Visitors take masks off to take pictures as hydrangea flowers are fully blooming at Meigetsu-in Buddhist temple Friday, June 11, 2021, in Kamakura, south of Tokyo. (Photo by Kiichiro Sato/AP Photo)
Kubra Korkut of Turkey in action against Viktoriia Safonova of the Russian Paralympic Committee during Class 7 Group B Women's Singles Table Tennis Match on day 2 of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on August 26, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)
A woman poses for photographs while Indonesian police officers burn seized various drugs during a press conference at the regional police headquarters in Banda Aceh on June 12, 2025. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)
A model is reflected in the mirror applying makeup during the Mr. and Mrs. Kibera leadership contest, on International Youth Day, in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, August 12, 2025. (Photo by Brian Inganga/AP Photo)
North Korean soldiers wave along the Yalu River, near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite to the Chinese border city of Dandong October 7, 2014. (Photo by Jacky Chen/Reuters)
A monkey leaps into a pond on a hot day in Allahabad on May 19, 2017. According to local reports temperatures have soared in the northern Indian city to 47.28 Celsius. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/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)