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

A young female snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus).

Red-fronted macaw (Ara rubrogenys) at the Miller Park Zoo. This species of macaw is highly endangered with an estimated 150 birds left in the wild.

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

Critically endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) at the St. Louis Zoo's Monsanto Insectarium.

A red fan parrot (Deroptyus accipitrinus accipitrinus) at the Houston Zoo.

A white-faced saki monkey (Pithecia pithecia) at the Kansas City Zoo.

A sunbittern (Eurypyga helias ) at the Cincinnati Zoo.

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

A giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) at Zoo Atlanta. This endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered species is native to China.

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

Sara, the endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered whooping crane (Grus americana), at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species. This is an educational bird.

An ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) at the Omaha Zoo.

Photo: An endangered mint morph of the terrible poison dart frog (Phyllobates terriblis) from a private collection.

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.

Picture of a vulnerable giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) named Ellie Mae with her pup, Zander, at the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, Texas. Zander was born in January, 2013.

Budgett's frog (Lepidobatrachus laevis) at the Baltimore Aquarium.

A vulnerable (IUCN) and federally threatened polar bear (Ursus maritimus) at the Tulsa Zoo.

Picture of critically endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered Edward's pheasants at the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan, KS.

Picture of bats, songbirds and a hawk killed by a single wind turbine in a year.

Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix indica) at the Omaha Zoo.

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

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

Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (Lophochroa leadbeateri) also known as Leadbeater's cockatoo or pink cockatoo, at Parrots in Paradise, a bird attraction in Glass House Mountains, Queensland.

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.

Portrait of an eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) at the San Francisco State University.

A male eastern bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci) at the Great Plains Zoo.

An endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) at Zoo Atlanta.

Picture of a six-day-old Malayan tapir, Tapirus indicus, at the Minnesota Zoo. Endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered

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).

Pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) at the Great Plains 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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