RARE: Creatures of 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.

8485 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
250 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

Royal Antelope (Neotragus pygmaeus). This species weighs 9-10 pounds making it the smallest of all antelopes.

Ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) at the Lincoln Children's Zoo.

Raggiana Bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea raggiana) at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Picture of a vulnerable (IUCN) and federally endangered cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) at the Columbus Zoo.

An endangered female crowned lemur (Eulemur coronatus) at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

A pair of blue poison dart frogs (Dendrobates azureus) at Reptile Gardens.

A pair of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua papua).

A vulnerable black and rufous elephant shrew (Rhynchocyon petersi) named Beast, at the Omaha Zoo.

A Linne's two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus).

Photo: Hasari, a federally endangered three-year-old cheetah, at White Oak Conservation Center.

Gordon's purple mossy frogs (Theloderma gordoni) play dead at Reptile Gardens.

An endangered San Lucas marsupial frog (Gastrotheca pseustes) tadpole collected near Pilalo, Ecuador.

Picture of an endangered Matschie's tree-kangaroo with her joey (Dendrolagus matschiei) at Zoo Miami.

Northern White-faced Owls (Ptilopsis leucotis) at the Cincinnati 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 critically endangered male Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) at Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure near Salina, KS.

Picture of endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered Francois langurs (Trachypithecus francoisi) at the Omaha Zoo

A sunbittern (Eurypyga helias ) at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Photo: Slender-tailed meerkat (Suricata suricatta) at the Miller Park Zoo. A typical meerkat clan can have anywhere from 20-50 members.

An ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) at the San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California.

Critically endangered (IUCN) Sulawesi macaques (Macaca nigra) at the Omaha Zoo.

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

A Coopers hawk (Accipiter cooperii) at Raptor Recovery Nebraska.

Desert cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus audubonii) at the Omaha Zoo.

In vogue no more, the endangered grey gibbon (Hylobates muelleri muelleri) will not be seen in captivity much longer. There are now too few in captivity to keep their population sustained and too few in the wild to bring more in. With limited space and funding, zoos must make hard choices every year in deciding which species to breed and which to let go, or 'phase out'. Often zoos go with more showy species of primate to propagate, leaving the fate of the more drab species in question.

A kit fox (Vulpes macrotis) named Frankie at The Living Desert.

Photo: Hours-old least tern (Sterna antillarum) chicks sleep as they're photographed near North Bend, Nebraska.

A male wrinkled hornbill (Rhabdotorrhinus corrugatus) at the Houston Zoo.

A male tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus).

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

Picture of a vulnerable (IUCN) and federally threatened loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) at the Riverbanks Zoo, Columbia, South Carolina.

Picture of a Brazilian porcupine (Coendou prehensilis) at the Saint Louis Zoo.

South Georgia king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus patagonicus) at the Indianapolis Zoo.

Picture of endangered red ruffed lemurs (Varecia rubra) at the Miller Park Zoo.

Joel Sartore News

USA Today Publishes Story About 12 Days of Photo Ark

On December 12th, 2017, USA Today published a story documenting the Photo Ark’s 12 Days of Christmas social media campaign. The Photo Ark project, which aims to document every species living in the world’s zoos and other protected areas before they’re extinct, is releasing one photo a day for 12 days on social media. From koalas to…

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