A collection of stunning images taken by a wildlife photographer have revealed what life really is like in the animal kingdom.
From pouty penguins to nosy orangutans, Sean Crane has captured various creatures, traveling from India to Uganda and Croatia to observe them in their natural habitat.
Alongside the candid shots of the animals are other photos of Mr. Crane, whose ‘daily job’, as he describes it as an advertising executive, working alongside conservationists.
In addition to traveling to every continent to capture images of exotic animals, the Connecticut-based photographer also spent a year driving across the US to visit animals closer to home.
The following collection of animal portraits was taken in the rainforests of Indonesia, Madagascar, and Borneo, home to some of the planet’s most endangered species.
There are also chirping penguins in the Falkland Islands and regal cheetahs as they roam the conservation parks in Kenya.
A bearded piglet poses for a portrait in Borneo. The species is the only native wild pig on the island and is typically found in its rainforestsA diademed sifaka hangs upside down from a tree in Madagascar, its yellow and grey fur unmissable from a distance. The species is critically endangered with very few of its kind found at one timeA red-bellied lemur hugs a tree in Madagascar, its bright brown eyes opened wide for the portrait. The animal can normally be found foraging at all levels of the rainforestA black and white ruffed lemur hugs a tree in Madagascar. The animal is easily recognized by its wide amber eyes. It is rarer than its counterpart, the red-ruffed lemur, also found in the island’s rainforests
A surprised-looking leaf-tailed gecko opens wide for the camera in Madagascar. It is considered the smallest species of gecko in the world with adults typically measuring between three and six inches in lengthA nosy orangutan stretches out towards Mr. Crane’s camera in the Tanjung Putting National Park in Indonesia. The species is threatened by rapid deforestation across South East AsiaA Black Crested Macaque bares its fangs for the camera in Tangkoko National Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Black-crested macaques are critically endangered with an estimated 5,000 remaining in the wildA dough-eyed deer is taken by surprise as it finds a quiet spot to rest in the Madagascan wild. As well as dense rainforest there is an abundance of wildlife in the island’s drier patches
An angry Rockhopper penguin squawks towards Mr. Crane’s lens at The Rookery on Saunders Island, one of the Falkland IslandsA lazy Juvenile Northern Elephant Seal looks woefully down the camera as it rests on washed-up reeds on a beach in central CaliforniaA sad-looking baby sea lion on the shores of the Galapagos Islands. The species is classed as vulnerable because it can mostly only be found on the archipelagoLooking menacingly at the photographer’s lens, a marine iguana clutches onto salty rocks for his portrait in the Galapagos Islands. Its grey and blue scales are the perfect camouflage in its dark and watery habitatA juvenile Southern Elephant Seal takes in the view at Carcass Island on the Falkland Islands. Males weigh eight to ten times what females do – the largest weight difference between sexes in the animal kingdomA proud cheetah poses calmly for this extraordinarily close-up portrait in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya. The vast wildlife park is home to 10 of the species alongside rhinos, lions and birdsMr. Crane helps as a mother orangutan grooms her young in the Borneo rainforest. The photographer has travelled to all seven continents to capture exotic wildlife in its natural habitatThe advertising executive also traveled the U.S. and lived out of the back of his car to compile one gallery. Above, he strokes the head of a confident wild cheetah on the bonnet of his jeep in Kenya
