A woman cries while sitting on a road amid the destroyed city of Natori, Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan March 13, 2011, after a massive earthquake and tsunami. Five years on from the tsunami that triggered meltdowns at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, the page is anything but turned. A magnitude 9 earthquake and towering tsunami on March 11, 2011 killed nearly 16,000 people along Japan's northeastern coast and left more than 2,500 missing. The 10-metre (33-foot) tsunami swept away everything in its path, including houses, ships, cars and farm buildings. (Photo by Asahi Shimbun/Reuters)

A gosling sits in the plumage of its mother, in a meadow in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, April 13, 2024. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

A rescued red fox rests under a closet at “Pawsitive Beginnings” fox rescue sanctuary in Key Largo, Florida, USA on August 1, 2023. Pawsitive Beginnings is a nonprofit group that works closely with organizations in parts of the USA where fur farming takes place to find permanent placement for foxes when needed. According to Pawsitive Beginnings, about 300 fur farms operate in the United States and there are very few federal laws to regulate the treatment of these animals born in captivity, raised for one year, and then killed for their coats. (Photo by Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich/EPA/EFE)

Breath of an Arctic fox by Marco Gaiotti, Italy. Marco was watching this little Arctic fox as it incessantly called another nearby. Gradually he noticed the fox’s wet breath was quickly freezing in the air after each call. It was late winter in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, and the air was -35C (-31F). Photographing Arctic foxes is often frustrating, as they are normally running around fast in search of food, but this one was very relaxed and let Marco get close enough to focus on it, with the light glowing perfectly in the background. (Photo by Marco Gaiotti/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021)

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 Wallcreeper (aka Tichodroma muraria) flies to a flower on January 28, 2024 in Leshan, Sichuan Province of China. (Photo by Zhou Zhiyong/VCG via Getty Images)

Jorge, an immigrant from Mexico, dressed as the Sesame Street character Elmo rests in Times Square, New York July 29, 2014. Elmo and Cookie Monster have long delighted young viewers on TV's “Sesame Street”, but the recent antics of New York street performers dressed as the beloved characters have drawn the ire of city officials and now the show's producers. Sesame Workshop, which owns the rights to Big Bird, Ernie and the assorted puppet monsters on the 45-year-old program, said on July 29, 2014 it was drafting plans to stop performers who dress up as the characters from appearing in Times Square, where they pose for photos with tourists and then demand tips. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

A Thai performer puts his head inside a crocodile's mouth during a media preview performance as part of preparation to reopen Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, 19 March 2024. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)