STANDARDS

Common Core: RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.4, RH.6-8.7, WHST.6-8.4, RI.6-8.1, RI.6-8.4, RI.6-8.7, W.6-8.4

NCSS: Culture • People, Places, and Environments • Production, Distribution, and Consumption

^{Artur Bordalo created this lynx statue in Lisbon, Portugal, to encourage conservation.}

GEOGRAPHY

When Trash Goes Wild

April 2023

Jim McMahon/Mapman®

If you happen to be strolling along the busy streets of Lisbon, Portugal’s capital, don’t be surprised if you suddenly find yourself face-to-face with a huge Iberian lynx.

That wildcat species is native to southwestern Europe. But this particular specimen, which towers over Lisbon’s popular Park of Nations, is no threat to humans. The 33-foot-tall statue is made of trash! The work is an artist’s reminder that the plastic waste we produce threatens the survival of many animal species.

Shutterstock.com

When Bordalo built his sculpture, only about 855 Iberian lynxes remained in the wild. With conservation, there are about 1,100 today.

The statue, called Iberian Lynx, was pieced together in 2019 using plastic litter collected from around the city. It is one of nearly 200 sculptures of endangered species by Lisbon native Artur Bordalo, known as Bordalo II. The eye-catching creations in his Big Trash Animals series can be found in public spaces in dozens of cities, mainly in Europe and the Americas.

“I want people to understand that this is not about making something beautiful out of trash,” the artist has said. “The thing that I care about is what’s behind the piece, behind the trash.” And that’s “nature and its creatures, the animals themselves.”