Photographer, Joel Sartore, is working on a project that involves documenting and taking photos of every animal subspecies under human care. So far, he has taken photographs of over 13,000 species across the world. 

Administrative assistant at Wildlife Haven, Kathryn Gibb, says that the goal of this project is to inspire people to care about protecting these animals. 

“The purpose is to raise awareness for the beauty and uniqueness of all wildlife across the world and the importance of protecting them.” 

Sartore reached out to Wildlife Haven to see if he could come and see some of the animals. Once he arrived at the animal rehabilitation center, he took photos of a specific subspecies of the Eastern Cottontail Rabbit and the American Red Squirrel. 

Gibb says Sartore was going to Ontario and his taxonomist recommended he visit Wildlife Haven, so he stopped by and took some photographs. She explains that Sartore and his assistant clearly had a lot of experience working with animals. 

“His son is his assistant, and they came and worked super quickly and they were really respectful of the animals and kind. They did their setup and they were super non-invasive and it was amazing.” 

Joel Sartore and National Geographic have a webpage for the Photo Ark project. They have thousands of photos uploaded so you can see the different animals on the website. The photos are also featured in the magazine occasionally.