George Schaller
In May 2024, just shy of 91, Schaller visited jaguar conservationists working on the border where the New World’s only great cat used to cross freely from Mexico into a range that stretched from California to Texas. I was invited to join by Beth Wald, a photographer who traveled with George many times in central Asia and Latin America; and Turtle Southern, who helped establish the Northern Jaguar Reserve in Sonora, MX and is now with the Rewilding Institute.
The world’s greatest wildlife biologist, George Schaller, in conversation with writer Miriam Horn (biographer) and Ullas Karanth.
In her research for Homesick for a World Unknown, the first biography of George Schaller, Miriam Horn had unique, direct access and interviews with George Schaller. This gallery of images is a selection from the materials Schaller shared. Images are © their respective owners.
George Schaller has devoted his life to understanding and protecting Earth’s most feared and reviled creatures.
Three generations of scientists, many of whom now lead research and conservation across China, India, Pakistan, Mongolia, Iran and Brazil, got their first field experience alongside Schaller.
Schaller worked in 32 countries but dedicated himself above all to the wilds of Asia, rich in biodiversity but least attended to by Western science.
Over six decades, Schaller made the first field studies and championed conservation of the world’s most charismatic mammals. Many survive only thanks to his work.