A Couple Traveled To 33 Countries Photographing Every Wild Cat On Earth

Sebastian Kennerknecht and Rachel Tobias had their first date searching for bobcats. That was not an accident — Kennerknecht had already spent years as a wildlife conservation photographer with a particular obsession with wild cats, and when he realized in 2024 that he had photographed 30 of the world's 40 wild cat species, the two of them decided to go for all 40. Together, across 33 countries on five continents, they have now photographed 39 of them, capturing images of lions in Zambia, jaguars in Brazil, snow leopards in Kyrgyzstan, Borneo Bay cats in Malaysia, Andean mountain cats in Argentina, rusty-spotted cats in India, and dozens of others. One species remains. They are not saying which one yet.

The work is not just about completing a list. Of the world's 40 wild cat species, 33 are considered relatively unknown to the general public — the small and medium-sized cats that don't appear on safari brochures or conservation fundraising posters but are sliding quietly toward extinction regardless. Kennerknecht and Tobias run cat expedition tours through catexpeditions.com, taking small groups into the field to observe and photograph wild cats in their natural habitats, with no baiting, no luring, and no interference with the animals. They are partnered with Panthera, the world's leading wild cat conservation organisation. A single photograph of a Borneo Bay cat — one of the rarest wild cats on Earth — raised $120,000 for conservation efforts. Their project website, chasingwildcats.com, documents every species photographed so far. The couple whose first date was looking for a bobcat in the American wilderness is now one wild cat away from making history.

Source:https://nicenews.com/environment/couple-travels-world-to-photograph-all-wild-cat-species/