A woman in a Cholita dress poses for photos, at the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia on March 26, 2022. (Photo by Claudia Morales/Reuters)

A woman plays on a swing on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif., Wednesday, June 22, 2022. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

A woman along with a child walk past a wall mural in Mumbai on November 29, 2022. (Photo by Punit Paranjpe/AFP Photo)

A woman swings on a swing in Venao beach in Pedasi, Panama, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)

A woman feeds cats at Mar Elias Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon, on August 28, 2024. (Photo by Ahmed Saad/Reuters)

Beautiful woman and man playing domination games in bed. (Photo by nd3000/Getty Images)

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)

Descending into the Marum Volcano in Vanuatu, Intrepid explorers found an unusual way of staying warm this winter by spending Christmas day on an active volcano. British climber Chris Horsley, 22, and his friends Gareth Hawken, 30, Geoff Mackley, 50, and Bradley Ambrose, 36, from Auckland, New Zealand, hiked up the Marum Volcano, Vanuatu, on the morning of the 25th. Instead of passing the day with their families, the team climbed down a 1200ft cliff to get close to a flowing lake of lava. (Photo by Bradley Ambrose/Caters News)