Paul A. Zahl

Paul Arthur Zahl (1910 Bensenville, Illinois – Oct. 16, 1985 Greenwich, Connecticut) was an explorer and biologist. He was a frequently published author and columnist as well as a respected photographer. He served as senior scientist to the National Geographic Society from 1958 to 1975.

Zahl was an honors graduate of North Central College in Illinois, received his doctorate in experimental biology from Harvard University in 1936, and immediately became notable in cancer research at Haskins Laboratories.

However, he became increasingly interested in natural history. In 1939, Zahl wrote his first book, "To the Lost World", about a trip he took to Mt. Roraima in Venezuela. This interest led to research at New York's Museum of Natural History, and Zahl published "Blindness: Modern Approaches to the Unseen Environment" (1950), "Flamingo Hunt" (1952), and "Coro-Coro: World of the Scarlet Ibis" (1954).

In the 1950s, Zahl began to concentrate on his writing and photography career with National Geographic, serving as senior scientist of natural history for the National Geographic Society from 1958 to 1975. He always chose his subject matter rather than having it assigned, and all article photography was taken by him personally. His subject matters included coral reefs, volcanoes, giant frogs, carnivorous plants, seahorses, scorpions, man-of-war jellyfish, piranhas, hatchetfish, butterflies, and slime molds. Zahl discovered the tallest redwood tree known at the time in the mid-sixties, which made the magazine's cover. Zahl also photographed the world's first known albino gorilla in Africa.

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