The Empire State Building in the sign of endangered species including the lion Cecil
The Empire State Building broadcast images of endangered animals to New Yorkers on Saturday in a video projection said to be the first-of-its-kind. It is not known exactly how many people saw the display, though large crowds of spectators stopped in Manhattan intersections gazing at the pictures of the building's south side and taking photos with their smart phones.
At one point an image of Cecil the Lion, whose death at the hands of an American hunter last month caused international outrage, was broadcast in a picture more than 350 feet tall and 180 feet wide. In total 160 species of endangered animals including birds, tigers, leopards and bears were shown at the event, which was meant to spark conversations about mass extinction, according to NBC New York.
The images were put up over 33 floors of the building for three hours using 40 projectors stacked together at a rooftop two blocks away. The landmark is decorated with lights of different colors for various holidays, though organizers said Saturday night marked the first time that such as video projection had been done.
The show was organized as part of a promotion for a new Discovery Channel documentary, Racing Extinction, which is set to air in December.
Two men arrested in the death of Cecil the lion -- a case in which an American dentist has also been accused, unleashing a torrent of anger online -- were released Wednesday by a court in Zimbabwe on $1,000 bail each. Theo Bronchorst, a professional hunter, and Honest Trymore Ndlovu, a landowner, both Zimbabweans, said through their attorney that they were innocent of poaching charges, which officials said could bring a sentence of 10 years in prison.
Zimbabwean authorities said that Walter J. Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, paid at least $50,000 for the hunt. Palmer has said he relied on the expertise of local guides "to ensure a legal hunt."
But the lion that he and his local guides killed wasn't just any lion, according to Zimbabwean officials.
He was Cecil, a major tourist draw at Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park.
The 13-year-old lion, recognizable by the black streaks in his mane, suffered a slow death, according to the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force. The hunters lured him out of the sanctuary of the park with a dead animal on top of a vehicle, the conservation group said.
Palmer, officials said, then shot the lion with a crossbow, a method for which he is known. But Cecil survived another 40 hours until the hunters tracked him down and shot him with a gun.
Cecil was skinned and beheaded, and the hunters tried to destroy the GPS collar that Cecil was wearing as part of research backed by Oxford University, the group said.
"I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt," Palmer said Tuesday in a statement. "I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt." His alleged role in Cecil's death brought a wave of online anger crashing down on him.
The Yelp page for his dental practice in Bloomington, Minnesota, was inundated with reviews posted by people irate over his lion hunting. "Shame on you, killing a majestic creature," wrote a user named Charmie P. The website for Palmer's business, River Bluff Dental, appeared to have been taken down.
A torrent of outrage flowed on social media, with celebrities such as Sharon Osbourne lambasting the dentist. "I hope that #WalterPalmer loses his home, his practice & his money," Osbourne tweeted. "He has already lost his soul."
