In this Thursday, October 3, 2019 photo, a female black bear sleeps with its tongue out high up in a Ponderosa pine tree near Clark Fork School in the Rattlesnake neighborhood of Missoula, Mont. The bear's cub, not pictured, was snoozing on a nearby branch. (Photo by Tommy Martino/The Missoulian via AP Photo)

Firework display from the top of the Sky Tower to welcome the New Year on January 1, 2015 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images)

A brown bear is checked by foreign veterinaries and local staff members at the Four Paws Bear Sanctuary in Pristina, on May 9, 2014. (Photo by Hazir Reka/Reuters)

As the world marks the International Day of the Girl Child, women's rights activists point to progress on a wide array of issues but say more needs to be done to protect girls from child marriage, sexual assault and other forms of exploitation. Here is a selection of pictures showing the daily lives of girls across the globe, all taken by female Associated Press photojournalists. Here: In this December 14, 2015, file photo, a young clown rides in the back of a car following a procession to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Hundreds belonging to various clown associations made their annual pilgrimage to the Basilica to pay their respects to the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico's patron saint. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

Police in Stanley, the Falklands capital, had to temporarily close a road after a pair of sea lions picked an awkward spot to get frisky on Sunday, December 5, 2021. (Photo by Genti Cena Photography/Triangle)

An alligator named Muja is seen in its enclosure in Belgrade's Zoo, Serbia, August 14, 2018. Muja is officially the oldest American alligator in the world living in captivity. He was brought to Belgrade from Germany in 1937, a year after the opening of the Zoo. Muja survived three bombings of Belgrade, the Second World War and all hardships the Zoo went through. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

A woman holds her veil as she takes part in Huranga, a game played between men and women a day after Holi, at Dauji temple near Mathura, March 3, 2018. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

Hundreds of Nigerians celebrate at an intersection in the flashpoint northern city of Kaduna on March 31, 2015 the victory of main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Mohammadu Buhari. (Photo by Nichole Sobecki/AFP Photo)