A young Hawksbill Turtle from Réunion Island off the eastern coast of Madagascar (although the Hawksbill resides in nearly every ocean in the world).

Animals featured in

Vanishing Whispers

Hawksbill Turtle; ancient mariner; guardian of the reefs in nearly every oceans.

Amur Leopard; the wild spirit of Siberian forests; fading from the frozen east.

A captive Amur Leopard at the Colchester Zoo, England.

Saola; mystical presence; a living myth of Vietnam’s shrouded highlands.

One of the only known photographs of a living Saola, the "Asian Unicorn," from 2010. This adult male was captured by fascinated villagers in Laos and, weakened from the ordeal of several days in captivity, died.

Western Lowland Gorilla; gentle giant; monarch of the Congo’s dense undergrowth.

A female Western Lowland Gorilla measuring depth of water with a branch at Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in northern Republic of the Congo, an example of tool use in gorillas.

Eastern Lowland Gorilla; tranquil clans of kindred souls; home torn for minerals serving technology’s bright lights.

Male silverback and juvenile Eastern Lowland Gorillas in Kahuzi-Biéga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Cross River Gorilla; sacred guardian of Cameroon’s forests; just 25 souls remain.

Nyango, the only known Cross River Gorilla in captivity in the world, was rescued in 1994 from poachers who had killed her mother when she was two and half years old. She died on October 10, 2016. Her name is the Duala word for "mother."

Sumatran Rhino; a voice that carries, deep and strong; weaver of tales with verdant strands.

A Sumatran Rhinoceros named Ratu (the Indonesian word for “Queen”) lies next to her newborn calf in 2016 in the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia.

Sumatran Tiger; apex predator; stripéd symbol of wilderness and majesty.

A Sumatran Tiger in captivity at the Tierpark Berlin.

Sumatran Elephant; cultural icon of might; colossal nomad of the shrinking wilderness.

A Sumatran Elephant cow and her calf in Tesso Nilo National Park in Indonesia.

Sumatran Orangutan; arboreal heart of the island; facing the twilight of its realm.

Bornean Orangutan; the wise old one of the jungle; contemplating the vanishing tropics.

Tapanuli Orangutan; philosopher kin; elder of the forested realms.

L to R: Bornean, Sumatran, and Tapanuli Orangutans (all males).

African Forest Elephant; sovereign of the silent grove; icon of ancestral memory.

A family of African Forest Elephants in the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve wetlands in the Central African Republic.

Vaquita; fragile wraith of the gulf; entangled in nets not meant for them.

A Vaquita that has been accidentally caught, trapped, and drowned in a gillnet in the Gulf of California. Adults grow to just under five feet in length.

Yangtze Finless Porpoise; the joyful “river piglet”; casualty of the currents of humanity’s progress.