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 wide-angle view shows the ascent of the shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986. In the seconds after ignition, the rocket engines' hot blast began the process of destruction. (Photo by NASA)

A woman, wearing a traditional Sevillana dress, performs as she asks for alms in downtown Malaga, Spain, April 28, 2016. (Photo by Jon Nazca/Reuters)

A keeper feeds a four-week-old jaguar while presenting it to the media, at a zoo in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, October 14, 2015. (Photo by Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters)

Black-headed gulls sit on pickets at a riverside in Tokyo, Japan, December 27, 2015. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

Behaviour: Mammals category. Giant Gathering by Tony Wu, USA. Dozens of sperm whales mingled noisily off Sri Lanka’s northeast coast, stacked as far down as Tony could see. This was a congregation of dozens of social units, like a gathering of the clans. Aggregations like this could be a critical part of the whales’ rich social lives but are rarely reported. Some two thirds of the population was wiped out before commercial whaling was banned in 1986. This kind of major gathering could be “a sign that populations are recovering”, says Tony. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017)

A participant Saint Nicholas parade walks from house to house dressed in the traditional devil and Nicholas costumes in Francova Lhota district of Zlin, Czech Republic on December 3, 2017. This type of parade is one of the most popular age old tradition in a few villages in Wallachia region (eastern part of Czech Republic). Saint Nicholas walks the streets going from house to house three days and Saint Nicholas gives sweets to children and the devils get up to mischief. (Photo by Lukas Kabon/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Filipino children play as they are doing caroling activities on the street near an airport, days before Christmas in Manila, Philippines, 20 December 2017. Filipinos celebrate the longest Christmas in the world which starts as early as September every year. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA/EFE)