Empire State Building lights up with images of endangered species

The Empire State Building projected images of endangered species in a new light display.

The landmark skyscraper lit up with images of 160 endangered species, including birds, snakes and a snow leopard as the song "One Candle" played. NBC New York reported that the display was conceived by The Cove documentarian Louie Psihoyos. He created the projection to "raise awareness about animals at risk of being lost forever," as well as to pay tribute to Cecil the lion.

"We're set to lose half the species on the planet by the end of the century," Psihoyos said.

As we reported, Cecil was killed on July 1 by an American dentist named Walter Palmer. The killing caught the attention of the media and has since led Palmer to close his practice after Zimbabwe called for his extradition.

In regards to Cecil, Psihoyos stated, "[There are] only 3,500 wild male lions out there. The gun lobby keeps them from being on the list but they are endangered."

The three-hour display of the images was "clearly visible to anyone within 20 blocks downtown of the Empire State Building." According to The New York Times, they were projected using 40 stacked 20,000-lumen projectors on the roof of building on West 31st Street.

Watch a clip of the projection below.

Screenshot from Josiah Ryan's YouTube video