Musicians play as bathers run into the chilly waters of English Bay while celebrating New Year's Day with the Polar Bear Swim in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on January 1, 2024. (Photo by Chris Helgren/Reuters)

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 Colombian flower grower selects a rose for a bouquet ahead of Valentine's Day in Subachoque, February 2, 2015. Colombia is the world's second-largest flower exporter behind the Netherlands. The Andean country exports around 500 million flowers to the U.S. for Valentine's Day, according to the Colombia Flower Growers Association. (Photo by John Vizcaino/Reuters)

Nepal's Kumari, or living goddess, adjusts her ornament as she watches the Rato Machindranath chariot Festival in Lalitpur, Nepal, Friday, April 24, 2015. Nepal's living goddesses are young pre-pubescent girls considered by devotees to be incarnations of a Hindu goddess. Selected as toddlers, living goddesses usually keep their positions until they reach puberty. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

Music student Daniele Gonzalez, (centre row, L), and Australian musician Susie Park from the Minnesota Orchestra (centre row, 2nd L), react during a rehearsal in Havana, May 15, 2015. The Minnesota Orchestra will offer two concerts in Havana and is the first major U.S. orchestra to play in Cuba since 1999. The trip cost nearly $1 million. It was underwritten by Marilyn Carlson Nelson, an heir to the Carlson hotel company fortune, and her husband Glen. The U.S. government gave special permission for a direct charter flight from Minneapolis to Havana for the event, putting 4 tons of equipment and 160 people on an Airbus 330. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

A sheep dressed in a jersey in the colors of the Colombian national soccer team is seen during a exhibition in Nobsa, Colombia June 1, 2014. The sheep is named Falcao, after the Colombian player. REUTERS/Jose Miguel Gomez

A bodyboarder rides a wave at Mackenzies Bay on May 1, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. A strong east-south-east swell has developed along the NSW coastline with waves between 6ft and 8ft expected to hit the coast for much of the weekend and into next week. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)