Boris Johnson's wife gifts wooden elephants from India on his birthday

Former prime minister Boris Johnson celebrated his 60th birthday on Wednesday with a unique gift from his wife – three life-size wooden elephants supporting an Indian charity initiative.

Carrie Johnson shared pictures on Instagram of the elephants being offloaded and placed on the grounds of their Oxfordshire home, with their toddler son Wilfred observing.

The Great Elephant Migration, a charity focused on fostering human-animal coexistence, sells wooden elephants starting at around USD 8,500 to fund biodiversity protection projects.

"A very special 60th birthday present, supporting a wonderful charity @greatelephantmigration," Carrie Johnson's Instagram post reads.

The charity's website states that the elephants are made from Lantana camara, one of the world's top invasive weeds. This shrub covers 300,000 square kilometres of India's Protected Areas, forcing animals into urban areas and increasing human-wildlife conflict.

"The use of lantana to create the elephants helps remove the weed from protected areas, leaving wildlife more space to roam," the charity explains.

The charity adds, "The beautiful lantana elephants come in four sizes and make themselves at home in various locations, including gardens, business frontages, estates, and schools. Each elephant has been meticulously created to the highest standard possible using dried lantana camara wrapped around a steel rebar frame and coated with Osmo Oil for protection."

The Great Elephant Migration is part of the Elephant Family US and UK registered charity, which uses creativity and storytelling to inspire human populations to share space with wildlife.

Earlier this week, Johnson expressed support on social media for some Conservative Party candidates in the upcoming 4 July general election, a move welcomed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

However, Johnson is unlikely to be more actively involved in the election campaign as he plans to be on holiday, returning only in time for the polls.

Meanwhile, three opinion polls on Wednesday predicted a significant defeat for the Conservatives in the 4 July election, forecasting a large majority for the Labour Party after 14 years in opposition.

Most opinion polls place Keir Starmer’s Labour about 20 percentage points ahead of the Conservatives in the national vote share. Recent polls also present a bleak outlook for Sunak, with one predicting “electoral extinction” for the Conservatives.

(PTI)