Digital Noah: Utah Man Creates "Photo Ark" to Save Endangered Species

Anyone who uses social media daily has almost certainly seen enough adorable animal photos to last a lifetime.

Animal photos are not just pretty pictures. According to one veteran wildlife photographer, they may be the secret to "saving the planet."

Joel Sartore said he's taken about 11,000 of his unusual animal portraits in the last 16 years while unloading his camera gear at Utah's Hogle Zoo.

His "Photo Ark" initiative aims to capture photos of an animal currently being cared for by humans, worldwide. In zoos, aquariums, and other private buildings, he says there are between 15,000 and 17,000 animals, all of which are fair game for his camera and the project.

"From elephants to ants, we photograph rare and common species, big and small."

It's all part of Sartore's 25-year dream to save thousands of animal portraits from extinction by storing them in a metaphorical ark.

"The Photo Ark's mission is to become a nature ad campaign," he said, "to have people excited about what they can do to help save the planet."

Related Article: Animals That Went Extinct In 2020 (and some that might disappear in 2021)

Photoshoot at Hogle Zoo

His first subject at the Hogle Zoo was a rare animal known as the hyrax. The African native is around the height of a chihuahua and resembles a fuzzy woodchuck or a very fat squirrel at first sight.

Janice Thompson, the zoo's small animal supervisor, said, "They sort of look like rodents, but they're not related to rodents at all." "The elephant is probably their nearest living relative."

Employees at the zoo coaxed a hyrax from its wide enclosure into a small cage that had been set up ahead of time for Sartore's filming. He orchestrates each photoshoot such that the final image resembles a human studio portrait. His photographs do not represent the animal's habitat or zoo facilities. In front of a black paper background, he photographed the hyrax. He shot Zion and Ziva, two of Hartmann's mountain zebras, in front of a white sheet hanging on a wall by zoo staff.

Photo Ark

There is close eye interaction between zoo animals and human animals in many of the Photo Ark portraits he has taken over the years.

He explained, "We want people to see that these creatures are alive, intelligent beings." "We have a basic right to life because they are alive, have thoughts, and are conscious."

The National Geographic Photo Ark, led by photographer Joel Sartore, is a multi-year project aimed at documenting every species found in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries, inspiring action through outreach, and assisting wildlife conservation efforts. Discover all about animals around the world and the challenges they face in the wild by browsing at the thousands of pictures in the Ark.

It aims to harness photography's power to motivate people to save endangered animals before it's too late. In his search to capture our world's incredible diversity, founder and photographer Joel Sartore has taken photographs of over 11,000 animals - and counting! He's almost finished recording all of the almost 15,000 animals that live in zoos and animal sanctuaries around the world.

Joel Sartore

In his hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore created the Photo Ark in 2006. In his journey to build this photo archive of global biodiversity, he has visited more than 50 countries and photographed over 11,000 animals.

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