A student from the General Yermolov Cadet School performs with models of swords during celebrations of Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week, a pagan holiday marking the end of winter, in southern city of Stavropol, Russia, March 6, 2019. (Photo by Eduard Korniyenko/Reuters)

A boatman rests on his boat in the flooded Ganges river under the Shastri bridge at Daraganj Ghat, in Allahabad, India on August 22, 2019. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

Mae Zelinsky, left, and Betty O'Beda test ammunition on a .30 caliber rifle at a Remington Arms plant on April 30, 1943. Many women took over jobs that were left vacant when men went overseas to fight in World War II. (Photo by AP Photo)

In this February 1, 2017 photo, environmental activist Maruja Inquilla poses for a photo next to a Municipal waste treatment plant with water that flows into Lake Titicaca, in Juliaca, in the Puno region of Peru. “If the frogs could talk they would say, This is killing me”," said Inquilla, who recently showed up at the Puno governor's house carrying plastic bags filled with hundreds of dead frogs in protest. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

Two young women, having enjoyed a drink at a party, dance together in Tehran, Iran. Although unrelated men and women are forbidden to socialise together many people ignore these strictures in the privacy of their own homes. (Photo by Hossein Fatemi/Reuters/Panos Pictures/Courtesy of World Press Photo Foundation)

“Hiding In The Shadows”. This Baby Sandhill taking refuge under Moms wings while sitting on her second egg. I witnessed this baby being born earlier that day,and the next morning saw the other one hatch,what a sight to see. Photo location: Deland, Florida. (Photo and caption by Scott Helfrich/National Geographic Photo Contest)

An Indian artists uses sparkles to decorate statues of the Hindu god Lord Ganesh ahead of the forthcoming Ganesh Chaturthi festival at a workshop in Hyderabad on August 29, 2016. The statues are being prepared for the Ganesh Chaturthi festival a popular eleven-day long Hindu religious festival in India which will be celebrated from September 5 to 15. (Photo by Noah Seelam/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)