TONIGHT! “Photo Ark” Saturday, October 17 on Nat Geo Wild @ 10PM

In this two-part special, follow photographer Joel Sartore on his quest to use the power of photography to inspire people to save species at risk by photographing every species living in the world’s zoos and wildlife sanctuaries.

The Photo Ark is a National Geographic project which has 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 project, led by Joel Sartore in association with National Geographic, is a multiyear effort to document the approximately 12,000 species living in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries. Its goal is to inspire action through education, and help save wildlife by supporting conservation efforts.

According to a February 2017 press release by National Geographic, one half of Earth’s animal species could go extinct by 2100. “Joel Sartore… is acutely aware of this devastating reality and is passionate about protecting our planet’s animals.” Regarding the scope of the project, Sartore said: “The logistics of pulling off a project of this scope is numbing at times. The travel, the long hours, the setup and teardown of our mobile photo studio… it wears me down just thinking about it”.