Incredible Images of Endangered Species in Pixels to Show How Many Are Left

A jaw-droppingly good campaign by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) back in 2008 featured several pixelated images of endangered animal species. Initially, as the photos look blurry, you wonder what is going on, as if a mistake has happened. 

Upon closer look, you realize that the pixels represent the number of species that are currently alive — the blurrier the image, the fewer the numbers. It's a heart-breaking yet fantastic campaign that brings awareness to the endangered species problem. 

Now, a follow-up project by JJSmooth44 has emerged, where the artist's work is based on the WWF campaign, and it's as impressive as the original.

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22 pixelated pictures of endangered animals

The 2008 WWF campaign, called WWF Japan — Population by pixel, was created by advertising agency Hakuhodo C&D in Tokyo. The people behind the campaign were creative directors Nami Hoshino, Yoshiyuki Mikami, and designer Kazuhiro Mochizuki. 

Using their inspirational work, an Imgur poster, JJSmooth44, created a powerful recreation of the original work, done as a 'programming challenge,' according to JJSmooth44. 

Below are some of the moving images that will tug on your heartstrings. It could open your eyes to what is happening to some animals on our planet. 

To see the entire 22 images, you can check them out on JJSmooth44's Imgur page here.

Some of the images are relatively clear and are beautiful, yet if we look closely at the numbers, they are still very low. 

Others, unfortunately, are not as clear, opening your mind to a chilling reality:

Even more worryingly are those where you can't even decipher the animal at all:

Then, you have those with worryingly low pixels and numbers that are teetering yearly:

Another hard-to-discern image: 

And, the list continues:

Even though some numbers may appear relatively high, just think of how many people live in our cities.

Another heartbreakingly pixelated image:

These campaigns do a great job of bringing these important matters to our attention.