Premiered Tuesday, August 1

Episode 3

In his 25 years as a National Geographic photographer, Joel Sartore has learned to never ignore the smaller creatures in our midst. Joel gets us up close with colorful and charismatic insects with faces and features usually found in sci-fi flicks, because “they help make the world go ‘round.”

Joel also goes in search of larger animals. In the Czech Republic and in one of the series’ most poignant moments, Joel boards the rarest rhinoceros in the world onto the Photo Ark. Nabiré is one of only five of northern white rhinos left on the planet and it may be too late for her kind.

Joel’s got one more hike-he’d-rather-not-hike in him, this time in New Zealand where he tags along on a Rowi kiwi egg rescue. By taking and hatching these enormous kiwi eggs, scientists give these birds a fighting chance against unnatural predators. If they didn’t rescue the eggs, the species would go extinct.

Photo credit: Chun-Wei Yi

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Animals and Locations Featured


Budapest Zoo
Budapest, Hungary

Persian Leopard

Scientific NamePanthera pardus saxicolor

Syrian Brown Bear

Scientific NameUrsus arctos syriacus

Tanzanian Pink Legged Millipede

Scientific NameDendrostreptus macracanthus

Dvůr Králové Zoo
Dvůr Králové nad Labem, Czechia

Northern White Rhino

Scientific NameCeratotherium simum cottoni

West Coast Wildlife Center
Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

Rowi Kiwi

Scientific NameApteryx rowi

Zealandia
Wellington, New Zealand

Kākāpō

Scientific NameStrigops habroptilus

Weta

Scientific NameDeinacrida mahoenui