New Wildlife Project - ‘New Big 5' Of Wildlife Photography Revealed

Photographer and project founder Graeme Green reveals results of global poll to find the most popular endangered wild animals to photograph

- Graeme Green

An old hunting term for the five most-prized and dangerous animals for trophy hunters in Africa to shoot and kill, ‘The Big 5’ comprises elephant, rhino, leopard, Cape buffalo and lion. As both a photographer and a wildlife lover, I think photography is a far better way to celebrate animals than killing them. That’s why I launched a global initiative in April 2020 to create a ‘New Big 5’ of wildlife photography – shooting with a camera, not with a gun.

Wildlife lovers around the world were invited to vote on the New Big 5 website for their five favourite animals to photograph or to see in photos. The idea behind the project was to get people thinking and talking about wildlife, and to focus attention on the global wildlife crisis.

More than a million species of animals and plants are currently at risk of extinction, according to the United Nations. We made the New Big 5 website a hub to highlight issues like habitat loss, poaching and climate change, and also ideas and solutions to protect wildlife, from cutting-edge tech to community projects to rewilding. And the results are now in.

The five animals chosen for the New Big 5 of wildlife photography are elephants, polar bears, tigers, gorillas and lions, all of which face serious threats to their existence. All five species are listed by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) as endangered or vulnerable.