Last Monday we posted the first of Joel Sartore’s blog series detailing his visits to zoos all over the country as he uses his unique brand of photography to bring attention to the at risk animals living there for his Biodiversity Project. The goal of the Biodiversity Project is simple: to show what’s at stake and to get people to care while there’s still time to save these species.
Excerpt: It’s a gray, cloudy day at the Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington, Illinois. It’s early, with no cars in the parking lot. They won’t open for another hour or so. Even then they’ll have few visitors. The place is as quiet as a church at midnight. And though you’d never know it, they’re keeping quite a sad secret here.
When any animal in the world zoo population slips below 50 individuals, tough choices—life and death choices—have to be made. Can we get more of the species from the wild to bolster the genetics going forward? If so, is this a showy enough species that the public will pay to come and see it?
For three species in this building, the answer is no.
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