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)

A curious cat ipeeks out of a bag carried by its owner on a tour of the Cat Expo 2022 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 30 September 2022. The “Ekspo Kucing”, described as Malaysia's Largest Cat Expo runs from 30 September to 02 October 2022 at the Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre (MECC) in Kuala Lumpur and “will also feature other variety of pets such as rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, reptiles and exotic animals”, the MECC said on its website, along with other highlight events such as a Federation Internationale Feline (FIFe) Cat Competition, Cat Adoptions or a “Sugar Glinder Contest”. (Photo by Fazry Ismail/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Swimmers in fancy dress splash as they participate in the New Year's Day Loony Dook swim at South Queensferry, Scotland January 1, 2015. (Photo by Russell Cheyne/Reuters)

A boy fires confetti poppers as he participates in a procession to mark Eid-e-Milad-ul-Nabi, the birthday celebration of Prophet Mohammad, in Mumbai January 4, 2015. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

Ana Ivanovic of Serbia plays a backhand return to Maria Sharapova of Russia during their women's singles final match at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, January 10, 2015. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

Jessica Chastain arrives at the 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, January 11, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Photo)

Iraqi security forces take part in training, as they prepare to fight against militants of the Islamic State, at a training camp on the outskirts of Mosul January 10, 2015. (Photo by Azad Lashkari/Reuters)

Relatives of a missing person scuffle with police officers on the bank of the Yangtze River, near Jingjiang, Jiangsu province January 17, 2015. A search and rescue operation was still underway after the boat capsized on January 15, leaving 22 people missing, including foreigners. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)