Artist and environmentalist Ryo Shimura creates his art with the hopes of increasing environmental awareness. The Japan-based artist focuses on environmental issues in his works, depicting animals near extinction. The endangered creatures that Shimura constructs each express a different heart-wrenching plea for attention and change.

Shimura’s latest project entitled 29000→600 seeks to draw attention to the drastic decline in hippos. As a child, the artist became fascinated by a bronze statue of a hippo at a local park. He is now paying homage to the animal whose population has severely plummeted, of which a large portion of the blame lies in poaching. 

See more of Ryo Shimura’s projects over at My Modern Metropolis!