In a bid to draw attention to the dwindling numbers of 160 endangered species, the face of the Empire State building was lit up with projected images of animals including Zimbabwe's beloved lion Cecil, who was killed by an American dentist.
The project called "Projecting Change on the Empire State Building" was an initiative created to raise awareness on the plight of endangered animals.
The recent killing of the lion Cecil created global outrage and has focused the spotlight more intensely on illegal trophy hunting and poaching.
Cecil's image has become the most recognizable face of conservation as the images were beamed across 33 floors of the iconic New York landmark in a video loop that ran for 8 minutes, according to the Daily Mail.
The project was part of a publicity campaign as well to promote a Discovery Channel documentary series titled "Racing Extinction," which is set to be aired later this year.
The display was up just a few hours after a second American citizen was accused of killing a lion during a hunt in Zimbabwe.
The display was the brainchild of Louie Psihoyos, director of 2009 Oscar winning documentary "The Cove," which centered around Japan's grisly dolphin-hunting industry and was aimed at igniting a discussion on mass extinction, according to NBC New York.
The director was quoted by the publication at the event as saying the world will lose half of its species by the end of the decade.
He added that the building was not only iconic, but it also resembled the shape of a candle, and said there was no bigger candle that the city could have lit up to enlighten individuals of such a pressing issue.