Zulmira Jesus poses for a portrait at a street in Povoa de Agracoes, near Chaves, Portugal April 19, 2016. In the villages of Agracoes and Povoa de Agracoe, the steady drip-drip of emigration has brought down population numbers from more than 50 residents to fewer than a dozen each. These remaining villagers share the same glum acceptance that, after they have gone, their villages will die out too. It is the same desolate picture in scores of other backwater settlements in Portugal's interior, north to south. (Photo by Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

Izelle Nair, 39, the instructor at the Merschool poses for a portrait in her mermaid attire at the centre in Kayalami, Midrand, South Africa on June 3, 2022. Mermaiding is a fast growing sport world wide and includes several skills such as monofin swimming, sculling, tricks and breath hold. (Photo by Marco Longari/AFP Photo)

A woman carries portraits of Red Army soldiers during the celebrations of Victory Day, which marks the 78th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Almaty, Kazakhstan on May 9, 2023. (Photo by Pavel Mikheyev/Reuters)

Actress Tang Wei poses at the “Wu Xia” portrait session during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2011 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Soldiers of the 70th division of the American 7th Army hold up a Nazi flag and a portrait of Adolf Hitler, taken during the World War II capture of Saarbrucken. (Photo by Horace Abrahams/Keystone/Getty Images). 22nd March 1945

The National Geographic Photo Ark is a travelling exhibition of photographer Joel Sartore’s quest to create a photo archive of biodiversity around the world. So far, Sartore has captured studio portraits of more than 6,000 species – a number that he hopes to double. On 1 July, the ark will open at Melbourne zoo – the first time it has been exhibited in the southern hemisphere. More than 50 portraits will be on display, including many of Australian endangered animals being protected by programs at the zoo itself. These captions have been edited from text supplied by Melbourne zoo. Here: Barking owl. (Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark/The Guardian)