Man on a Mission:
Building the Photo Ark

Book Joel To Speak Explore the Photo Ark

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.

14,005 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

Vulnerable (IUCN) and federally endangered Roanoke logperch (Percina rex) at Conservation Fisheries. Shown is an adult with juveniles.

Picture of an endangered Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) at the Budapest Zoo.

A picture of an Indian roller (Coracias affinis) at the Santa Barbara Zoo.

A vulnerable (IUCN) and federally endangered clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa nebulosa) at the Houston Zoo.

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

Photo: Mediterranean jelly or fried egg jellyfish (Cotylorhiza tuberculata) at Loro Parque's aquarium in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain

A male okapi (Okapia johnstoni) at White Oak Conservation Center.

Photo: An endangered chimpanzee named Jengo (Pan troglodytes) at the Singapore Zoo.

Picture of a row of critically endangered ploughshare tortoises (Astrochelys yniphora) at Zoo Atlanta.

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

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

Photo: An endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) at the Vredenburg Lab of San Francisco State University in San Francisco, California.

A critically endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) at the Phoenix 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

A captive, five-month-old mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. IUCN: Vulnerable

A bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) named Bensar at the George M. Sutton Avian Research Center.

An endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered snow leopard (Panthera uncia) at the Miller Park Zoo.

An endangered Indian rhinoceros female with calf (Rhinoceros unicornis) at the Fort Worth Zoo.

Philippine pit viper (Trimeresurus flavomaculatus) at the Avilon Zoo.

Photo: Oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus pardinoides) at Parque Jaime Duque near Bogota, Colombia.

Joel Sartore prepares to photograph El Segundo flower-loving fly (Rhaphiomidas terminatus terminatus). With fewer than 100 individuals left on Earth, this species is as close to extinction as you can get. This animal was thought to be extinct since the end of the 1960s but a small remnant population was discovered in the early 2000s.

A picture of a Pyrenean desman (Galemys pyrenaicus) photographed on the grounds of the Symington Estates in Portugal.

Photo: A vulnerable Siamese fighting fish or betta (Betta splendens) in Lincoln, Nebraska.

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

Picture of a critically endangered Kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) at Zealandia, in Wellington, New Zealand.

Picture of a flock of scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber) at the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, Texas.

Picture of a federally endangered Asiatic golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) at the Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden in Guwahati, Assam, India.

Picture of Harapan, a four-year-old male Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), at White Oak Conservation Center. Critically endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered

A three-month-old baby chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) named Ruben at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo. Listed as endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered

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.

Picture of a Peruvian giant yellow-leg centipede or Amazonian giant centipede (Scolopendra gigantea) at the National Aviary of Colombia.

Photo: Horsfield's tarsier (Cephalopachus bancanus borneanus) at Taman Safari.

Joel Sartore News

Photo Ark 14,000th Species Announcement

The Photo Ark is excited to welcome the 14,000th species! Jolie, an Indochinese green magpie (Cissa hypoleuca), was photographed at the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, where she serves as an ambassador for her species and captures visitors’ attention with her vibrant colors, bold personality and curiosity. While Jolie pops with greens,…

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