The Photo Ark is a National Geographic project, led by photographer Joel Sartore, with the goal of photographing all species living in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries around the globe in order to inspire action to save wildlife.
The project has been documented in a series of books and in a three-part documentary first shown on PBS and then released to home video. A selection of photographs from the project has been exhibited in various museums, zoos, and exhibition halls around the world. The documentary, RARE: Creatures of The Photo Ark, was awarded the Best Conservation Film award in 2018. The Photo Ark was featured on American television program 60 Minutes, with the episode first airing on October 14, 2018.
Goals
The Photo Ark project, led by Joel Sartore in association with National Geographic, has the goal of inspiring action through education, and to help save wildlife by supporting conservation efforts.
It is a multiyear effort which originally intended to document 12,000 species living in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries. In November 2021, the 12,000th species was photographed by Sartore who was 59 at the time, and the new goal was announced as being 15,000 species, which Sartore anticipated would take him another 10 to 15 years.
According to a February 2017 press release by National Geographic, one half of Earth's animal species could go extinct by 2100. Since starting the project, Sartore says several species he photographed are now extinct.
Origins
Sartore gained a love of nature while growing up in Nebraska. He was amazed by the idea of species going extinct, and thought that he would never see such occur in his lifetime. However, now he believes that in the 11 years he has worked on the Photo Ark project, he has seen 10 go extinct. In a March 2018 interview, Sartore said that he went to the Omaha zoo regularly as a child, getting to know the various animals. He says that his parents "made sure he was out in nature and appreciated it", which he says made all the difference.
In a February 2018 interview, Sartore said that he began the Ark project about 12 years ago when he was caring for his three young children while his wife was being treated for cancer, leading Sartore to consider his own future. "That's how the Ark got started, and I've been going at it ever since."
In an April 2018 interview, Sartore said he had been a National Geographic photographer for over 27 years, and although he worked for 15 years doing various conservation stories, the impact was not enough to "stop the extinction crisis". So he realized that maybe "very simple portraits lit exquisitely so you can see the beauty and the color, looking animals directly in the eye with no distractions, would be the way to do it."
Progress
National Geographic reported on the project's status during significant milestones: The first animal to be photographed for the project was the naked mole-rat living at the Lincoln Children's Zoo. In September 2017, the 7,000th animal photographed for the project was announced: the Leadbeater's possum, a critically endangered marsupial which is native to the acacia forests of central Victoria in Australia. In May 2018, the 8,000th animal was announced: the semiaquatic Pyrenean desman. In December 2018, the 9,000th animal was announced: the Bandula barb, a colorful but critically endangered fish found in one stream in Sri Lanka. In May 2020 the 10,000th animal was announced: the güiña, which is the smallest wildcat in the Americas. National Geographic reported that "This pivotal milestone means that Sartore is about two-thirds of the way toward completing the National Geographic Photo Ark." In February 2021, the 11,000th animal was announced: the long-toothed dart moth (Dichagyris longidens), saying the photo may be the first one to capture a living representative of the species. In November 2021, the 12,000th animal was announced: the Arabian cobra, which until 2009 was classified as a subspecies of the Egyptian cobra. In July 2022, the 13,000th animal was announced: the spoon-billed sandpiper (Calidris pygmaea), which is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The Photo Ark and related books
The project has been documented in a series of books: Rare: Portraits of America's Endangered Species. 2010. . Precursor to The Photo Ark project. Animal Ark: Celebrating our Wild World in Poetry and Pictures. National Geographic Kids, 2017. . The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals. 2017. . Birds Of The Photo Ark. 2018. . The Photo Ark Vanishing: The World's Most Vulnerable Animals. 2019. .