A new Amur tiger mural now decorates Myasnitskaya Street in Moscow. The artwork was painted on the ventilation shaft near the Turgenevskaya metro station as a joint project by the Amur Tiger Centre and the Moscow Metro.

The purpose of the mural is to draw public attention to Amur tiger conservation and ways to protect the tigers.

“Even people who have lived in the woods all their lives might never see the tiger – only its tracks. We wanted the mural to reflect this, to portray an ‘urban’ tiger that passersby do not notice right away but that still watches them, its eyes behind the trees planted near the ventilation shaft. But once you spot it, you can look into its eyes and realise how beautiful the animal is. Just like a living tiger in the wild, the painted predator poses no danger to humans,” said Sergei Aramilev, general director of the Amur Tiger Centre.

The creators of the project noted that the colourful mural complements the recently launched Striped Express train, another tiger conservation awareness project.

“Each time passengers leave the Turgenevskaya metro station, they will meet the Amur tiger’s gaze. More than 23,000 metro passengers will see the beautiful 10-metre striped wild cat daily,” said Yulia Temnikova, deputy head of the Moscow Metro for customer services and passenger liaison.