Rui Bernardino (Beja, 1979, Portugal) has graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Évora (DVM, 2003). He is a Zoo Veterinarian, Director of the Veterinary and Zoological Department (2022) at the Lisbon Zoo and an Invited Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (ULHT-FMV) (2007). He is particularly interested in Surgery and Minimal Invasive Surgery in Zoo Animals and author of international publications and lectures in this field. As the Veterinary Advisor for the Persian Leopard EEP (Ex-situ Program) of the EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria), he has been working directly with the Conservation of the Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana). In parallel, he has been developing his work as a photographer. He frequented the Kameraphoto photographic collective mentorship course (Lisbon, 2013) and his works were exhibited in: Africa (Cultural Center, Beja, 2012), In absentia (Kgaleria, Lisbon, 2013), Beja (Cultural Center, Beja, 2016), Lugares com História (Street exhibition, Beja, 2017). He dedicated to a main project 2016-2024 "Through the Eyes of the Leopard" covering Caucasus ecoregion.