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

An endangered Malayan tiger, Panthera tigris jacksoni, at the Omaha Zoo.

Like all gibbons, the gray gibbon has unusually long arms which are used to move through trees and to forage. This endangered species is being 'phased out' at zoos because there are too few in captivity to keep bloodlines vital and the species isn't showy.

Photo: An endangered Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) at the Madrid Zoo.

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

A king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) at Reptile Gardens.

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

Photo: An endangered flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps) at the Taiping Zoo.

Picture of a brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus) at the PanAmerican Conservation Association in Gamboa, Panama.

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

Picture of an endangered six-month-old red panda (Ailurus fulgens fulgens) named Cinnamon at the Virginia Zoo.

Picture of a Barbary lion (Panthera leo leo) at the Plzen Zoo in the Czech Republic.

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

Photo: Visayan leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis rabori) at the Avilon Zoo.

Photo: A critically endangered Javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas) at Taman Safari.

Picture of American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) at the Lincoln Children's Zoo.

Picture of a vulnerable four-toed jerboa (Allactaga tetradactyla) at the Plzen Zoo in the Czech Republic.

Picture of a federally endangered, female Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) at the Kamla Nehru Zoological Garden in Ahmedabad, India.

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

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

An ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.

Photo: Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) at the MK Nature Center in Boise, Idaho.

Photo: Caterpillar of orange lacewing (Cethosia penthesilea) at Melbourne Zoo.

Photo: EdwardÕs fig parrot (Psittaculirostris edwardsii) at Loro Parque Fundacion.

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

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

Photo: An aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) named Endora at Duke Lemur Center in Durham, North Carolina.

Picture of a Plain pigeon (Patagioenas inornata) at the Parque Zoologico Nacional in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

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.

Blue waxbills (Uraeginthus angolensis) (awake or dozing off) are a common sight in Gorongosa's dry, bushy grasslands. So far, nearly 400 bird species have been documented in the park.

Nicobar pigeon, Caloenas nicobarica, at the Omaha Zoo.

A red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) at the Sutton Avian Research Center.

Photo: Chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica) at the Newport Aquarium.

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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