The colourful creature was visiting Uxbridge ahead of the official launch of Elephant Parade at shopping centre, intu Uxbridge next week.
Kiku, the intu-sponsored elephant, escaped the herd on Friday to make a special pre-parade appearance at the Battle of Britain Bunker at RAF Uxbridge before making its way to the shopping centre.
The parade is a national initiative by intu and involves the herd visiting 14 of their shopping centres in 14 months. The 30 elephants will charge into Uxbridge between June 2 and 29.
Designed by artists, celebrities and local children, Elephant Parade is a global art exhibition of vibrant artistic designs on elephant statues to raise awareness of, and funds for, The Asian Elephant Foundation, a charity which supports elephant conservation projects.
Donna Watson, marketing manager at intu Uxbridge, says: “We think Kiku wanted to visit the Battle of Britain Bunker at RAF Uxbridge as it is one of Uxbridge’s most iconic landmarks and this year marks the 70 anniversary of the Normandy Landings.”
Kiku, who was spotted visiting the bunker on Friday last week, was designed by Chris Chun especially for intu. The design was inspired by antique kimono fabric and Chun added butterflies to symbolise hope and freedom - representing his wish for elephants to live in a safe and protected environment.
Ms Watson said: “We’re really excited to have Elephant Parade at our centre throughout June and we’ve planned a full month of fun elephant activities – look out for our #Elphie competition, due to launch at our annual Everyone’s Invited festival on the June 7 and 8, for the chance to win some fabulous prizes."
There is always lots going on at the centre. In April a flashmob surprised shoppers when they broke into dance outside Debenhams.
