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When a few of these photographs first appeared in the National Geographic magazine January 2009 issue, they were hailed as an arresting reminder of the hundreds of species teetering on the brink of final extinction—more than 1,200 animals and plants in all. Now, in Rare, Joel Sartore and National Geographic present 80 iconic images, representing a lifelong commitment to the natural world and a three-year investigation into the Endangered Species Act and the creatures it exists to protect.
This book will give readers not only a broader understanding of the history and purpose of the Endangered Species Act, but also an intimate look at the very species it seeks to preserve. With stunning up-close portraits on every page, this important volume evokes sympathetic wonder at the vast and amazing array of plants and animals still in need of protection.
Itself a creation of particular beauty, Rare offers eloquent proof that a picture really is worth a thousand words as it shows us, one after another, scores of uniquely remarkable and seriously threatened life-forms. It is a compelling story and a many-faceted, brilliant jewel of a book.
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“Just when we shed a tear, Sartore ends on a high with those creatures which have been brought back from the brink.” –Sunday Mail (UK)
“Sartore, a Nebraska native, traveled the country to get glimpses of 69 species -- red wolves, Hawaiian orchids, hellbenders (a prehistoric-looking salamander), and sea turtles -- all now or once hanging on the verge of extinction.” –CNN.com
“To help us see what we stand to lose -- just here in the United States.” –Lincoln Journal Star
“An elegant depiction of some of the nation’s most imperiled organisms.” –Audubon
“Joel Sartore is like the Richard Avedon for animals.” –NPR The Picture Show
About the Author
Joel Sartore has been a photographer for more than 20 years (17 with National Geographic), and his many assignments have taken him everywhere all over the world. He is the author of several books, a contributor to CBS Sunday Morning, and his work has appeared in Time, Life, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated.
Joel Sartore is a photographer, speaker, author, teacher, and a 20-year contributor to National Geographic magazine. His hallmarks are a sense of humor and a Midwestern work ethic.
Joel's assignments have taken him to every continent and to the world's most beautiful and challenging environments, from the High Arctic to the Antarctic.
Simply put, Joel is on a mission to document endangered species and landscapes in order to show a world worth saving.
His interest in nature started in childhood, when he learned about the very last passenger pigeon from one of his mother's Time-Life picture books. He has since been chased by a wide variety of species including wolves, grizzlies, musk oxen, lions, elephants and polar bears.
His first National Geographic assignments introduced him to nature photography, and also allowed him to see human impact on the environment first-hand.
In his words, "It is folly to think that we can destroy one species and ecosystem after another and not affect humanity. When we save species, we're actually saving ourselves."
In addition to the work he has done for National Geographic, Joel has contributed to Audubon Magazine, Geo, Time, Life, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and numerous book projects. Joel and his work have been the subjects of several national broadcasts including National Geographic's Explorer, the NBC Nightly News, NPR's Weekend Edition and an hour-long PBS documentary, At Close Range. He is also a contributor on the CBS Sunday Morning Show with Charles Osgood.
Joel is always happy to return from his travels around the world to his home in Lincoln, Nebraska where he lives with his wife Kathy and their three children.
No superlative can do justice to the power of these amazing images. Mr. Satore has shown us with beauty and grace what we are losing. My daughter has been inspired to create a non-profit organization called [...] to organize her friends to raise money to make sure than no other animal as sweet and innocent as Bryn, the last Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit ever to be photographed alive, is lost to us forever. This book will inspire you to action as well.
This book is not intended as a scientific treatise. You could get more information about the animals and plants that it covers elsewhere. It's an artistic effort to help us to appreciate and identify with those creatures whose existence is endangered by our carelessness and eagerness to exploit our environment for our own short-term benefit. It will reach people who already have an appreciation for the beauty and variety of God's creation, whether they believe that God had anything to do with it or not. To those who can't see what's going on out there and care less, I'm afraid that it won't change their minds. Maybe someday it will help their children to see what they have lost. Or, hopefully, might have lost but wound up preserving. In either case, it's a beautiful book and worth keeping on the coffee table. Someone may pick it up and start to think.
You will be moved to tears by this book. If you are not haunted by the faces of these animals, then I doubt you are human. It is a stark reminder that we are all God's creatures and have a right to exist on this planet.
I hoped for a bit more scientific information when I first opened the book, but upon reflection I realize that the power of this book is in it's simplicity. The species are organized in descending order of how many living specimens are left on earth - and to see them laid out like that gives new meaning to the word "endangered". Plus the photography is absolutely stunning! This is a book we'll give all of our new graduates as a parting gift; it deserves to be shared with others.
Shelley Schlenk Undergraduate Coordinator School of the Earth, Ocean and Environment University of South Carolina
This is a book of beautiful photographs with an important message. Almost 2,000 species are endangered with some of the verge of going extinct. Many species have already disappeared forever. Joel Sartore photographed and wrote about several such species. He demonstrates how some endangered species such as the American alligator are thriving, with help. Other species, are gone forever, like the Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit, which became extinct in 2008.
The Endangered Species Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Nixon in 1973. Habitats have been saved to assist challenged species. This has forced us to often question: which is the more important, the needs of humans or the needs of nature?
Other laws have been passed to help both humans and nature, such as the Clean Water Act and creating the Fish and Wildlife Services as well as the National Marine Fisheries Service. Many helpful actions have been local ones, such as petitions that saved habitats from being destroyed.
Not all endangered species are large animals. Even bugs and all kinds of living things play important roles in ecosystems. There are about 1,011 species within the U.S. and its waters that are endangered with 301 listed as threatened. Habitats have been saved for 538 species. Recovery plans have been developed for 1,134 species. 49 species have recovered enough that they have been removed from these lists, yet nine were done so because they went extinct. 14 species were removed because their population numbers increased enough for re-designation. 16 were removed due to administrative reasons, such as discovered more in new counts....
Among species in trouble are Higgins Eye, which is a key food for otters and muskrats among others, loggerhead sea turtles which are often caught in fishing traps, the yellow blotched map turtle, which has been harmed by flood control efforts and by boaters, the bog turtle which has seen much of its' wetlands habitat destroyed, the red cockaded wood pecker, which has seen 98% of its southern pine forests destroyed, the yellow fin madtom, whose river habitat has been harmed by silt, the fringed campion, which has been hurt by clear cutting, the Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly, whose habitat was destroyed for development, the polar bear, whose habitat has been destroyed by climate change melting the ice, the Puerto Rican Crested Toad, where development has reduced its' habitat, the grizzly bear, whose U.S. population once reached under 300, the ocelor, who had been harmed by development and illegal hunting, the Mississippi Sandhill Crance, which has existed for ten million years and now there are only about 155 left, the eastern hellbender, which has been harmed by dams and silt, the Florida Perforate Cladonia, which has been harmed by development, etc.
Efforts have helped some species. Banning DDT allowed the peregrine falcon and the bald eagle to regain population. The gray wolf has also rebounded with human assistance.Read more ›
I got this for my little girl who loves animals. She loves it and so do I as I believe anyone would. I think its just a human nature thing. I recommend this to any child or animal lover.
This is a stunning and spectacular achievement. If any picture can say 1000 words, then these breathtakingly beautiful images say a million words!
Bravo to Mr. Sartore and National Geographic for their continuous efforts to elicit our awe and appreciation for wildlife and nature and to also stoke our desire and commitment to protect Earth's incredible legacy of LIFE.
Give this book to as many people as you can for gifts so that more of us, including our future generations, will work to protect our precious biosphere and keep the "bio" in it!!!
