A man works on a small replica of the Iron Man armor next to a homemade replica of the “Hulkbuster” Iron Man armour from the movie “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, at an underground parking lot in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China, May 12, 2015. The 3.4-metre-tall replica is made of over 100 fiber-reinforced plastic components. It took Xing and his friends two months to put them together after watching the trailer of the movie in March, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

An Indian artist gives the finishing touches to a figure of the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha at a workshop ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in New Delhi on September 15, 2015. The idol is meant for the forthcoming festival Ganesha Chaturthi, a ten-day long event which is celebrated all over India. During the Ganpati festival, that is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha, idols of the Hindu deity are worshipped at hundreds of pandals or makeshift tents before they are immersed into water bodies. This year, the festival starts on 17 September 2015. (Photo by Sajjad Hussain/AFP Photo)

A workman smooths out the gravel near the base of British artist Alex Chinneck' latest sculpture “A bullet from a shooting star” on the Greenwich Peninsula in London on September 17, 2015. The 35-metre tall, upside-down electricity pylon overlooks the Canary Wharf financial district. (Photo by Leon Neal/AFP Photo)

A Buddhist nun walks along a path as a stupa is seen at a temple in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka October 16, 2016. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

Li Guoqiang talks on his phone outside his house at Guangfuli neighbourhood, in Shanghai, China, April 1, 2016. Li, 38, is a deliveryman who rents a place at Guangfuli. In a corner of Shanghai, surrounded by a cement wall, lies one of the world's most valuable fields of debris and garbage. On paper, the Guangfuli neighbourhood is a real estate investor's dream: a plot in the middle of one of the world's most expensive and fast-rising property markets. But the reality is more like a developer's nightmare, thanks to hundreds of people living there who have refused to budge from their ramshackle homes for nearly 16 years as the local authority sought to clear the land for new construction. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Against the scorching sun, a hungry jackal chases a flock of birds looking for a quick morning snack. Taken in South Africa's Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, these images capture the moment a lone hunter tries, and then succeeds, in his pursuit. (Photo by John Mullineux/Solent News)

Gold medallists of China perform Synchronised Swimming Free Combination routine at the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Center during the 17th Asian Games in Incheon September 23, 2014. (Photo by Tim Wimborne/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)