Book - The Photo Ark

Arizona Docent

Arizona Docent

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
This massive volume (which I picked up recently at Phoenix Zoo) is the result of a long-term photo project by Joel Sartore of National Geographic fame. In fact the book is published by National Geographic. The subtitle is One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals. I have known of his project for a little while but did not realize it was finally produced as a book.

The hardcover book is quite substantial: roughly ten by ten inches and 400 pages. It feels quite hefty when picked up. The animal images are studio portraits, taken with professional flash and softbox setups with either a plain black or plain white background. They were taken at zoos, aquariums and wildlife centers around the world. Joel has also spoken and presented his work at special presentations at various zoos. The book's retail price in the USA is $35, which is not cheap but is quite reasonable for a full color book of this size and quality.

Each animal portrait fills an entire page, making for an impressive display. There is a brief caption on the corner of each page, naming the animal and a small anecdote about the photo shoot. This is a photo book in the truest sense of the word and text pages are extremely limited. Obviously 400 pages comes nowhere close to documenting all of the world's animals (in spite of the ambitious subtitle). However the mix of animals represented is quite good. In addition to big name mammals like giant panda and tiger, there are arthropods like oblong-winged katydid and common garden snail, fish like Rio Xingu stingray and orange spotted filefish, and birds like Javan rhinoceros hornbill and whiskered auklet. Some of the few text pages are devoted to wildlife heroes (people working in wildlife conservation).

I cannot imagine any ZooChatter not enjoying this book. If you can afford it, then it seems like a must have. If you can find it at a zoo gift shop like I did, then you can support both the zoo and the photographer.
 
I have already bought his book, and most of his other ones that are animal related, with two of them being signed by Joel Sartore in person. Definitely worth a buy even if you don't plan to read it since his cause is a noble one, along with his other books.
 
I have not read it yet, just flipped through, but I noticed there is an index at the back that lists which zoo each photo was taken at (except for a few that just say "private collection"). If I have time in the coming days, I will list a small selection of the notable ones.
 
Chlidonias said:
does he include his "Bengal tigers"? :p
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No. Actually there is a shot of a Malayan tiger (Henry Doorly Zoo) and a Sumatran tiger (Miller Park Zoo). In relation to your post, however, there are a pair of big cats that are clearly hybrids but listed as subspecies complete with trinomial Latin name. It is not "Bengal tigers," but rather "African leopards" (named as Panthera pardus pardus). Towards the front is a full body shot from Houston Zoo which is in fact a leopard/jaguar hybrid (as discussed elsewhere on ZooChat). In the middle is a closer up shot of the same cat and on opposite page a black leopard labeled as African from Gulf Coast Zoo. Many serious ZooChatters know that melanism in leopards is far more common in Asia than Africa and virtually all black leopards in the United States are hybrids.
 
Arizona Docent said:
Towards the front is a full body shot from Houston Zoo which is in fact a leopard/jaguar hybrid (as discussed elsewhere on ZooChat).
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I don't recall reading about that hybrid on here before so I tried searching and the only result was this thread.
 
Arizona Docent said:
Many serious ZooChatters know that melanism in leopards is far more common in Asia than Africa and virtually all black leopards in the United States are hybrids.
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But not, however, unheard of in pure African individuals - exhibit A being the melanistic animal at Heythrop, which I am given to understand was wild-caught!
 
TeaLovingDave said:
But not, however, unheard of in pure African individuals - exhibit A being the melanistic animal at Heythrop, which I am given to understand was wild-caught!
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A wild caught black leopard from Africa? I would be very interested to know the location of its origin.
 
Chlidonias said:
I don't recall reading about that hybrid on here before so I tried searching and the only result was this thread.
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Regarding Houston leopard jaguar hybrid. Here is one link when the cat was originally photographed back in 2011 (see my post 23): Houston Zoo - News 2011

However that post references another that I cannot find at the moment. As I recall, the original post is from a person who spoke with a keeper at the zoo who confirmed the cat came from a sanctuary and is likely a hybrid.
 
Arizona Docent said:
A wild caught black leopard from Africa? I would be very interested to know the location of its origin.
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I don't know the precise country of origin, but I do know that if one were to follow the old "multiple African subspecies" taxonomy it would be the Central African (P. p. shortridgei).
 
I've just finished reading the book, which arrived this morning. I was initially disappointed to find that the collection name isn't listed in each photo caption - as it is when they're featured in National Geographic magazine - but as AD mentions there's an index at the back. Otherwise the book is just brilliant. Wonderful photos of some amazing species. The selection and display is brilliant. The little text features which break up the images are also quite good, and although in places I was hoping to read a little more, the pieces certainly aren't long enough to get boring. Buy it. Signed copies are available at Photo Ark Book - Joel Sartore for full price + postage.
 
I have also just purchased (and finished) the book. It was quite well done, though like devilfish, I wish the collection names would be listed on each page. The various inputs about "heroes" are well done, and it was interesting to see how some of the photos were captured.

About the leopards: I am how many leopards, generic, black, pure, or otherwise, that the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo has, but 1.1 African leopards are listed on ZIMS.
 
jayjds2 said:
About the leopards: I am how many leopards, generic, black, pure, or otherwise, that the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo has, but 1.1 African leopards are listed on ZIMS.
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I have no idea whether their leopards are African or Asian or generic or whatever, but it is worth noting that Satore only knows what the animals are from what the zoo tells him (e.g. the "Bengal tigers" he has photographed at various zoos), and ZIMS data is likewise provided by the zoo. So the source is the same in both cases.
 
devilfish said:
I've just finished reading the book, which arrived this morning. I was initially disappointed to find that the collection name isn't listed in each photo caption - as it is when they're featured in National Geographic magazine - but as AD mentions there's an index at the back. Otherwise the book is just brilliant. Wonderful photos of some amazing species. The selection and display is brilliant. The little text features which break up the images are also quite good, and although in places I was hoping to read a little more, the pieces certainly aren't long enough to get boring. Buy it. Signed copies are available at Photo Ark Book - Joel Sartore for full price + postage.
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His other and older book, RARE, features text with each photo about where the animals pictured had their photos taken. However, RARE is specifically about rare and declining North American plants and animals. It is sorted by their population numbers, and provides more information about the animals pictured.
 
I will list a few animals and their zoos from the notes in the back. This is just a random sampling, choosing a few that are rare in captivity or highly popular or zoos that appear frequently on ZooChat. (San Diego is conspicuously absent, however).

Giant panda (Zoo Atlanta, USA)
Delacour's langur (Endangered Primate Rescue Center, Vietnam)
Asian elephant (Los Angeles Zoo, USA and Singapore Zoo, Singapore)
California condor (Phoenix Zoo, USA)
Oncilla (Jaime Duque Park, Columbia)
Hispaniolan hutia and solenodon (National Zoo, Dominican Republic)
Black-footed ferret (Toronto Zoo, Canada)
Spix's macaw (Sao Paolo Zoo, Brazil)

Without actually counting, it feels like the name I see more than others is Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo, followed by Houston Zoo. What is odd is that at least a couple animals (maybe more) appear in the book twice. Different photos, but the same species (giant panda, so-called "African" leopard, perhaps more). Considering the limited space and how many I am sure he had to leave out, it just seems odd.
 
Arizona Docent said:
I will list a few animals and their zoos from the notes in the back. This is just a random sampling, choosing a few that are rare in captivity or highly popular or zoos that appear frequently on ZooChat. (San Diego is conspicuously absent, however).

Giant panda (Zoo Atlanta, USA)
Delacour's langur (Endangered Primate Rescue Center, Vietnam)
Asian elephant (Los Angeles Zoo, USA and Singapore Zoo, Singapore)
California condor (Phoenix Zoo, USA)
Oncilla (Jaime Duque Park, Columbia)
Hispaniolan hutia and solenodon (National Zoo, Dominican Republic)
Black-footed ferret (Toronto Zoo, Canada)
Spix's macaw (Sao Paolo Zoo, Brazil)

Without actually counting, it feels like the name I see more than others is Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo, followed by Houston Zoo. What is odd is that at least a couple animals (maybe more) appear in the book twice. Different photos, but the same species (giant panda, so-called "African" leopard, perhaps more). Considering the limited space and how many I am sure he had to leave out, it just seems odd.
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The reason Omaha is a recurring theme is because Joel Sartore is from the Nebraska area near Lincoln, which is very close to Omaha. That is also why so many pictures come from the Lincoln's children zoo.
 
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