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 pregnant woman poses on June 19, 2018 in Vertou, western France. France had an estimated population of 68.4 million by January 1, 2024, representing a further year-on-year increase of 0.3 percent, limited by a marked drop in the birth rate, the INSEE national statistics bureau of France reported on January 16, 2024. In 2023, 678,000 babies were born in France, 6.6 percent fewer than the previous year, the lowest number of births in any year since 1946. Over the same period, there were 631,000 deaths, down 6.5 percent on 2022, a year marked by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and episodes of extreme heat. (Photo by Loic Venance/AFP Photo)

People attend the 49th annual New York City Gay Pride Parade in New York, New York, USA on 24 June 2018. (Photo by Erik Pendzich/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

English actress Helen Flanagan early July 2023 has been mum-shamed by followers after sharing sеxy snaps in her bra. The mum-of-three, 32, enjoyed a cuppa in her bathroom and unbuttoned her pyjama top to reveal her cleavage. (Photo by hjgflanagan/Instagram)

A Nepalese woman wearing a mask as a precaution against the coronavirus stands next to the clothing store in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, April 26, 2022. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

Women walk past a mannequin with a covered face as they shop ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Adha in Aleppo, Syria September 23, 2015. (Photo by Hamid Khatib/Reuters)

“Start your day with a good breakfast together”, 2009. “There was this trend of eating sushi from a woman’s naked body. So when I found the perfect papaya, I knew exactly how to shoot it”. (Photo by Pixy Liao/The Guardian)