Jack Vettriano is crowned king of the Jungle once again

FIFE artist Jack Vettriano has become a good luck charm for conservationists after a version of his Singing Butler attracted the highest bid at the Jungle City auction in Edinburgh.

The Singing Butler Rides Again, featuring Vettriano’s creation atop a white Siberian tiger, raised £60,000 at auction – money which will help save some of the world’s most endangered animals.

A similarly titled work, in which the Singing Butler was represented riding an elephant, also attracted the highest bid of £155,000 at an event held in London last year in aid of the Elephant Family. Mark Shand, founder of Elephant Family, the main charity behind Jungle City, said: “It has been an honour to launch the first Jungle City exhibition in the city of Edinburgh and it has been so uplifting to see how Scotland has really got behind what we are doing to try to save these extremely rare animals from extinction.

“The live auction exceeded all expectations and the bidding has already started to warm up online, so we are well within our aim of raising a million pounds for our projects in Asia.”

The Jungle City event, which is the first of its kind in the world, featured life-size models of endangered species at locations around the capital. A live auction held at the National Museum of Scotland last night, and attended by model Stella Tennant and musician Midge Ure, raised £400,000.

Online bids can still be made on eBay until tomorrow.

Band Aid founder Midge Ure, who performed at the event, said: “I am absolutely delighted that Edinburgh is the first step on the Jungle City tour and, as I expected, my fellow Scots were incredibly generous.

“It was a memorable evening and I thoroughly enjoyed being able to perform against the fantastic backdrop of the refurbished National Museum of Scotland and to support this event which will help endangered animals when they need it most.”

The second highest priced sculpture was a stunning silver tiger which sold for £35,000, while a tiger entitled Penny for Your Thoughts, which had stood next to the Scott Monument, sold for £24,000, and Red Tiger, created by the Young British Artist Marc Quinn, sold for £32,000.

Jungle City, which raises funds for a group of charities headed by Elephant Family, will take place in New York next year.

The sculptures will be showcased for the last time in Edinburgh at a free exhibition at the Dovecot Gallery, in Infirmary Street, tomorrow.

Ruth Powys, director of the Elephant Family, said: “We were absolutely thrilled at the support we had from the people of Edinburgh.”

Some of the money raised will be used to develop “elephant corridors” which will allow the animals to pass patches of wild land in areas where habitats are threatened by development.

Dan Bucknell, head of conservation at Elephant Family, said the money raised by the Vettriano sculpture alone would be enough to fund a project to prevent the animals being run over by Indian trains for an entire year.