These photos are from a world record attempt organised by Whipsnade Zoo, as part of an 'elephant appreciation weekend'. The idea was to break the record for the most origami elephants in one place, and the organisers were aiming for 30,000 to demonstrate the number of Elephant left in the wild.
The great thing about this project was massive range of different elephants on display. Some were clearly made by origami experts and quite realistic, but loads were made by novices and children who made one or two simple elephants at the zoo and contributed them there and then! There wasn't just a huge number of elephants, but also a massive variety, demonstrating one of the great great things about origami which is looking at different ways to interpret the same thing by folding in a different way!
When I visited the elephant count was already under way... I am not sure if they made the 30,000 target, but they seemed pretty sure that the record had been broken! Despite the fact that my contribution was relatively minor, it was great to be a tiny little part of this massive and wonderful project - and to see all the elephants on display ready to count!
Oh, and the real live baby elephant was pretty cute too!
