Can You Guess the City From These 10 Animal Murals?
By Vidar
Where do these animals live?
A tiger bites a real tree, a rooster fills a bare corner and an octopus holds a ship in a bottle. For each mural, choose one of four cities to see where it is, who painted it and the story behind it. Your score comes up after the tenth animal.
An easy one to start: two golden wire cats fight above the streets in the city of the Louvre. Which French city?
Show answer
Paris, France 🇫🇷
DALeast’s official site lists this 2019 Paris work as The Dream of Separation. Both cats are built from thin golden strokes, so the fight looks frozen mid-leap. Urban Nation describes his visual language as built from metallic-looking shards.
This tiger bites a real tree in the capital built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan. Which Mexican city?
Show answer
Mexico City, Mexico 🇲🇽
Koka Engel painted the tiger around a real tree trunk, placing it between the animal’s teeth. In a 2023 interview published by UNAM, he explained that a bus driver began calling him “Coca” because he got off near the Coca-Cola factory. He changed the C to K to separate the name from the brand.
A giant deer leans through the windows in Konohana, the ward that is home to Universal Studios Japan. Which Japanese city?
Show answer
Konohana, Osaka, Japan 🇯🇵
Jack Lack painted Shika, which simply means deer, for Mural Town Konohana, produced by Wall Share. Windows interrupt its fur, and its antlers stretch across the facade. In his post about the mural, Lack says deer are seen in Japan as messengers from the spirit world, and calls the work a message of hope for people passing by.
A giant rooster, a folk symbol of Portugal, fills a concrete corner near Lisbon, in the hill town of the Pena Palace. Which Portuguese town?
Show answer
Sintra, Portugal 🇵🇹
Odeith spread this rooster across two walls and the floor of a concrete corner in Alcolombal, Sintra, photographed in May 2019. In his own time-lapse, six hours of painting are compressed into one minute. In Portugal, a rooster also recalls the Barcelos Cockerel legend.
The hill behind the wall finishes this rhino’s horn, in the South African city beneath Table Mountain. Which city?
Show answer
Cape Town, South Africa 🇿🇦
In Horn Solo, Falko One paints a rhino below the skyline and leaves the hill behind the wall to complete its missing horn. A cloud continues the shape above the hill. Falko started painting in 1988 on a high-school wall in Mitchells Plain, InsideHook reports.
Six tigers cover an apartment block in the canal city of the Rijksmuseum. Which Dutch city?
Show answer
Amsterdam, Netherlands 🇳🇱
Amsterdam’s public-art archive lists this 2020 Muren van West mural as Tijgers van de Kolenkit, on Wiltzanghlaan in Bos en Lommer. Sidney Waerts based it on the Tiger Mothers of the Kolenkit, local women the archive describes as key community figures in the neighborhood.
An octopus traps a ship in a bottle in the Pacific port city that hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. Which Canadian city?
Show answer
Vancouver, Canada 🇨🇦
Tyler Toews painted The Kraken for the Vancouver Mural Festival in 2018, and the festival lists it among its environmental murals. It stands at Watson Street and East 15th Avenue in Mount Pleasant. In his 2018 statement, Toews says the ship represents humanity and the bottle is a trap humanity made for itself.
A glowing leopard prowls across a home wall in the city of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Which Australian city?
Show answer
Sydney, Australia 🇦🇺
LeHo painted this wall for a private homeowner. A pink-and-orange spirit leopard leads the scene, with a butterfly-winged forest elephant, a kudu and a long-tailed finch farther along. In his post about the commission, LeHo says the owner gave him creative freedom and mentioned that his wife liked Africa.
A giant kitten naps around a concrete column in the Pacific coast capital once called the City of Kings. Which Peruvian city?
Show answer
Lima, Peru 🇵🇪
WA, the tag of Marko Franco Domenak, wrapped this sleeping cat around a concrete column in the Mirones area. El Comercio later documented his Mirones murals, including this enormous cat. The tag is not his initials: it echoes gua, a northern Peruvian expression tied to his roots in Sullana.
Last one: an elephant with a globe balloon watches over a basketball court in Kreuzberg, a short walk south of Checkpoint Charlie. Which German city?
Show answer
Berlin, Germany 🇩🇪
visitBerlin documents Jadore Tong’s Elephant with a balloon at Wilhelmstraße 7, beside Theodor-Wolff-Park, with the words Peace, Unity, Love and Wisdom worked into the scene. deutschland.de says he was inspired by an Indian ceremony where painted elephants are associated with peace and joy.
Your score
Which animal fooled you?
Discussion 3 comments
Join the conversation
More visual stories
More to explore
From our sister blog
Discover World Art Utopia
A few more artworks to take you somewhere else.
I got 5/10. Vancouver fooled me: I guessed Toronto because
I got 4/10. Osaka fooled me: I guessed Sapporo because 💩💩💩
I got 5/10. Osaka fooled me: I guessed Nagoya because
And almost everything I was fooled!?