Animals leave Africa for the Arctic

These animal puppets are walking 20,000km from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They set off on the 9th April and form part of a public artwork, 'The Herds'. It was designed by The Walk Productions and it aims to draw attention to the climate crisis.

It's a warning of what could happen in the future, when wild animals are forced to escape their homelands. As the organiser David Lan explains, the number of animals increases along the way.

David Lan: "This project tries to give the public a powerful emotional sense of what's happening to the planet by this journey, by now 20, later 40, later 70 animals from all over West Africa, Morocco, Europe, who are travelling to escape from the damage done to their ecosystem."

Before arriving in London, the puppets and puppeteers travelled through Spain and France. This route is also taken by many humans who are forced to leave their homes.

The project's original goal was to use biodegradable materials. However, cardboard alone wasn't practical enough, so the animals' joints are made of rubber.

Siphokazi Mpofu: "Then in this project, we start from the strictly only cardboard, but then because of the challenges of the cardboard, we ended up like adding wood, which is plywood. And then the material that we are using is mostly a recycled material, which is the cardboard that you can see on the animals, the skin is made out of cardboard. And then the joints is the black rubber tendons."

Before long, the artwork will reach Norway, where it will experience the traditions of the Sami people. This is a group who are also affected by the climate crisis. In August, the animals will end their long walk in the Arctic Circle.

The artistic director calls The Herds "an urgent artistic response to the climate crisis." The project invites people around the world to fight for change.