Elephant Parade Hong Kong raises $2,150,000 for Asian Elephant Conservation

Last night Barclays presented the Elephant Parade Grand Gala Auction, which saw a herd of 31 elephants auctioned off to raise funds for Asian elephant conservation. The live charity auction, which was held at the Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong, was hosted by a Sotheby's auctioneer and a total of HK$2,150,000  was raised. Net proceeds of the Grand Gala Auction will go to The Asian Elephant Foundation (TAEF) and WWF Hong Kong, to support elephant conservation programmes in Asia.

The Hong Kong auction marks the end of a 5 week Elephant Parade exposition, presented by Swire Properties at Pacific Place, Cityplaza and Citygate Outlets, where over 100 elephant statues have been displayed for the public to enjoy.

More than 300 guests from Hong Kong – including international artists, representatives from some of the city’s top businesses and Elephant Parade fans from across the world – came together to celebrate another successful Elephant Parade exposition. The Hong Kong event has served to raise awareness of conservation efforts among thousands of consumers through the Elephant Parade’s fun, engaging and cutting edge art.

The dinner and gala auction was organized and run by The Asian Elephant Foundation with proceeds going towards continuing its fantastic work on projects across Asia. Projects include TAEF’S Worldwide Child Education Program, Soraida Salwala's Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), Thailand, Indo-Myanmar Conservation (IMC), Myanmar and the Vesswic's Health Care Program of which Dr. Christopher Stremme, Project manager EHCP and Veterinarian attended the auction himself and gave a presentation about their work.

Auction partners included Barclays, Island-Shangri-La, Hong Kong, Sotheby’s, La Maison du Chocolat, Banrock Station Wine, Quintessentially Lifestyle, Quintessentially Events and Quintessentially Communications (QNM) Hong Kong.

Highlights from the auction included the following bids on the Hong Kong elephants:

• Hearts in Nature by Luka Boonkerd Kaewdee  HK$ 250,000
  
• Shine Bright by Donnie Yen , Cissy Wang and Diana Francis HK$ 170,000 , full proceeds will go the the Heep Hong Society
  
• A Suspended Moment by Man Fung Yi in collaboration with Mok Yat San HK$ 160.000
  
• Prosperity by Katrina Read HK$ 130.000
  
• FF Gajah by Kiki van Eijk  HK$ 110.000
  
• Sharkaphant by Sharon Kwok  HK$ 90.000,  proceeds will be donated to the A.C.E.Foundation
  
• Ivory by Nadya Hutagalung –Let Elephants be Elephants HK$ 110.000 , proceeds will be donated to Let Elephants be Elephants
  

“Through our sponsorship of the Elephant Parade in Hong Kong we hope to raise a greater public awareness of the plight of Asian elephants and improve the well-being and conservation of these majestic animals,” said Didier von Deaniken, Head of Wealth management for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa Barclays.

“This is in line with our corporate value of stewardship, and our passion about leaving things better than how we found them. Our common purpose is to help people achieve their ambitions, in the right way, across the world. We are collaborating with public and private sectors to drive sustainable economic development and social prosperity.”

Carmen Rademaker, Director of The Asian Elephant Foundation said “Elephants are a keystone species and face a number of dangers, which unfortunately are mainly caused by humans. Through the grand auction and the Elephant Parade Hong Kong exhibition we hope to use the funds raised to make a real difference in giving the Asian elephant a brighter future. This builds on the awareness raising achieved by the education projects we have been running during the Hong Kong exposition.”

Part of the net proceeds will go to WWF to support their Asian elephant conservation programmes. Adam Koo, Chief Executive Officer of WWF-Hong Kong said: “WWF works on Asian elephants in seven countries, we are aiming to improve elephant protection and management, mitigate human versus elephant conflicts, improve anti-poaching measures and reduce illegal trade.”

“After having so much success in other parts of the world, we were thrilled to be hosting our first-ever Elephant Parade in Hong Kong,” said Mike Spits, Founder & CEO of Elephant Parade. “Our quest is to ‘paint a brighter future’ for Asian elephant populations, and this event has represented a very significant first step into Greater China and our campaign to raise awareness in all corners of the world.”