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 picture made available on 14 July 2016 shows Greyhound dogs racing at the Wentworth Park Stadium in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, 13 July 2016. Greyhound racing has returned to Sydney's Wentworth Park and other NSW tracks for the first time since the state government announced plans to ban it. NSW Premier Mike Baird announced last week plans to shut down the sport in NSW following a Special Commission of Inquiry report that found “chilling” evidence of systemic animal cruelty within the industry. (Photo by David Moir/EPA)

In this photo taken Monday, April 29, 2013, carver Jackson Mbatha, 40, poses next to a an unfinished large toy giraffe he is making from pieces of discarded flip-flops, in front of a painted workshop wall at the Ocean Sole flip-flop recycling company in Nairobi, Kenya. The company is cleaning the East African country's beaches of used, washed-up flip-flops and the dirty pieces of rubber that were once cruising the Indian Ocean's currents are now being turned into colorful handmade giraffes, elephants and other toy animals. (Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

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)

It is said that Torajans are people who “live to die”. For this Indonesian ethnic group, funerals are such extravagant events that they sometimes attract tourists. Families can postpone burials years (and the deceased are considered sick and hosted at home until the funeral) until the family can raise enough money and gather as many relatives as possible. And then it’s a jubilant multiday social event with a parade, dances and animal sacrifices. Agung Parameswara photographed these funerary practices when he traveled to South Sulawesi province, where the Torajans live. (Photo by Agung Parameswara/The Washington Post)

Performers dressed as Pikachu, the popular animation Pokemon series character, perform in the Pikachu parade in Yokohama on August 7, 2016. Some 50 life-size Pikachu characters, the most famous from the Pokemon game, marched along the city’s waterfront street as visitors took mobile phone pictures and videos of them in scorching sunshine. Some participants said they attended the event to search for rare characters of Pokemon – a word short for “pocket monster” – for the megahit smartphone app, which was launched in several countries around the world last month. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)

Pangolins in Crisis: Brent Stirton, South Africa; 1st place, Natural world and wildlife. “Pangolins are the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals, with an estimated one million trafficked to Asia in the last 10 years. Their scales are used in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine, and their meat is sold as a high-priced delicacy. As a result, pangolins are listed as critically endangered and anyone who trades or consumes them is breaking the law. This body of work exposes the trade, while exploring aspects of illegality and celebrating the people who are trying to save these animals”. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Sony World Photography Awards 2020)

In this Monday, June 15, 2015 photo, Ahmad Abu Jereda, 16, carries Max, the male lion cub, as he passes by Palestinians at the main garden in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip. A pair of lion cubs are stuck at a Gaza-Israel border crossing en route to a Jordan animal sanctuary, after being kept for a year by a family in crowded Gaza. Saduldin al-Jamal had bought the cubs from the Gaza zoo, hit during last summer's Israel-Hamas war. His family would take them to parks or the beach and children – those brave enough – would come up to pet them. (Photo by Adel Hana/AP Photo)