A woman reacts as she receives a dose of the COVISHIELD vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), manufactured by Serum Institute of India, at a vaccination centre in Ahmedabad, India, December 27, 2021. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

Mother hen chicken with cute tiny baby chicks all protected beneath her wings keeping warm outdoors only their 12 legs visible poking out the bottom outside. (Photo by Matthew Troke/iStockphoto via Getty Images)

Venezuelan migrant and rap singer, Alfonso Mendoza aka “Alca”, 25, practice with his skateboard in a park in Barranquilla, Colombia on September 28, 2018. Alca -who arrived in Colombia nine months ago due to the crisis in his country- was born without legs and changed the wheelchair for a skateboard. At present, he is an example of overcoming adversity, practicing extreme sports, singing rap and giving conferences to young people in vulnerable situations. (Photo by Raul Arboleda/AFP Photo)

In this Monday, June 10, 2019 photo, an Indian Rabha tribal Hindu priest pours traditional rice beer to a Rabha girl to perform rituals during Baikho festival at Pantan village, west of Gauhati, India. Every year, the community in India’s northeastern state of Assam celebrates the festival, to please a deity of wealth and ask for good rains and a good harvest. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)

Carved pumpkins designed by US pumpkin artist Ray Villafane are pictured during a pumpkin exhibition in Ludwigsburg, southern Germany, on September 8, 2017. (Photo by Sebastian Gollnow/AFP Photo/DPA)

A giant panda named Kai Kai looks on as he opens a gift to celebrate his upcoming 14th birthday at the River Safari wildlife park in Singapore on September 10, 2021. (Photo by Roslan Rahman/AFP Photo)

A woman in Kimono poses for photos in front of mimosa and cherry blossom trees in Tokyo on March 8, 2024. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)

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)