An eight-day exhibition of wildlife art, carvings and sculptures of birds, mammals and reptiles began at the Art and Craft centre at Murungampakkam here on Sunday.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Tourism Minister Malladi Krishna Rao.
As many as 11 artists have displayed their creations — 29 paintings of amphibians, 15 2D and 3D models of animal carvings on granite slabs and 12 sculptures — in the exhibition jointly organised by the Department of Tourism and Universal Eco Foundation.
Bubesh Guptha, Director of Universal Eco Foundation, said that the main objective of the exhibition was to create awareness among locals and children on the need to protect the rich local biodiversity. The sculptures of amphibians, reptiles and birds would help create awareness about the species and help in their preservation.
Each life-size sculpture and wildlife carving on Cuddapah stones has details about the taxonomy and morphology of the species. Children visiting the exhibition will be able to know about their importance, he said.
The sculptures and animal carvings were created by a team of artists from the foundation.
The artists worked on them round-the-clock and the sculptures were thoroughly checked by experts before being shipped to various parks and bird sanctuaries.
The carvings and life-size sculptures of birds and mammals have been installed at the Singanallur urban lake in Coimbatore, Vandalur zoo and the Vellode birds sanctuary in Erode. Universal Eco Foundation has organised similar exhibitions for creating awareness and to promote the rich biodiversity in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, he said.