Photograph by Beverly Joubert
Photograph by Mark Thiessen
Dereck and Beverly Joubert are award-winning filmmakers from Botswana who have been Explorers-in-Residence for over four years. Their mission is the conservation and understanding of the large predators and key African wildlife species that determine the course of all conservation in Africa.
They have been filming, researching, and exploring in Africa for over 25 years. Their coverage of unique predator behavior has resulted in 22 films, 10 books, six scientific papers, and many articles for National Geographic magazine. This body of work has resulted in five Emmys, a Peabody, the World Ecology Award, and the recent induction into the American Academy of Achievement.
Beverly Joubert also is an acclaimed photographer, and many of her photographs have appeared in National Geographic magazine. Filmmaking for them has always been a way to bring the message of conservation to audiences, and it is estimated that one of their films, Eternal Enemies, has been seen by over a billion viewers. Their recent expansion into conservation tourism via their new company, Great Plains, is a venture into community/conservation partnerships in Africa, and Great Plains has received awards for responsible tourism in London and South Africa.
It is the Jouberts’ belief that while some areas need the wilderness to be maintained in isolation, other areas will disappear unless viable, extremely-light-ecological-footprint (low-volume, high-cost) benefits are generated for communities. This year they added land in Tanzania, Kenya and an exciting new project in Rwanda, bringing the total amount of impacted conservation land to about 1.5 million acres. These projects all aim to rehabilitate the environment and return these vast tracts of land to nature.
Their major effort today is in establishing the Big Cats Initiative with National Geographic as an emergency action fund to drive the world’s attention to big cats and to develop real solutions to stop the decline that has seen lion numbers drop from 450,000 to 20,000 in 50 years.
“We no longer have the luxury of time when it comes to big cats,” says Dereck. “They are in such a downward spiral that if we hesitate now, we will be responsible for extinctions across the globe. If there was ever a time to take action, it is now.”
Derek and Beverly's Blog Posts
- The Last Lions – Safari Interactive Travel Magazine Interview
- 60 Minutes Films with us.
- Botswana: On Safari in the Okavango and Kalahari
- New Fine Art Prints
- Big Cats Initiative
- Jouberts Film ‘The Last Lions’
- Care 2 Cause – Big Cat Week
- Wall Street Journal review of “The Last Lions”
- Ten Grants That Illuminated the World
- Jouberts’ love of lions on display during ‘Big Cat Week’
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Support My Project
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The Big Cats Initiative
From lions in Kenya to snow leopards in the Himalaya, the big cats of the world need help. Lions, tigers, cheetahs, leopards, jaguars, and other top felines are quickly disappearing, all victims of habitat loss and degradation as well as conflicts with humans.
Inside National Geographic Magazine
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Raising a Leopard
Teaching a spirited cub to survive in the wilds of Botswana takes all the skill and patience a mother leopard can muster.
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Killer Pride
Dereck and Beverly Joubert discuss a wildlife relationship that could easily be thrown off balance.
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Joubert Field Notes
Dereck and Beverly Joubert discuss their field work for National Geographic magazine's "Botswana's Lions" feature article.
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Protecting Predators
Dereck and Beverly Joubert have devoted their lives to the belief that big cats matter. Here's why.
Education
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Explorers Recommend
Explorers recommend fiction and non-fiction books for children, young adults, and students.
In the News
In Their Words
We no longer have the luxury of time when it comes to big cats.
—Dereck Joubert
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Videos
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Big Cat Odyssey
Award-winning filmmakers and National Geographic explorers Dereck and Beverly Joubert set out 30 years ago on a quest to get close to big cats.
Photos
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Photo: Killer Pride
Rarely witnessed behavior marks the predator-prey relationship of a pride of lions and a herd of Cape buffalo.
Audio
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00:11:00 Dereck and Beverly Joubert
National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert capture astounding images of African wildlife in their beautiful films. The Jouberts live in the African bush alongside the lions and other animals they profile. They explain to Boyd that, because big cats are in such danger, their work is now focused on conservation projects such as the Cause an Uproar program.
Our Explorers in Action
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