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 pro-democracy protester wears a hat in the shape of a yellow rubber duck, which has become a recent symbol for the ongoing protests, during an anti-government rally in Bangkok on November 22, 2020. (Photo by Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP Photo)

Peter Stringfellow, 1994. He was an English businessman and nightclub owner. Stringfellow started in the nighttime trade in the early 1960s and recalled booking acts including The Beatles, The Kinks and Jimi Hendrix to play at his clubs. Peter Stringfellow has died aged 77 on June 7, 2018. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

These men are chased by the defiant elephants on May 4, 2013. Taken by Biplab Hazra in Bishnupur, India, the images show the extreme lengths the inhabitants of the town go to to deter elephants from damaging their crops and property. Elephants encroaching out of their habitats is an increasingly common occurrence with deforestation in much of India. (Photo by Biplab Hazra/Caters News Agency)

A French Bulldog named Nord Boss stands an the back of his owner Natasha while they skateboard in the Sokolniki Park in Moscow, Russia on October 14, 2020. (Photo by Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters)

Models present creations from the Michael Kors spring summer 2023 collection during New York Fashion Week in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., February 14, 2023. (Photo by Caitlin Ochs/Reuters)

Artist and photographer Spencer Tunick, right, walks past models covering themselves with large leaves, as he talks about his next project at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Thursday, November 24, 2022. Tuncik is expecting to photograph thousands of nude people on Bondi Beach on Saturday. (Photo by Rick Rycroft/AP Photo)

The photographer Yan Hidayat says his pet Pacman frog and Brazilian turtle are inseparable. He still had to wait four hours to get this photo in West Sumatra, Indonesia, in the first decade of March 2024. (Photo by Yan Hidayat/Media Drum Images)