truly magnificent creature but sadly it's on the brink of extinction, marooned in ever-decreasing pockets of forest by the spread of human settlements, farming, mining and railways," the Elephant Family organisation said.

"In the past 100 years, the elephant population in Asia has shrunk by 90 per cent. In another 30 years, it could easily vanish altogether."

Each of the parade's fibreglass elephants weighs 70kg and will be available for purchase at auctions on June 30 and July 3.

The fake elephants have an anti-graffiti coating to protect them from London's taggers.

The elephants' artists have named their creation according to their painted themes - Union Jack, Taxi, Karma, Monopoly Community Chest, Strawberry and Mammoth Metaphor, which has the highest current auction bid of £52,000.