Rare

JOEL SARTORE

So you like tarantulas, huh? Uh, I think they are boring. They're boring? Mm-hmm!

They kind of creep me out a little bit. The cockroaches are much more interesting...

SARTORE

The cockroaches? Is there any animal you don't like? If you really like cockroaches, you like it all, then. Oh, I like all of them.

So ten years ago, I had zero species in the Photo Ark. And now... Okay, all done. I have 50 left, 50 species to be at 5,000.

(Elvis Presley's "Hunk-a Burnin' Love" playing) Lord almighty, feel my temperature rising. Done! It's like we're looking at an alien, isn't it? Girl, girl, girl, girl, you're gonna set me on fire.

Oooo, that's a good one. My brain is flaming Got him. I don't know which way to go. Your kisses lift me higher Like the sweet song of a choir You blind my morning sky with burning love.

That is gigantic. That is a big insect. I feel my temperature rising. Boy, did he look good on black.

You know, people always ask me what my favorite animal is, and that's easy-- it's always the next one. See, I could spend an hour just on that one. That's really the point of the Photo Ark, to get people to fall in love with all creatures no matter whether they are big and orange with black stripes or small and brown. Done!

Next, white. Done. I'm fast, huh? Mm-hmm, yeah.

They all have value. They're all honed by millions of years of evolution, all equal, even cockroaches. Burnin' love Hunk-a, hunk-a burnin' love I'm just a hunk-a, hunk-a burnin' love Just a hunk-a, hunk-a burnin' love Hunk-a, hunk-a burnin' love. That is so cool.

I wish he was the 5,000th species, you know that?

TRACEY DEARLOVE

So just watch your step. And this is the trail, huh? This is the trail, yeah.

SARTORE

You know, I think I have the best job in the world. (gasps) Most days. Do you think the folks at home seeing this will think I'm a weenie? (laughs) Because I am.

I'm traveling the globe to photograph the world's rarest creatures. And that means getting very close, to all kinds of species. (softly): Okay, here we go, here we go. I'm Joel Sartore, and I've been a National Geographic photographer for more than 25 years now.

The pictures that have always meant the most to me are the ones that deal with vanishing places and animals, things that might not be around for much longer. (camera clicking) For the last 11 years, I've been collecting photographs for something I call the Photo Ark. The Photo Ark is the most comprehensive photographic record of the world's biodiversity ever made using studio portraits. 50% of all animals are now threatened with extinction.

And it's folly to think we can drive half of everything else to extinction, but that people will be just fine. That's why I created the Photo Ark. I've seen how photos can lead to real change. Pictures I've made of parrots in South America and koalas in Australia helped pressure local governments to protect these animals.

So I'll go anywhere-- from Nebraska to Europe to New Zealand-- to work with the people who will do whatever it takes to save these creatures. (whispering): That's enormous. It's huge, eh? By looking the animals directly in the eye, I hope that my photos reach people on an emotional level because you won't save what you don't love.

I usually shoot in controlled environments like zoos to capture images for the Photo Ark. But today, I've gone halfway around the globe to try to photograph one of New Zealand's rarest birds in the wild. It's the rowi kiwi, and of course, we have to find it first. Did I mention it's in the wild?

Hey, so I'm not exactly in the best physical shape of my life, and I have this camera bag that weighs a lot less than I'm going to tell you it weighs. Hopefully, we won't be going too far into the bush. So tell me exactly what we're doing. Yep, so we are just on the edge of the lake here...

Tracey's work takes place on the southern island of New Zealand in the South Pacific. The rowi kiwi used to range over hundreds of square kilometers, but it's now confined to a tiny forest on the west coast.

TRACEY

One place and that's it. But they've been wiped out everywhere else, so... How many are left, total? Um, we don't actually know the exact numbers.

We think around about 500. Mm-hmm. And they got down to a low of about 150 to 200. If we leave the eggs in there, there's less than five percent survival.

Five percent if you leave the egg alone.

SARTORE

So five percent of the chicks survive to adulthood if they don't pick up the eggs because of predators, but if they do pick them up, there's a 65% chance of survival. That is, if you can find the eggs. Um, what are we looking at in terms of hiking? To be honest, they're both...

they're not too bad. Okay. So, um, it is a little bit steeper and it's quite thick. When you say not too bad, you're all cut up and...

Look, stand up and show the folks at home your legs are all ripped up. These are good pants. These are the best leggings you have and they're all shredded and you're all cut up and... Yeah.

Well, see, the thing is that we have birds all through here. And do you have names for these sections, like this section's called "Living Hell" and this one is "I Wish I Was Dead"? Actually... well, we do for some of them, but I probably shouldn't say it on camera.

Okay. Do you need anybody to just watch the boat for you while you go get the eggs? Miles is going to watch the boat. Dammit.

All right, okay. There's no pulling out now. All right, I can do this. Tracey is a conservation ranger with Operation Nest Egg, which takes eggs from the wild before predators can, raises the chicks on a predator-free island, and returns them to the same forest.

Tracey and her team have tagged 70 mating pairs with transmitters. Their job now is to find them in the bush and retrieve their eggs. Today, we're on the trail of a bird named Moonshine, and we hope he and his mate are sitting on an egg. (static followed by beeping) There he is!

Hear that beeping? I hear it. Hooray! Oh, no.

The beeping we're hearing is a signal from Moonshine. The pulse rate is 48 pulses per minute, so you can hear... How do you know that? You just get an ear for it.

Seriously? You listened to, like, four pulses. Well, there's only three that it can be. One is 30, and that means it's alive.

One is 48... that means it's incubating. And one is 80, and that means it's... So it's on an egg?

Yeah, it's on an egg. Really? Which is great. So, um...

it's not super close. (laughing) Ha-ha-ha. (static continues) I apologize in advance, this might be a bad bush bash. It might be a what?

A horrendous bush bash. A horrendous bush bash, which means what? Well, it's a little bit, um... the track is not particularly track-like.

Do you have a trail cut? There was a trail cut at one point. Uh-huh. Okay.

There goes our ride. It will get dark eventually and we'll have to quit, right? So we're climbing this, Captain?

TRACEY

We are. Great. You looking forward to it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, you go first.

SARTORE

As much as I like to whine about it... Is this the nice part of the trail? Yeah, this is the nice part, but there's a giant tree fall area....I'm actually willing to do whatever it takes to get a photograph. (panting) And earlier this year, that meant hijacking my family's European vacation.

We're in beautiful Prague, taking in the sights. Does that look pretty cool, Dad? But my idea of a great tourist attraction... (streetcar bell ringing)...is actually a good zoo.

And this one is home to one of the rarest creatures on earth, a northern white rhino. Nabir's her name and this is her home, the Dvur Kralove Zoo. Imagine that, this two-ton animal that uses endless acres of African savanna, having only lived in a zoo. But if Nabir lived in the wild, she'd probably be dead by now, killed for the horns on her head.

One of five left in the world. One of just five left. Isn't it amazing people will kill these animals just for this? That's it.

It's unbelievable. Unbelievable, isn't it? Worth more than gold now, right? Yes.

For medicine. Unfortunately, yes. They say it's for medicine, but it doesn't have any healing effect. Yeah, it's made from keratin which is actually the substance of our nails.

So if you chew your nails, the consequences would be the same if you swallow rhino horn. Yeah, just for this. This. That's it.

That's why the northern white rhino's going to go extinct. Right there, that's it. Over ten feet long and five feet high, Nabir is one of the biggest animals I've had to photograph. (camera clicks) I'm pretty sure she's bigger than my rental car, so this shoot's going to require the biggest background I have and quite a bit of light wrangling.

I'm lucky to have my trusty and very affordable photo assistant with me. His name is Cole. He works for food. And he's my son.

Could be that we just do that. Yeah. How about that? Okay, so we're going to power this one up.

Nice! No matter where I work, I depend on naturalists, scientists, and keepers to help me get the images for the Photo Ark. Jan was there when Nabir was born 32 years ago, so he knows her favorite foods and how to get her in position. (speaking to Nabir in Czech) It's all about shaping the light, and we've got some work to do here.

Yiri, can you move this ladder down this way a little bit? Colie? Colie? Yes?

It needs to come a whole lot more towards the wall. Towards me. Whole lot more this way. Okay, now twist the light, twist the light so it's pointing more towards me, towards the sound of my voice.

See where she is right now? If we can get her head to lift up right there, we'll get a picture. Nabco... Nabiaa...

Better, but the light on the right isn't edging her yet. Keep it coming my way, the whole light. All the way down to the post. Very nice, Cole, very nice.

Okay, just leave it there. Man, that looks great. I mean, we have a little spotlight of light right on her head. It's really nice.

Better than I thought it would be. What a relief. I'm really honored that I got to come here. It's the best rhino shoot I've ever had, and the worst rhino shoot I've ever had.

You know, it's just pathetically sad, isn't it? And she's pretty old, right, I mean her health isn't great. If enough people know about it I think they'd care and turn things around. Right.

Right. Right. Just eight days after I met her, a cyst in Nabir ruptured and the northern white rhino as a species was down to four. (Nabir's labored breathing) Four months after that, Nola, another female, died at the San Diego zoo.

Today, only three remain, two females and one male. And despite having 24-hour armed protection on a Kenyan preserve, it may be too late for their kind. Still, scientists are working to develop in vitro fertilization techniques to hopefully revive the sub-species. If unsuccessful, the northern white rhino will go extinct in our lifetime.

Extinction is forever. And it's, it's something that's just not tolerable to me. And so, now that I'm out photographing all these animals and seeing animals that are on the cusp of extinction, it just really motivates me to want to photograph every one and announce it to the world and get people to wake up and finally care. So, whenever a zoo opens its doors to me, I have to go.

Car's a little full. Hope you don't mind. I've lined up four other European zoos this summer. Oh, not nice.

KATHY

Wow, it's already full. Hey, you can put things in this thing. Stick that in there.

SARTORE

Okay, who's got a bag I can shove up this whole thing? We're going to go to the Budapest Zoo. Oh, the hilarity that will ensue... Ouch!

KATHY (laughing)

Easy... This is a little ridiculous. That's what you get... should we try it?

Yeah, let's try this. Pressing the button.

ELLEN

Careful. Cross your fingers. (door clicks shut) Yes! Nice.

Oh, it didn't... did it? It did. It's down.

Okay, so now all we gotta get is, like, ten more bags in the car. Can I put this on you? Sure. Okay, good.

That way you don't have to listen to your dad. Can you hear me now? Yes! Okay, Spence?

Go on into the middle.

SARTORE

What is that? That's my bag. Okay, go ahead and have a seat. Just get in there and I'm going to pile these bags on top of you.

All right. You know the good thing, Ellen? I have somewhere to rest my head while I sleep. Yeah, but you know what else?

We're not going very far, only six hours. Goody. I knew that Joel would be working, but I didn't realize how much gear he would need. I didn't realize how small the car would be, and...

So, it's not exactly what I thought it would be. But it's still fun. You ready? Yeah, we're ready.

All right. Let's go to Budapest now. Okay. Do you guys hate me?

(laughing) You do, you totally do. After six hours, we made it to the Budapest Zoo. I have almost 5,000 species or sub-species in the Photo Ark already, and I hope to get number 5,000 here at the Budapest Zoo......the Persian leopard. Is that a boy or a girl leopard?

This big cat was once common in Iran, but today its numbers are estimated to be as low as around 1,000 in the wild. And she's just eaten a rabbit, I see the fur everywhere. Okay, excellent. The next day, the morning's off to a good start.

(banging) With only two more to 5,000. Number 4,999 really wants his 15 minutes... (banging) Oh, yeah... see, we don't want all this....or his food.

(overlapping voices) See, we want all the food out of there, no food on the floor at all. Ah! (Sartore speaking over the banging) We feed one grape at a time. And we toss it, and he goes for that grape and turns around.

This will take him an hour to eat, so we want to pull all the fruit. (speaking in Hungarian) She says, it's about four minutes to eat all of them that is on the floor.

Rule number one about the Photo Ark

Always trust the keeper. Nice, very nice. This is a Syrian brown bear. Brown bears are found throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, but the Syrian brown bear is thought to be extinct in its namesake country.

Even before their civil war, the Syrian brown bear was in deep trouble, so it's no surprise that the bear's last sighting in Syria was more than 50 years ago. She could stand behind me and be right over me. Just get his attention. (keeper calling out to bear in Hungarian) Well, this guy's absolutely wanting to get in here.

(camera clicks) Nothing makes him nervous, so whenever he stops to look up, we'll get him. (camera clicks) This one's nice. He looks sweet. The light's soft and intricate.

We'll do a few more until the grapes run out. This one's good, too. Very nice, and he's looking at the camera,

so mission accomplished

4,999 species. One more to go to get to 5,000. Thanks to a Syrian brown bear. Okay.

Without zoos, the Photo Ark just couldn't exist. And when a zoo really understands the project and goes all out to prep enclosures, like removing a bar to make room for my camera, the payoff can be something even greater than a picture. Tibor has been taking care of this leopard for more than 16 years, so he's been close......but not this close. (Tibor speaking to the leopard)

KEEPER

So he said he hasn't actually been able to pet him like this because the bars are much thinner, so he hasn't actually ever pet him like this, because he can't really fit his hands through the bars. And he knows that he's enjoying it, because he can tell, otherwise he wouldn't be behaving like this. (Tibor speaking to the leopard) Lost power, no power. Okay.

Thanks. I'm sliding back this way, Cole. Can you get the cord up from underneath my feet? Okay, here we go, here we go.

Okay, Cole, knock your light way back. (camera clicks) Persian leopards are among the largest cats in the world. They once ranged all the way from Turkey to Afghanistan. But habitat loss, poaching, and a decimated prey base has made the Persian leopard one of the rarest big cats on earth.

Take your light out and take it around to the outside door, and we'll just side-light this cat, okay? I think it'll be a lot more effective. I need more oomph from you, Colie. Yep.

Need more juice. (camera clicks) How's it going, Joel? Ah, the cat's starting to get annoyed, so our shoot's almost over with. (camera clicks) Knock it down to two.

(camera clicking) Oh, man, that's nice. That is nice. Nice. Good, good.

(camera clicking) What a good cat.

SARTORE

I couldn't have asked for a better shoot.

KEEPER

Can he go outside? Yep, he can go outside, just don't open this one. That would be bad. (door scraping) Okay, I'm ready.

(metal scraping) Okay, good, good. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Okay. I got 5,000 and it looked fantastic.

Really good. Is this floor all covered with leopard pee, I hope? Ah... that feels better.

Ooh, that's nice. Okay. Okay, I get out of this one, too, right? Ten years to get to 5,000 species.

Ten years. That's a long time. So, maybe if I go another ten to 15 years, if I can last that long. I mean physically.

Mentally, I'll last, but physically, I need to last another 15 years to get this done. So we'll see, but 5,000's a big deal. It's a big deal. And 5,000 is enough to show the variety of life on earth already.

We just want to put a real fine point on it and show as many species as we can because half of everything I photograph will be extinct, we think, by 2100. Half of everything I've ever photographed will be gone for good. Zoos, the wild, you name it. So, this is a really important day.

And I'm hungry and it's time for lunch. The ark may be filling up with species, but that's also how many we're pushing to the brink. For me, though, losing hope is not an option. And places like New Zealand, where they're working hard to save the rowi kiwi, show me why I shouldn't.

(panting)

TRACEY

How you doing, Joel? You all good? You do this every day for a living? (laughing) This is ungodly beautiful, but...

oh, my God. Straight up and down. It's all slimy, but it's beautiful. It is a pretty forest.

Be a good forest to lay down and die in, too. Okay. Some people pay real money to do stuff like this. You made it.

Is this the top? This is the top. Oh, my God. This is the official top.

(panting) This is the top of the mountain? Success. (coughing) Success? We haven't even found the bird yet.

Oh, my God. We're most of the way there, though. We are? Hopefully.

Good. Do you think the folks at home seeing this will think I'm a weenie? (laughing) Because I am. I admit it.

I knew I shouldn't have brought that camera bag. But then what's the point? Exactly. (static) It's pretty faint, but there's a wee beep in there.

Oh, God. This is all your fault. (laughing) (static continues) Can you hear that? I hear static.

In the background, there's a faint beep. And how far away is that faint beep? Quite far. Oh, God.

This is like that Blair Witch Hunt movie, but with an accent. (Tracey laughing) (static) A really faint beep over that way, so I think if we head along the ridge that way......we'll find him.

SARTORE

The eggs we're after belong to one of more than 100 birds unique to New Zealand, including the eggs of this rarity, the rowi kiwi. So, why is that? Why is New Zealand home to so many amazing birds, some of which don't even fly anymore? More than 80 million years ago, the islands of New Zealand had almost no mammalian land predators.

No bear or deer or foxes... nothing with four legs and warm blood was stirring. Literally, not even a mouse. But there were plenty of birds.

And their main predators were other birds. Flying ones. With few ground-dwelling predators and plenty of food, some birds lost their ability to fly altogether. 80 million years of evolution created an ecosystem with 32 flightless bird species, more than any other place in the world.

There were 10-foot tall birds called moas, the world's heaviest parrot, takahe, weka, millions of kiwi birds. Together, they owned the forest floor. Some of these bird species needed a source of protein to survive. And they preyed on critters like bugs.

Really big bugs. Yeah, I'm very excited about these wetas. I think they're awesome and very interesting. You have to have something in an ecosystem that eats leaf litter and consumes plant material as it hits the forest floor.

Instead of mice, these guys are the ones that scavenge all the plant life off the forest floor. So these wetas are the New Zealand version of mice. They're really important. Okay, cue the weta.

So, these are wetas, huh? These are Cook Strait giant weta. We've got a male and a female. These are basically big, flightless grasshoppers, right?

Yeah. Look at how big, wow. And they're sweet? Yeah, they...

They don't bite? They don't bite. They are herbivores. And they took the place of mice.

Yeah, essentially. Gentle creatures. What they have is, they have defense mechanism, they have these spikes on their legs. Now, these aren't rare, are they?

These are rare, yeah. Are they really? They are very rare, yeah. Predation by rats and mice.

And they've lost their ability to fly, like a lot of birds here in New Zealand. Oh, yeah, yeah. They're essentially large crickets. And they're so large, in fact, we put transmitters on them when we first introduced them.

So, we're ready. Okay. Let's try white first. On the white?

Sure. Look at that, that's perfect. You've styled wetas before, haven't you? Yeah.

All right. Can I move them a little? Yeah. They're interesting looking.

I am trying to... oh, look at that. The defense mechanism. Oh, awesome!

That's interesting. (camera clicks) By putting his spikey back legs up, the weta appears much more threatening-- and probably less tasty-looking-- to potential predators. If they go on black, we can get them on black. Watch him, they can move reasonably quick when they get their mind to it.

I'll get him. You got him? Yeah, I got him. He's hanging onto my finger.

Ouch, ouch. There you go, there you go. (camera clicks) That is a cool behavior, isn't it? She thinks I am going to eat her?

She got you now, right? Hooks, yeah... What's that feel like? Oh, it just feels like she's...

Thorns on a rosebush, basically. Yeah, no, not even that. Really, really quite delicate, so you have to be real careful with them. There you go.

The wetas' finely honed defense mechanisms were no match for what was to come. About a thousand years ago, a predatory land mammal showed up-- us. With humans came rats, weasels, cats, dogs, even the house mouse-- basically, a lot of invasive species with a taste not only for weta, but birds and their eggs. The forest floor was no longer safe, and in no time at all, many bird species went extinct, or close to it, including the kakapo, the rarest flightless bird in the world.

To me, its face looks more like a mammal than a bird, and amazingly, it can live as long as we do-- up to 80 years. Weighing close to ten pounds, the world's largest and heaviest parrot had to figure out a way to hide. As it stopped flying, it learned to freeze......put its camouflage feathers to work, and let its predators go hungry. With just 154 left, there's only one I'm allowed to photograph.

He answers to Sirocco, and today, he's at Zealandia in Wellington, New Zealand, where I'll have an opportunity to add him to the ark. He travels all over the country to meet his fans. You could say he's New Zealand's wildlife ambassador. He even has his own Twitter account.

So you can imagine the care that's taken with him. Alisha, do you also have disinfecting agent? VC, VC, from Alisha. Can I get a copy, over?

Alisha is a conservation department ranger and has been his carekeeper for the past five years. His health and safety is her priority. They can't risk losing him to some kind of infection, so they clean anything that enters his enclosure. And I've never, ever had to clean these lights so thoroughly before.

It's just all part of the quarantine ritual that happens with any interaction or gear that's potentially going in near Sirocco. It's almost like going into an intensive-care unit. Can I set this light somewhere? Yeah, yeah, just a minute.

Is it one size fits all, maybe?

ALISHA

I'm sure you'll be fine. Okay. Also, just gel your hands once you're all suited up. Okay.

Okay, yeah, this is better. We're going to go in with Sirocco the kakapo. "Kakapaw." Kakapu? "Kakapaw." Think of a car, car that you drive.

Cah. And the paw of a cat. Paw-wuh. Cah-cah-paw-wuh.

Is that it? Yeah, kakapo. Yeah, it's better than... Okay, I'm...

It's better. I'll remember that for about three seconds. I'll keep reminding you-- is that all right? They have such a, such a beautiful word, kakapo.

It's not that, it's not really that hard. Kakapo. Yeah, that's perfect-- perfect. That is the only time I'll get that right.

Perfect Maori word, yep. If I had to do this for every shoot, the Photo Ark would have ended years ago. No, this is a very special case, and... (laugh) Yeah, it's a...

It's a lot of work for a parrot, but he's a great parrot, so that's why we're here. Hey, mate. Look at this, Sirocco. Want some of this?

Where do you want the light, though? (whispers): There he is.

SARTORE

He's sweet. We're going to set it up to the left over there. Sirocco, buddy. It's all right, mate.

So he's curious, that's good. And then this goes... Is there a bit that it screws onto, or does it sit...? I'll be back here now, way back.

What's he think? Is he bored? No, he seems all right, actually. He's just really hungry, I think.

What are you feeding him? So it's just walnuts. (camera clicking) Way that way, where the light is. You're a good caretaker, you know that?

That's my job. And he's my mate, as well, you know? Like, I want to look out for him. Wherever I shoot for the Photo Ark, the one thing that's clear is how keepers and the animals they care for are actually like family.

Have you worked with him more than anybody else? Yeah, this is year five.

ALISHA

He'll outlive me as well, which is the scary thing. Will he, really? Yeah, these guys could live potentially for 100 years. He's only 18.

He's going to jump. Sirocco! Just when I got the light right.

SARTORE

Sirocco's decided the shoot is over, but our meeting isn't. You're a good boy, Sirocco. You're a good boy. He can see himself.

He nibbled my finger a little. Did he? He did. He's a sweet boy.

That's nice. He's a sweet boy. Even though Sirocco doesn't seem to mind me, this is about all I got for now, and it's just not good enough. I'm coming back for another shoot tomorrow night, because I just have to get him in the ark.

Sirocco wouldn't be alive if not for this remarkable island. He was born here, and nearly half of the kakapo left on the planet live here. It's called Codfish Island. 40 years ago, New Zealand cleared this island of invasive predators and brought the kakapo back from near-extinction.

They've come a long way from the 1970s, when the kakapo recovery team knew of only 18 males. (kakapo screeching) Yes. Today, the birds receive annual health check-ups, where they get inspected from ear to claw. That's great.

They also check each bird's transmitter so they can keep tabs on them. "Gulliver"-- it's got your name. Doesn't want to go in there. Doesn't want to go in there.

He said, "I'm not getting pulled out of there twice." By day, when kakapos sleep, this island could pass for any other. By night, and during the mating season, things play to a different tune. (low pulsing sound) Male kakapo don't advertise with a song and dance, more like a beat. (pulsing continues) The males have these air sacs in their chests that they fill up, kind of like bagpipes.

Then they sound off. These foghorns aren't to warn other males away. Quite the opposite. Groups of males collectively choose a central location, then dig out boom bowls, basins thought to amplify their sound.

Booms can be heard miles away, drawing in females who are lured to the bird that booms the best. Mating isn't an annual affair, though. That's because it turns out that females respond more to a tree than their male counterparts. That's right, a tree.

The females wait for the island's rimu trees to fruit, and only when there's a bumper crop do they choose to mate and lay eggs. (kakapo grunting) With kakapo numbers so low, it's crucial to find out what the connection is between rimu fruit and the female's decision to reproduce. Researchers suspect that kakapo fertility is linked to a vitamin crucial to reproduction. The kakapo is nocturnal, which means it has minimal exposure to the sun, an important source of vitamin D.

ANDREW

Kakapo have got really low Vitamin D levels, and it seems unnaturally low. We're not sure whether that is just a natural feature of kakapo or whether there's some, perhaps, aspect of our management which makes them have the low Vitamin D levels.

SARTORE

Vitamin D helps absorb calcium, essential for building eggshells and growing bones. So one theory is that the females only mate when they know they can get enough vitamin D, something found in their favorite food.

ANDREW

The food they feed their chicks, the ripe rimu fruit, is extremely high in Vitamin D. That's a Vitamin D superfood. So there's this contrast between the really rich food that they feed their chicks and the really low levels of Vitamin D themselves. So we're trying to understand whether there's a reason for the low fertility that we have in kakapo.

SARTORE

This research could be critical to figuring out how to increase fertility in kakapo, and in turn help grow their population. Creating the Photo Ark hasn't been just about taking pictures. It's also been about bringing attention to the frontlines of new science, science that might help save a species, and meeting animals I never thought I would. Tonight, I get to go on my second date with one, and already this is way better than last night.

ALISHA

Sirocco. Sirocco. Good boy!

SARTORE

Just a little more eye contact and we're done. Sirocco, Sirocco. Couple more, mate. Sirocco, Sirocco.

And that's it.

ALISHA

Cool.

SARTORE

That's it, thank you.

ALISHA

All right.

SARTORE

What I've constantly been reminded of in New Zealand is how hard it is to bring a species back from the brink. And it's not just the kakapo they're trying to save, it's all their native species. Like the rowi kiwi. Hope I'm in the right spot.

I've come to the West Coast Wildlife Center, on the South Island of New Zealand, to learn more about why this species is so endangered and to add it to the Photo Ark. Nice, all done with that. This is, um, not a very glamorous life. This is four pieces of my seafood pizza last night from where I stayed.

This is breakfast. Never had seafood pizza with clam on it before, cold. Yeah, I save a lot of money doing things this way. I often eat last night's dinner for breakfast to save money.

It's kind of pathetic. (laughs) You have to have a little conviction or you couldn't do this. You have to know you're right, you're doing the right thing, that it's worth devoting your entire life. I think it is, pretty sure it is.

You're gone a lot for this, all the time. It's just like being on assignment for National Geographic magazine, you're gone a big part of the year, so you miss birthdays and try not to miss many holidays. But, on Sunday we moved my... I didn't, my wife moved my daughter into college, moved her down to the dorm.

I wasn't there for that, yet again. But... (sighs) I don't know. I mean, to me if it's a choice between getting an animal preserved for all time that the world will never see again because it's really close to extinction and moving my daughter into the dorm, I'm going to choose the animal.

I have to, and they understand that. I have to do that. Good morning!

MAN AND WOMAN

Good morning!

MAN

Photo session? We're with National Geographic and we are waiting for... These folks! Here we are.

How are you? Joel-- nice to see you. Thanks for having us! Hello!

Ready. You've got a caf here. Do you sell seafood pizza? No, we do not.

It's awful good.

SARTORE

When they're not hosting photographers, Kim and Catherine are busy incubating and hatching kiwi eggs. Okay, so do I talk funny? Do I sound funny the way I talk? No, we're...

You're from the States, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah, no, we're used to it. We get a lot of American television, so...

Really? Yeah, but we probably talk funny to you. Yeah, say the word "no." No. Naw-er.

No. Nur. (laughs) "No," it's just "no." There's no R on it. No.

Can you say the word "no"? Even the word "egg..."

CATHERINE

Egg, yeah, people laugh at that all the time. (Catherine and Sartore repeating "egg") Because I say the word "egg" a hundred times a day, but... Kiwi egg. (Kim and Catherine laugh)

SARTORE

Do you want to wash this off at all?

CATHERINE

We'll give it a spray and wipe with TriGene.

SARTORE

Just like we did with the kakapo, we take every precaution with the rowi kiwi.

CATHERINE

Yeah, it's a little bit nervous, just because we don't know how the birds will react. But it's really exciting to get the kind of publicity, because a lot of people don't know that much about kiwi, definitely don't know that there are several species, and definitely don't know about this particular species. So it's going to be really nice to get them, get them out there and...

SARTORE

What percentage of people, I wonder, worldwide, would know that the kiwi is something other than a fruit? I have actually had someone say to me, "I'm allergic to kiwi fruit. Am I going to be okay around the birds?" And then I had to explain that they're not a plant. So there is definitely a little bit of confusion going on out there.

KIM

Stand up, buddy.

SARTORE

Kiwi are flightless and are the only bird in the world to have adapted nostrils at the end of their bill. It helps them smell and feel for food underground. Their long beaks tap the ground, probing for and retrieving insects. Their feathers are built for a ground game, as well.

Loose and less aerodynamic than their flying relatives, kiwi plumage looks more like fur than feather. It worked out, ladies.

KIM

Awesome.

SARTORE

But focusing on the forest floor and not being able to fly has cost them in the long run.

KIM

So this is our stuffed stoat. And so this little guy, that's causing a lot of the trouble. This thing. Where are they from originally?

CATHERINE

Europe.

SARTORE

Wow. It's a mustelid, it's in the weasel family. And that little bitty thing has led to the ruination of some... To the extinction of birds here, not just...

Definitely. So people brought in rabbits, and then the rabbits got overpopulated, so they brought in stoats. And then the stoats just cleaned the clock of everything here. Exactly.

Biggest threat to New Zealand native wildlife. That's it. Wow. It's not much, is it?

But it's, but it's everything. Stoat, weasel, whatever you want to call it, it's one of the world's most destructive invasive species. These guys are in a land they don't belong in, and they're great at killing flightless birds. But it's not fair to blame them.

We brought them here, so people like Tracey are out here collecting rowi kiwi eggs before those weasels can eat them. We've got a nice, strong signal, which is good. How far? Maybe about 40 meters.

Excellent. Yeah. (Sartore grunts) (softly): Did you find it? You can see them both?

Are they close? Oh, yeah. (camera clicking) Yeah. (water pouring) Wow.

Yes. (kiwi grunting) (grunting) Hey, sh, sh. (camera clicking) That was amazing. That's so cool.

Yeah, that's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Okay. (laugh) Hallelujah. There's the boat.

The eggs that Tracey and others collect go on to Kim and Catherine, who will help them hatch. The chicks fly, on an airplane, to a predator-free island, grow up carefree, and return to the forest where Tracey first found them when they're big enough to defend themselves from invasive species. The egg I saw Tracey lift from the nest hatched, but didn't make it back to this forest. But 50 others did, and the growing population is now between 400 and 500.

When it comes to rare animals, the rowi kiwi is a rarer success story and a perfect example of what makes New Zealand's natural history unique and worth saving. Some very special creatures boarded the Photo Ark on this trip, many of which I never thought I'd get to in time. Their images have been put to work, displayed in some surprising places, showing millions of people what we stand to lose while we still have the time to save them. My job has some real highs and lows.

I've seen icons on the brink of extinction. But I've also seen underdogs beating the odds. (exclaiming)

WOMAN

Oh, I see it!

SARTORE

That's why I do this. I know some of my photographs can make a difference. So I'll do my part. I'll pack my bags again and go in search of the next rare creature.

And do you have names for these sections, like this section's called "Living Hell" and this one is "I Wish I Was Dead"? Well, we do for some of them, but I probably shouldn't say it on camera. Okay. Do you need anybody to just watch the boat for you while you go get the eggs?

Miles is going to watch the boat. Dammit. All right, okay. (laughing) Rare-- Creatures of the Photo Ark is available on Blu-ray and DVD.

Joel Sartore's book The Photo Ark is also available. To order, visit shopPBS.org, or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS. This program is also available for download on iTunes. Visit our website to see more about this program at PBS.org.

Oh, my God. Be a good forest to lay down and die in. (coughing) (panting) Do you think the folks at home seeing this will think I'm a weenie? (laughing)