Why massive animal sculptures will soon be popping up on the National Mall

An enormous animal family foursome is poised to get a prime spot on the National Mall, with a set of massive sculptures making their Washington debut.

On Thursday, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) will unveil four colossal steel and aluminum sculptures — a 7-foot-tall polar bear, an elephant weighing 1,200 lbs., a 6-foot-tall rhinoceros with a chicken on its back and a coyote — from artist Quill Hyde.

The giant models, PETA said in a statement, seek to “answer the question ‘If animals spoke in a language we could understand, what would they say about us?’”

The coyote figure will recite a speech “that challenges speciesism — the belief in human supremacy — and draws attention to the talents, languages, and cultures of various animals,” PETA said. “Battlestar Galactica’s” Edward James Olmos will provide the voice of the coyote sculpture.

The “immersive exhibit,” called “the Council of Animals (What to do About the Humans)” will be unveiled on Thursday morning in its spot on the National Mall between the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

“Humans aren’t the only animals who communicate, and if we could speak the languages of other species, we would understand their appeals for freedom and a just world,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement about the effort.

The PETA exhibit will run through Sep. 3.