National Geographic photographer, Joel Sartore started the Photo Ark in 2006 when he was homebound in Lincoln, Nebraska caring for his sick wife and their three children. In order to continue working, he decided to photograph some of the animals at the Children's Zoo near his home. This led him to create what he called a Photo Ark recording images of 12,000 species in captivity as a way to promote animal conservation. The 25-year project has received worldwide acclaim and has grown toward the current goal of recording images of 25,000 species.