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)

An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier assigned to the Mobile Strike Force Kandak fires a RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher during a live-fire exercise supervised by the Marines with the Mobile Strike Force Advisor Team on Camp Shorabak, Helmand province, Afghanistan, May 20, 2013. The Marines with the Mobile Strike Force Advisor Team instructed and mentored their ANA counterparts on how to properly utilize their weapons systems. (Photo by SSgt Ezekiel R. Kitandwe/RCT 7)

In this February 27, 1984, file photo, singer Placido Domingo laughs with members of the Rockettes at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The singer and dancers met while rehearsing for Channel Thirteen's “Gala of Stars 1984”. Nine women in the opera world have told The Associated Press that they were sexually harassed by Domingo, one of the most celebrated and powerful men in opera. The women say the encounters took place over three decades, at venues that included opera companies where he held top managerial positions. (Photo by Steve Friedman/AP Photo/File)

N.C. Dezendorf, wife of the general manager of the Electro-Motive division of General Motors, christens the new lightweight “Aerotrain” at the company's locomotive works in La Grange, Ill. on August 22, 1955. (Photo by Edward Kitch/AP Photo)

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt takes questions during her first daily briefing at the White House in Washington on January 28, 2025. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Aerial view of a boat working in the green water of Taihu Lake covered by blue-green algae, Wuxi city, Jiangsu province, China on May 23, 2018. (Photo by Imaginechina/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

British fashion model Twiggy plays around on the bumper cars at the Bertram Mills Circus in London, England on January 10, 1967. (Photo by AP Photo)

“Jet Man” Richard Browning demonstrating Gravity, a human jet suit system, at the opening of the Army's Personnel Conference held at Farnborough International Conference Centre, Farnborough, Hampshire on Tuesday, November 2, 2021. (Photo by Steve Parsons/PA Images via Getty Images)