( CNN ) -- Designer elephants have invaded Hong Kong 's Pacific Place mall , attracting a stampede of photographers and tourists . The Elephant Parade , created by Marc Spits in 2006 , invites artists and celebrities to design and decorate large elephant statues to be displayed in public spaces . This year 's collection includes pieces from fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg and local actor Donnie Yen . The statues were auctioned off on Thursday at Island Shangri-La , Hong Kong . The auction raised HK $ 2,150,000 ( $ 277,398 ) for the herd of 31 elephants . Proceeds will be donated to the Asia Elephant Foundation , whose conservation efforts range from funding hospitals to lobbying governments . Idea born from a baby elephant . The idea was born in Chiang Mai , Thailand . Spits was vacationing in the northern Thai city in 2006 when he met Mosha at an elephant hospital . The baby elephant had lost her front right leg after stepping on a landmine . `` The hospital said it would like to operate on the elephant and give her a prosthetic leg but did n't have the money for that , '' says Mike Spits , co-founder of the parade and Marc 's son . The first Elephant Parade was held in Rotterdam , Netherlands , in 2007 . Since then , the colorful pachyderms have been auctioned off around the world . The herd arrived in Hong Kong 's Pacific Place , City Plaza and Citygate Outlets for the first time in August . Spits says humans are the biggest threat to elephants . `` The speed of human development , particularly in this part of the world , leads to a fight for space , '' says Spits . `` And the elephant often loses that fight . ''
` ` Elephant Parade '' features series of colorfully decorated elephant statues . The elephants are on display throughout Hong Kong . The statues are auctioned off for charity . Auction 2006 in Chiang Mai raised $ 2,150,000 for The Elephant Parade .