Photographers are Redefining What it is to Shoot the "Big Five" Animals
The "New Big 5" project is using photography to raise awareness about the crisis facing the world's wildlife.
The "big five" is a term coined by big-game hunters to describe the five most dangerous species to hunt on foot in Africa: the lion, rhino, buffalo, elephant, and leopard. But now, a photography project is helping to re-shape the meaning of the ‘big five’ by encouraging people to shoot wildlife with a camera, not a gun.
The "New Big 5" project aims to use photography to inspire conservation while raising awareness about the crisis facing the world's wildlife, such as habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict, poaching, illegal wildlife trade, and climate change.
"A million species, from iconic animals down to obscure frogs and birds, could die out in our lifetimes, all caused by human activity," said photographer Graeme Green, who founded the project. "That means that humans are able to change and fix the problem too."
Since launching in April 2020, more than 50,000 people from around the world have voted for the animals they want to see in the New Big 5 wildlife photography list. The chosen animals are elephants, polar bears, gorillas, tigers and lions.
All of the five species in the New Big 5 are keystone species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as either critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable.
The new Big 5 are “not just some of the most beautiful, incredible animals on the planet” but also all “face serious threats to their existence”, said Greene. They “are the tip of the iceberg. They stand for all the creatures on the planet, so many of which are in danger.”
The new initiative is backed by more than 250 of the world’s wildlife photographers, as well as leading wildlife charities and renowned conservationists , including Born Free, Greenpeace, and Jane Goodall.
Green says he will continue to raise awareness of conservation issues, and has ambitions to produce a photography book on the New Big 5, featuring the work of the international photographers involved with the project, with the profits going to wildlife charities.
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The footage was reportedly recorded at Marshall BioResources in North Rose, New York, where up to 22,000 dogs - mostly beagles - are being bred for animal experimentation.