Jeffrey Flocken

President, Humane Society International

“While I’ve spent most of my conservation career focused on protecting well-known and highly charismatic animals like elephants, koalas, giraffes, jaguars, gorillas, whales and lions, I am most passionate about the oddities of the wild kingdom. Show me a photo of nature’s true unicorn, the narwhal, a bulgy-eyed slow loris, the prehistoric-looking deadly cassowary, a beautifully coiffed brown hyena, angelic floating leafy sea dragons, or a dancing Coquerel’s sifaka, and my heart will start beating faster. 

So for that reason, my number one animal for wildlife photography is the elusive and entirely unique pangolin.  Whether they are curled up tightly like a soccer ball with razor-sharp scales, or walking upright like a mini-Godzilla terrorizing frantic ant colonies, pangolins are fascinating on every level. They are the ambling artichokes of their ecosystems, and more than worthy of a wildlife photographer’s attention.”

Photo by Humane Society International USA