An Armenian tycoon has a private zoo. Now he wants the world’s biggest Jesus statue

Gagik Tsarukyan hopes project will resonate with global movement that blends religious faith, nationalism and cultural conservatism

Behind the walls of a sprawling estate on the outskirts of Yerevan, six tigers prowl behind a fence, three lions pace their enclosures, and alligators bask in the afternoon heat.

Further into the compound, more animals appear. Beneath a gilded, hand-painted ceiling, a dining hall houses a taxidermy menagerie: white tigers reared on their hind legs, a stuffed eagle perched atop a table, bear and wolf pelts spread across the floor. All of these, the owner proudly said, had been shot by him.