I hope you're getting some good advice out of this all Sam!

Both bring up good points and advice. Obviously there is no "right way" to go about finding work and jobs, or everyone would be a professional photographer. Learn from the advice and experiences of others (above included) and take the advice you think is best and most helpful to you. Not everything will work for you, but a lot can be applicable.

My last note, which I think was great advice from the above two, is that apprenticing under someone successful in the field can be very helpful (as long as you're not just someone's b!tch and actually are learning) and photos of rare animals and plants do get a lot of requests - just look for photos of a brooding frog giving birth.... you'll find the only photo was taken by Dr. Michael Tyler and is only posted with his request (some have illegally posted and are being brought to court).

Kitedemon - Seeing as that you've been successful as a photographer, I'd love to see some of your work. Do you have it posted anywhere?