Wildlife photography can be about more than just attractive photos to fill books, calendars and social media feeds. Around the world, photographers use their work to highlight the threats facing wildlife, from iconic species such as lions, elephants, tigers and whales to little-known rodents, insects and fish. These photos are a stark reminder of what we stand to lose as a result of the worsening biodiversity crisis.
Many photographers work under the banner of conservation photography, showing both the beauty of wildlife and the harsh realities that many animals face, whether it’s rows of hacked-off shark fins, orangutans isolated in deforested landscape, or animals locked in miserable, dirty cages. Photographer Jo-Anne McArthur and a group of like-minded photojournalists have also recently developed a new genre, animal photojournalism (APJ), to highlight…