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)

To most of us, hand-feeding crocodiles might sound like a one-way ticket to a watery grave. But for Jose Eduardo Chaves Salas, 32, coming within inches of the fearsome creatures’ razor-sharp teeth is all in a day’s work. He runs Jose's Crocodile River Tour on the Tarcoles River in Costa Rica, where tourists can watch him feed crocs up to 17 feet long. Photo: A tour guide shows a thumbs up as he sits on top of a crocodile on the Tarcoles river in Tarcoles, Costa Rica. (Photo and caption by Barcroft Media)

From the rocks of Arnhem Land to the backyards of the Sydney suburbs, from stretching by the pool to waiting for evening prayer, snapshots for the 2015 Australian Life prize demonstrated a nation in colour and motion. Here: Children Cooling Off at Dhiari Homeland. Local children get wet and cool in Arnhem Land. (Photo by Matthew Abbott/Australian Life Prize 2015)

“Australian Aborigines are those people regarded as indigenous to the Australian continent. In the High Court of Australia, Australian Aborigines have been specifically identified as a group of people who share, in common, biological ancestry back to the original occupants of the continent”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Aboriginal women washing their hair with sand at Arnhem land in the Northern Territory of Australia. 1st January 1950. (Photo by Three Lions)

Two women wearing bejewelled bras kiss during the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival in Sydney, Australia March 4, 2017. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

Paramedics care for a woman who is ill after the Geelong Cup on Geelong Cup day at Geelong Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, 19 October 2016. The Geelong Racing Club was founded in March 1865 at a public meeting at the British Hotel. The first Geelong Cup was held in 1872 over a distance of two miles. (Photo by Tracey Nearmy/EPA)

Actor Robert De Niro presents the Guy Movie Hall of Fame award onstage during Spike TV's 5th annual 2011 “Guys Choice” Awards at Sony Pictures Studios on June 4, 2011 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

“A guide horse is an experimental mobility option for blind people who do not wish to or cannot use a guide dog. They are provided by The Guide Horse Foundation, founded in 1999 to provide miniature horses as assistance animals to blind users living in rural environments”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Shari Bernstiel, of Lansdale, Pennsylvania is helped along the sidewalk by Tonto, her guide horse March 19, 2004 in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Tonto, a minature horse who went through one year of training, acts as Sheri's seeing eye dog and is one of three working guide horses in the United States. (Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)