People walk past a mural depicting Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen in the mainly protestant area of East Belfast on June 23, 2011 in Northern Ireland. The Short Strand and Newtonards Road areas of East Belfast remained mostly peaceful after Protestant and Catholics groups were involved in a stand-off overnight. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

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 male deer barks at dawn during the annual deer rutting season at Richmond Park in London, Britain, October 9, 2016. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)

A smiling gecko bursts through a gap in the bark to surprise photographer in West Java, Indonesia in the last decade of March 2025. (Photo by Dzul Duzulfikri/Animal News Agency)

A woman holding a dog walks out of a plane during a press event introducing Bark Air, an airline for dogs, at Republic Airport in East Farmingdale, New York on May 21, 2024. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

A colony of penguins gather with the Bark Europa in the background, on March 05, 2015 in South Georgia Island. An adventurer has documented his 5,000 miles journey aboard a 100-year-old ship, sailing from Argentina to Antarctica to Cape Town. (Photo by Andrew Orr/Barcroft Images)

A barking-mad designer, Leah Workman, has launched a range of wigs that turn pets into pop princesses including Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and even Marilyn Monroe. Photo: Lady Gaga wig. (Photo by Cushzilla/BNPS)