It's time to grab your swim trunks—pun intended—and head over to Miami Beach to see elephants, stomping through the sand to raise awareness about conservation efforts.
The herd, an art installation of 100 life-sized Indian elephants called "The Great Elephant Migration," stand tall between 36 and 37 streets.
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The project was built by Elephant Family USA, a nonprofit that "works to protect Asian wildlife in the most joyful and engaging way possible."
The project's website describes the artwork as "a collaboration between indigenous artisans, contemporary artists and cultural institutions, it will raise millions of dollars to power human-wildlife coexistence projects and protect migratory animals making spectacular journeys across land, rivers, skies and oceans."
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Each elephant handmade by a community of 200 indigenous artisans living on a nature reserve in southern India. The statues are crafted from Lantana camara, which is one of the world's top invasive weeds.
"This fast growing, noxious shrub has a stranglehold on 300,000sq. kilometers of India’s Protected Areas. Lantana pushes animals out of their forest homes into urban areas leading to an increase in human-wildlife conflict. The use of lantana to create the elephants helps remove the weed from protected areas, leaving wildlife more space to roam," the project's website explains.
The exhibition is part of Miami Art Week, and officially opens on Dec. 2 and stays open through Dec. 8. But you can already go and see the elephants for yourself.
