Man makes lifesize model of an African bull elephant in his garden

Mark Coreth, 49, of Hatch End, began his ambitious project after seeing the real thing in Kenya, reports the Daily Mail.

The sculptor realised the 15ft-tall art work would not fit inside his studio at the bottom of the garden.

So, he took his tools outside and began to create the 'skeleton' of the elephant out of chicken wire on the patio.

Using scaffolding to support the structure, he then filled in the body with polystyrene gave it a coat of plaster.

It took the father of four a mere seven weeks to complete the elephant, which has now become something of a tourist attraction.

It currently weighs three tons and will be given a bronze finish which will double its weight.

A collector in Australia has agreed to pay Mr Coreth around £300,000 for the finished work.

And an art-lover from Italy has also commissioned him to produce another elephant to the same scale.

Mr Coreth, a former Army officer who took up sculpture as a hobby while in service, is already planning his next trip - watching polar bears in the Arctic.