Why this photographer is on a decades-long mission to take a portrait of every animal species in captivity

Joel Sartore is excited to come to Calgary this weekend — to see a bird.

The National Geographic photographer says the Calgary Zoo is the only place where the sage grouse, an iconic bird of western North America, is in human care, thanks to a breeding program established in 2016. He wants to document it.

For the past 12 years, Sartore has been on a mission to photograph every animal species in captivity, "from ants to elephants." It's part of a project called the Photo Ark that aims to make people care about the extinction crisis.

There are about 20,000 animal species in zoos, aquariums and wildlife sanctuaries around the world. So far, Sartore has photographed around 12,000, all on stark black or white backgrounds.

"We're doing them all so that people can really see these animals, look them in the eye," Sartore told listeners of The Homestretch on Thursday. "People can just see there's great intelligence there and that these creatures are worth saving."

In Canada, populations of endangered animals face threats, including pollution, loss of biodiversity, over-exploitation of commercial species and habitat loss, all potentially exacerbated by climate change.

Around the world, more than 40,000 plant and animal species are threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List.

Sartore knows there is criticism around wild animals being kept in captivity but thinks zoos can help with awareness. 

"I think that nobody likes a bad zoo, but good zoos where there's abundant attention and care, they educate the public. They keep us connected to the wild," he said.

Sartore says zoos also help by restoring destroyed habitat and establishing captive breeding programs, like the efforts by zoos across Canada to save the Vancouver Island marmot from certain extinction.

"That animal's not out of the woods completely yet, but at least it's stable. That's a big deal."

Tricks of the trade

So how does Sartore capture his animal portraits?

He says he photographs more dangerous animals, like lions, tigers and bears, through a barrier of wire or mesh.

For smaller, fast-moving creatures, like frogs or bumblebees, "it's more about containment." The animal goes inside a small white cloth tent, and only the lens of Sartore's camera pokes inside.

After a couple minutes, the animal goes back to its enclosure.

Having photographed over half of captive animal species, Sartore says it will take 10 to 15 years to wrap up the Photo Ark project. He hopes people will continue to be inspired by his portraits and take action to protect at-risk species.

"If we think that we can drive half of all species to extinction over the next 50, 60 years, but people will be just fine, it is not going to work that way. It just won't," he said.

Sartore will be speaking more about his experience building the Photo Ark at the Jack Singer Concert Hall in Calgary on Feb. 6 and 7. The event is sold out but people can join the wait list here.

With files from The Homestretch