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.

6,531 species photographed for the Photo Ark
A modern-day Noah

—NBC Nightly News
1 porcupine 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.

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Recent Talks

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

Kindu, a Schmidt's red-tailed guenon (Cercopithecus ascanius schmidti). Kindu was hand raised at the Houston Zoo. During bottle feedings, Kindu was given a surrogate stuffed animal that he still loves.

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

Picture of American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) at the Lincoln Children's 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 spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata).

Picture of a white-faced ibis (Plegadis chihi) named Gonzo at The Living Desert.

A two-headed yellow-belied slider (Trachemys scripta scripta) at Riverbanks Zoo.

Picture of a western leopard gecko or Iranian fat-tailed gecko (Eublepharis angramainyu) at the Saint Louis Zoo.

Geoffroy's tufted-ear marmoset (Callithrix geoffroyi) at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

Picture of an opossum (Didelphis virginiana) with babies.

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

Picture of a federally threatened, Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) named Yukon at Point Defiance Zoo.

A vulnerable pygmy slow loris (Nycticebus pygmaeus) at the Omaha Zoo.

Little red flying fox (Pteropus scapulatus) from the Australian Bat Clinic and Narrow Leaf Retreat.

Picture of an Argentine horned frog (Ceratophrys ornata) at the Lincoln Children's Zoo.

Eastern yellow-billed hornbill (Tockus flavirostris flavirostris) at the Indianapolis Zoo.

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

A western harris' hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus superior) named Hudson at The Living Desert.

A critically endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered red wolf (Canis rufus gregoryi) at the Great Plains Zoo.

Picture of a four-horned chameleon (Chamaeleo quadricornis quadricornis) at the Saint Louis Zoo.

Photo: Bryn, a female Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) -- one of two Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits left, the end of the line for this race of animals.

A West Usambara two-horned chameleon (Kinyongia multituberculata) at the Houston Zoo.

Picture of a gliding or Spurrell's tree frog (Agalychnis spurrelli) at the Saint Louis Zoo.

Northern White-faced Owls (Ptilopsis leucotis) at the Cincinnati Zoo.

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

Picture of an endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered, male Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) at the Kamla Nehru Zoological Garden in Ahmedabad, India.

Southern corroboree frogs (Pseudophryne corroboree) a critically endangered species at the Healesville Sanctuary in Healesville, Victoria, Australia.

An endangered Coquerel's sifaka (Propithecus coquereli) at the Houston Zoo.

Endangered Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni) at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo.

The critically-endangered orange-bellied parrot (Neophema chrysogaster) at the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary. This is one of the rarest birds in the world with fewer than 50 left in the wild.

Red-necked wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) at the Lincoln Children's Zoo.

Joel Sartore News

See the Animals from “Rare” on PBS

Here are some of the amazing animals featured in RARE: Creatures of the Photo Ark, airing July 2017 on PBS. I hope that my photographs will help people fall in love with the animals I capture, and realize that these rare species tie directly back into their own lives. Animals Featured in Episode 3 Missed Episode…

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