There are few things more fascinating than the diversity of the animal kingdom-and it's a wonder under immense threat. The latest figures estimate that 60 percent of all animal populations on our planet have been wiped out in the last 50 years.

Pedro Jarque Krebs, a multi-award-winning wildlife photographer, focuses his lens on this fragile natural world to draw attention to its precarious situation. His photographs aim to break down the psychological and emotional barriers that separate us from our fellow creatures, capturing every animal-whether a bird, a reptile, or a big cat-in an atmosphere of breathtaking intimacy. Beautiful and humbling, his images give the animals their full and due dignity. They remind us that we are not the center of the universe, and that our most important project is to protect the intricate ecosystem of which we are just a small, constituent part.