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Eastern Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli) Seen at Blank Park Zoo! Another 365 around the sun and it's time to showcase my favorite animal of all time again, the powerful Eastern Black Rhino! Rhinos have long been my favorite animals, and this year more than any has shown me the real peril these mighty animals are in. The 2026 State of the Rhino report shows a decline in 3 of the 5 rhino species, with the poor Sumatran and Javan Rhinos now being below 50 individuals each for their entire wild population! The once massively recovered Southern White Rhinos have dropped almost 1,000 individuals over the last few years. Thankfully it's not all doom and gloom. Although they are still Critically Endangered, there were about 600 new Black Rhinos this year as compared to 2022, and Indian Rhinos grew their population by around 60 at the same time. In a time when it feels harder and harder to retain hope for our planet, it's more important than ever to take a stand to protect wildlife and wild spaces. Every year on my birthday, I donate to the International Rhino Foundation to help save these incredible animals. If you feel compelled to also help preserve these amazing animals, I'll leave a link to their site in the story for this post. My goal is to continue to be able to share this planet with Rhinos, for as long as I keep making the journey around the sun with them! . . . @blankparkzoo #rhinoceros #conservation #zoophotography #naturephotography #wildlifephotography

Pere David's Deer (Elaphurus davidianus) Seen at The Wilds! Before visiting the Columbus Zoo, we first dropped by its sister location, the amazing safari park known as The Wilds! This gave me the opportunity to photograph this rare deer in a near natural environment! This deer is among the most threatened ungulates on the planet. They are considered Extinct in the Wild due to the fact they can only now be found in zoos and nature preserves. Originally from China, this deer which is also known as the Milu was slowly driven to extinction due to hunting and habitat loss. At one point the whole of their population was limited to a single imperial hunting preserve in China. However, after a bad year brought war and flooding to the preserve, every last Pere David's Deer in China was gone. Thankfully prior to this event, a French monk has snuck some of this incredible species to Europe for zoological and private collections. Over time, zoos worked to breed this species and traded them with other institutions across the globe. Today there are an estimated 6,000 of these deer in captivity and an additional 600 which are on their way to becoming wild in China once more! The Wilds safari park has the largest herd of these deer in North America, and is working diligently to breed this species so that future herds can one day enjoy the wetlands of Southern China once more! . . . @thewilds #deer #conservation #zoophotography #naturephotography #wildlifephotography

Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) Seen at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium! I've been doing a lot of traveling recently and visited many wildlife institutions! Among them was the world class Columbus Zoo and Aquarium! One of their most popular and long-standing residents is this rescued Sea Turtle, Buddy! Hawksbill Sea Turtles are a Critically Endangered species for a few reasons. Climate Change is threatening to flood their breeding beaches, poaching for their meat and eggs continues to be a threat and boat strikes injure and kill many turtles. A boat strike is also what injured poor Ms. Buddy here, leading to critical damage to her flippers and making her unable to be released into the wild. The Columbus Zoo stepped in and provided her with a permanent home at their lovely saltwater Manatee complex. . . . @columbuszoo #seaturtle #rescue #zoophotography #wildlifephotography #naturephotography

Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) Seen at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden! This spectacular bird of prey has the longest wingspan of any of its raptor cousins, reaching the enormous size of 10ft across! As the name suggests, they are native to the Andes mountain range in South America, there they soar high above the ground in search of carcasses they can swoop down to feed on. A major threat to these massive birds has been when ranchers poison carcasses in an attempt to ward off other predators like pumas, foxes and feral dogs. Condors will often congregate on a large carcass, so these poisoning events will often only kill 1 or 2 of the target species, it can kill dozens of Condors! Without these birds acting as the clean up crew with their powerful stomach acid, disease would spread like wildfire, something that is already being seen in parts of India where their vultures had been almost eradicated! It is more important now than ever that we protect the species who help keep both us and the wildlife around us healthy and disease free! . . . @cincinnatizoo #condor #birding #zoophotography #naturephotography #wildlifephotography

Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) Seen at the Milwaukee County Zoo! Finishing off our Antelope Week, it's one of the most stunning and recognizable antelopes of the African savanna, the mighty Greater Kudu. Named that due to its larger size in comparison to the Lesser Kudu, large bulls like the one featured in most of the images here can weigh up to an impressive 700 lbs! The males are adorned with large curling horns and a large beard, while females (image 3 ) do not sport either of these features and are smaller in stature. This species is both a browser and grazer, and by being more of a generalist, they can be found all across Eastern and Southern Africa. Essentially any savanna habitat across the African Continent most likely has this adaptable antelope living there! . . . @milwaukeecozoo #kudu #antelope #zoophotography #wildlifephotography #naturephotography

Klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus) Seen at the Dallas Zoo! This interesting little antelope is a master of the Kopje environment. For those of you unfamiliar with what a Kopje is, it is a large rocky "island" which can be found scattered in larger open savanna habitats. They often contain their own small ecosystems, and provide shelter for larger animals like Lions and Baboons at times. The Klipspringer is well adapted to survive in this unique rocky structure, with rubbery hooves that come to a point to help it leap and bound across the smooth stones. This species of antelope uses its agility on the harsh cliffs of the Kopje to stay out of the reach of most predators! Another fun fact about this little antelope is that they have a recessive trait to be completely hornless, so while both males and females can have horns, it's possible to find individuals who survive without them. . . . @dallaszoo #klipspringer #antelope #zoophotography #wildlifephotography #naturephotography

Yellow Backed Duiker (Cephalophus silvicultor) Seen at the Blank Park Zoo! This odd critter is the largest of the duiker species, a strange group of smaller antelope which make the shrubland and forests of Africa their home. Even though they are the largest of the duikers, they are still only up to 150lbs in weight. One of the coolest things about seeing antelope and other ungulate species in zoos is that they can often be mixed with other species. At the Blank Park Zoo, they mixed their pair of Yellow Backed Duikers with their male Okapi and some Stanley Cranes! These mixed species habitats have the potential to provide a much more engaging environment for all the species involved, and the Okapi was very engaged with this curious creature! . . . @blankparkzoo #antelope #duiker #zoophotography #wildlifephotography #naturephotography

Scimitar Horned Oryx (Oryx dammah) Seen at the Kansas City Zoo and Aquarium! This striking species has one of the most inspiring conservation comebacks of any species of antelope. The Scimitar Horned Oryx was native to the grassland and desert regions around the Sahara desert in North Africa. This species was driven to extinction in the wild due to poaching and habitat loss by the year 2000, and now today there are over 600 of these incredible animals back in the wild! Zoos were the only place you could find these incredible animals for a decade, and they worked hard to breed the individuals in their collection. They were successful in their project and soon had enough individuals to release them back to a section of their former range in Chad. Their population has only grown since and they are now considered Endangered, a huge leap forward from Extinct in the Wild! They are a powerful example of the ways in which zoos can provide a meaningful impact for conservation. . . . @kansascityzoo #oryx #antelope #zoophotography #wildlifephotography #naturephotography

Eastern Bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci) Seen at the Houston Zoo This is one of the most threatened species of antelope in the world! Bongos are a large species of rainforest antelope that makes Central and Eastern Africa their home. The Eastern Bongo subspecies is Critically Endangered and native to a small range in the mountainous central region of Kenya. Zoos have been working diligently to breed and even release these colorful ungulates. In the last few years, zoos from Europe have already sent 24 bongos back to the wild helping to bolster the wild population of as few as 200 individuals! . . . @houstonzoo #bongo #antelope #zoophotography #wildlifephotography #naturephotography

Nile Lechwe (Kobus megaceros) Seen at the Saint Louis Zoo! This stunning specimen is a male Nile Lechwe! This species exhibits a pretty extreme sexual dimorphism, with males being larger, sporting horns and a dark coat, while females are much smaller, without horns and with tan coats. They are highly aquatic for an antelope species and make the floodplains off the Nile River their home. They have specialized hooves that allow them to effectively run through dense marshlands in order to escape predators. Sadly this species is Endangered, and without intervention we could be the last generation to witness these aquatic antelopes. Thankfully, zoos like the Saint Louis Zoo help by acting as a bachelor facility for surplus males, that way breeding herds elsewhere can avoid inbreeding or fighting between adult males. Then when a herd is in need of a new male, they can send the boys at Saint Louis to their new homes! . . . @stlzoo #antelope #nilelechwe #zoophotography #wildlifephotography #naturephotography

Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger) Seen at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park! This stunning species of ungulate is among the largest antelope species. They are well known for their striking curves horns, which are long on the females pictured here, but even longer on the males (which I hope to photograph one day!). These horns are excellent weapons against predators, specifically lions. When the big cats try to pounce on them from behind to grab their back and necks, the backwards facing points can stab right into their attackers with extraordinary force. This species is well known for being territorial, which is why most smaller zoos don't exhibit them. Large bull Sable Antelopes have been known to even spar with White Rhinoceros! That being said, due to the wide open landscapes of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, they are able to maintain a breeding and bachelor herds of this incredible antelope! . . . @sdzsafaripark #antelope #sablesantelope #zoophotography #wildlifephotography #naturephotography

Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) Seen at the Georgia Aquarium! I couldn't let Shark Week pass without featuring one of the most special animals anyone can have the chance of encountering, the mighty Whale Shark. This large filter feeding shark is the largest fish in our oceans, with large females reaching an enormous size of up to 33ft long! These gentle giants will traverse the world's waters in search of small fish, zooplankton and other tiny aquatic animals to eat. Sadly, this species is Endangered due to being caught in nets meant for smaller fish, being hunted for their fins and meat as well as boat strikes. They are a stunning species to see in real life, with Yushan here being the last remaining Whale Shark at the Georgia Aquarium. The way the public will stand in awe of this enormous fish for nearly an hour shows the importance these wildlife encounters can have on people. Many species of sharks today are threatened with extinction, which would send the already fragile balance of our ocean ecosystems into a tailspin. Connecting with these ancient predators is vital to getting the public to support their conservation, and no single animal has done this better in my opinion than the stunning Whale Shark! . . . @georgiaaquarium #whaleshark #sharkweek #zoophotography #aquariumphotography #wildlifephotography