In this November 17, 2014 photo, Pancho, a domesticated huitia, confronts a camera, in Bainoa, Cuba. With their rope-like, dark tails, long front teeth, and whiskers that appear to be vibrating, huitias look like giant rats. They measure nearly a foot long (about 30 centimeters), with the largest ones weighing in bigger than a small dog. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

Murad Khydyrov, horse and monkey trainer at the Great Moscow State Circus, and chimpanzee named Micky get ready for a rehearsal of the show called “History” as the circus prepares for its new season, which is to begin on September 19, in Moscow on September 17, 2020. (Photo by Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP Photo)

A vegetarian festival devotee gets medical attention after a parade at Jui Tui shrine on September 30, 2014 in Phuket, Thailand. (Photo by Borja Sanchez-Trillo/Getty Images)

A 13-month-old chimp named Fumo carries a “Christmas present” of food treats in wrapping paper under his arm during a Christmas-themed feeding time at Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo, December 9, 2014. Fumo, meaning “chief” or “spear” in Swahili, is one of the latest additions to the zoo's successful primate breeding program. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

This is the moment a diver appears to shake hands with a giant 52ft whale. The divers were just metres away when one humpback whale – which weighs 36,000kg – extends its giant flipper in a peaceful manner. (Photo by Masa Ushioda/SeaPics/Solent News & Photo Agency)

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)

Katjinga, a Rhodesian ridgeback dog who lives on a 20-acre farm in Germany, adopted an abandoned pot-bellied piglet in August 2009. The tiny black piglet, named Paulinchen, had been so small at birth that her mother likely overlooked it. Katjinga's owner, Roland Adam, found the piglet alone and cold and brought it to his 8-year-old dog. (Photo by Fame Pictures)

People watch the erupting craters and the lava fountains from the old lava fields around the eruption site on the Reykjanes Peninsula, in Iceland, Wednesday, August 28, 2024. (Photo by Marco di Marco/AP Photo)