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 bar girl shows off her sexual desires along the Walking Street where bars and sеx scenes are a commonplace July 31, 2016 in Pattaya, Thailand. Thailand's first female minister of tourism would like the sеx trade that is a huge business in the country to be banned. Tourists flock to Thailand for many sights including beautiful beaches but also for sеx tourism. Cities like Bangkok and Pattaya are well known as hubs of the Southeast Asian sеx trade, despite the fact that prostitution has been illegal in Thailand since 1960. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

U.S. first lady Melania Trump steps out of her motorcade vehicle as she departs Washington for a tour of several African countries from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., October 1, 2018. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

Festival crowd enjoying the weather on Day 1 of Reading Festival on August 25, 2017 in Reading, England. (Photo by Dean Fardell/Barcroft Images)

A man shows golf ball-size hail outside Parliament House after a severe hail storm hit Canberra, Australia, 20 January 2020. (Photo by Mick Tsikas/EPA/EFE)

Students on their way home from school play in a river which has risen due to recent seasonal rains, in a remote village in Panca, Aceh province on January 22, 2021. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)

Swan Uppers try to capture a swan and it's Cygnets on the River Thames near Windsor, England, during Swan Upping, with Windsor Castle in background, Tuesday July 20, 2021. The ancient tradition of Swan Upping is the annual census to gauge the numbers and health of the swan population on the River Thames. (Photo by Steve Parsons/PA Wire via AP Photo)

A women sell food under the wing of a plane wreckage being used as housing in M'Poko Internally Displaced Persons camp in Bangui, Central African Republic on Saturday, February 13, 2016. The M'Poko IDP camp, just outside the capitol's airport, currently houses close to 20,000 people displaced due to the ongoing conflict in Central African Republic. (Photo by Jane Hahn/The Washington Post)