ENVIRONMENT-NATURE/ENDANGERED-EMPIRE STATE Empire State Building lights up with projections of endangered wildlife

Record ID: 145310

  • Title: ENVIRONMENT-NATURE/ENDANGERED-EMPIRE STATE Empire State Building lights up with projections of endangered wildlife
  • Date: 2nd August 2015
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 01, 2015) (REUTERS) COUNTDOWN TO ENDANGERED WILDLIFE PROJECTIONS ON EMPIRE STATE BUILDING PHOTO OF CECIL THE LION PROJECTED ON EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 17th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Zimbabwe
  • Country: Zimbabwe
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7LE6CR49QVVFVI3F8O58D3P2X
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Photos of endangered wildlife, including an image of Cecil the lion, were projected on the Empire State Building on Saturday (August 01) to promote documentary film "Racing Extinction."
    The film follows activists going undercover to expose the black markets of killing, hunting and eating endangered wildlife.
    Louie Psihoyos, executive director of Oceanic Preservation Society and the group behind the Oscar winning film "The Cove" brings to light the threat of mass extinction of endangered species in the documentary.
    "There's a great line from our movie, it said, 'It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.' We're lighting the biggest candle in the world up there," Psihoyos said.
    "My friends in paleontology say that World War II will be a footnote in comparison to what's going on right now, which is one species, us, that's causing this massive loss of biodiversity. This event tonight will hopefully celebrate these animals and give them a chance because Cecil the lion that just died, there's a lot more lions left, they're endangered, but what's going on right now, we're losing salamanders and frogs, half the turtles could be eaten, tortoises could be gone in the next two decades because of climate change. We're losing coral reefs because of acidification. There's all these animals that don't carry a big charismatic megaphone but they need our help."
    "Racing Extinction" premieres on the Discovery Channel on Dec. 2 at 9 p.m. ET.
    After the killing of Zimbabwe's best known lion, a second animal has been poached by a foreigner, a source said on Saturday as authorities banned big game hunting outside the park from which Cecil was lured to his death.
    Reports that a brother of Cecil had been killed on Saturday were untrue, a field researcher said, but the news rekindled the fury of animal lovers that was sparked by American dentist Walter Palmer who admitted hunting down the lion on July 1.
    A source at the national parks agency, who is not authorized to speak to the media, said a foreign hunter, whose nationality he did not disclose, killed the second lion illegally on July 3. The hunter had since left Zimbabwe, but police had recovered the lion's head and carcass.
    The parks authority did not confirm the incident, but on Saturday it imposed an indefinite ban on hunting outside Zimbabwe's biggest park, from where Cecil had lived before being shot by a cross-bow and then a rifle last month.
    Cecil's killing raised global awareness of big game hunting, a lucrative tourism draw for some African countries where hunters can pay tens of thousands of pounds to track and kill lions and other large animals.
    New Yorkers watching the endangered wildlife projections on the Empire State Building on Saturday had mixed feelings about Cecil's death.
    "I think it's a wonderful message to get out there, especially in light of the events that happened in the past week, which I was very upset about and I was glad that what happened with the lion, but his brother has taken it upon himself. But I think the world needs to be aware of how fragile and how mankind is so abusive to animals worldwide," said Joan Rice.
    "I don't think New York cares, I really don't. They killed that lion, they're going to track down the dentist, they're going to take his molars away, that's all. We're a species like the lions and we're killing more of us than they are of lions," said Alan Gutwirth.
    Palmer, who had paid guides for the hunt, said he believed the necessary permits had been in order, but Zimbabwe is seeking his extradition from the United States to be tried for poaching.
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