Photo: Joel Sartore on assignment at Sierra Chincua (Chincua Mountain) in Mexico, a wintering spot for monarch butterflies.

Man on a Mission:
Building the Photo Ark

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I’m Joel Sartore.

Ever wonder about those wildlife photographers who risk life and limb to get the perfect shot? That’s me. I’ve spent 25 years with National Geographic—and I’ve got the stories and scars to prove it. These days my focus is on the Photo Ark, the world’s largest collection of animal studio portraits. My goal is simple: to get the public to care and save species from extinction.

11,309 species photographed for the Photo Ark
A modern-day Noah

—NBC Nightly News
1 porcupine named Piper on the cover of
National Geographic
4 times chased by grizzlies
300 talks given worldwide
2 spitting cobras found in camera gear

Speaking Engagements

“Joel never fails to dazzle.”
Known for his sense of humor and incredible stories from the field, Joel is a popular speaker with conservation, corporate, and civic groups.

Hire him to entertain and inspire your audience.

Book Joel to Speak

Recent Talks

A half-day-old hatchling leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) from the wild in Bioko. This species is listed as critically endangered by IUCN, and federally endangered (US).

A young female snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus).

Photo: Harapan, a four-year-old male Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), at White Oak Conservation Center.

Photo: An endangered Peruvian woolly monkey (Lagothrix cana) at Cetas-IBAMA, a wildlife rehab center in Manaus, Brazil.

Photo: A Barbary lion (Panthera leo leo) at the Plzen Zoo in the Czech Republic.

D.J. is an 11-month-old Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) and Dirgahayu “Ayu” is an 11-month-old Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). Unfortunately, both species are critically endangered, in large part due to the palm oil crisis. Both of these juvenile primates are cared for by the Taman Safari in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia.

Photo: Eastern grass owl (Tyto longimembris amauronota) at Avilon Zoo.

A yellow-streaked lory (Chalcopsitta scintillata rubrifrons) at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

Picture of Rajah, an endangered, male white Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) at Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo.

Photo: A juvenile little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis ruficollis) at Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue.

Picture of a diablito, also known as a little devil poison frog (Oophaga sylvatica) Bilsa, Ecuador locality, from a private collection.

Picture of an Ord's kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ordii) at the Fort Worth Zoo.

Photo: Green grass lizard (Takydromus smaragdinus) at Wroclaw Zoo.

Joel is the founder of the Photo Ark, a 25-year effort to photograph every species in human care around the globe.

Explore the Photo Ark

Picture of a vulnerable Syrian brown bear (Ursus arctos syriacus) at the Budapest Zoo.

Picture of two endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered red-shanked douc langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus) from the Endangered Primate Rescue Center in Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam.

Photo: An endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) at the Vrendenberg Lab.

Uno, a federally endangered Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) at the Naples Zoo. A gunshot wound caused Uno to go blind in 2014.

A critically endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris ssp. sumatrae) at the Miller Park Zoo.

Photo: A red celestial eye, a fancy breed of goldfish at Ocean Park in Hong Kong.

Picture of a federally endangered New Zealand pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) at The Animal Sanctuary, an animal rehab center in Warkworth, New Zealand.

Photo: A female giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, AK.

Photo: A tokay gecko (Gekko gecko) at the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan, Kansas.

Picture of an endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) at Healesville Sanctuary.

Portraits of Hyloscirtus pantostictus at a captive breeding at Pontificia Universidad Catòlica in Quito, Ecuador. This is an endangered frog. This is the only one in captivity and it could be extinct in the wild. (IUCN: EN)

An Andean porcupine (Coendou quichua) named Piper at the Saint Louis Zoo.

Photo: A vulnerable dwarf pea pufferfish (Carinotetraodon travancoricus) at a private collection in Gainesville, Florida.

Oblong-winged katydids (Amblycorypha oblongifolia) at the Insectarium in New Orleans. These color variants are found in nature, though anything but green is usually eaten by predators immediately. The Insectarium has been a leader in breeding these color variants for display in the zoo community.

Kalibasib an 18-year-old male tamaraw or Mindoro dwarf buffalo (Bubalus mindorensis) at Tamaraw Gene Pool Farm on Mindoro Island in the Philippines. This species is critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Photo: A five-day-old Chiriqui white-tailed deer fawn (Odocoileus virginianus chiriquensis) at the Summit Municipal Park in Gamboa, Panama.

Picture of a naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) at the Saint Louis Zoo.

Nicobar pigeon, Caloenas nicobarica, at the Omaha Zoo.

Picture of an endangered silvery Javan gibbon (Hylobates moloch) at the Gibbon Conservation Center.

Picture of a vulnerable adult female white bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) with her baby, part of Pangolin Conservation, a non-profit organization in Saint Augustine, Florida.

Joel Sartore News

Photo Ark Madness 2021

March is here again and so it is time for the second year of the Photo Ark Madness tournament! Throughout the month of March, we’ll be featuring head to head matches of a variety of species featured in the Photo Ark. You can vote via stories on our Instagram page @joelsartore to help determine which…

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