In this February 5, 2014 photo, Divaldo Aguiar, who plays the part of Pachencho, is carried in a mock coffin during the Burial of Pachencho celebration, through a cemetery in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba. Cuban villagers stage a mock funeral and burial of Pachencho, with a living man playing the part of Pachencho, in a boozy festival that has become an annual tradition in this small town near Havana, held each February 5 for the last 30 years. (Photo by Enric Marti/AP Photo)

A relative (L) of Champa Devi, 88, sits next to her body, minutes after her death at Mukti Bhavan (Salvation House) at Varanasi, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, June 21, 2014. The city of Varanasi, on the banks of the River Ganges, is widely considered Hinduism's holiest city and many Hindus believe that dying there and having their remains scattered in the Ganges allows their soul to escape a cycle of death and rebirth, attaining “moksha” or salvation. “Mukti Bhavan” or “Salvation House”, is a charity-run hostel that caters for people who wish to come to Varanasi to die. Guests can normally stay up to two weeks after which, if they haven't yet passed away, they are gently asked to leave. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

“Hiding In The Shadows”. This Baby Sandhill taking refuge under Moms wings while sitting on her second egg. I witnessed this baby being born earlier that day,and the next morning saw the other one hatch,what a sight to see. Photo location: Deland, Florida. (Photo and caption by Scott Helfrich/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A) 1st place WINNER – Roy Rimmer. “This rat was in an outdoor set I made, the set up is two meters long and a meter wide made of Perspex,it has a plywood front with holes cut in for my camera and flash guns, I placed two rusty paint cans in the set up and the rat would leap from one can too the other, I had to use flash to freeze the action”.

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)

Inger Utke, left, takes a selfie with Edwin Galarza, dressed as a “Star Wars” themed dinosaur, during Preview Night at Comic-Con International held at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2016, in San Diego. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Invision/AP Photo)

An Indian artists uses sparkles to decorate statues of the Hindu god Lord Ganesh ahead of the forthcoming Ganesh Chaturthi festival at a workshop in Hyderabad on August 29, 2016. The statues are being prepared for the Ganesh Chaturthi festival a popular eleven-day long Hindu religious festival in India which will be celebrated from September 5 to 15. (Photo by Noah Seelam/AFP Photo)

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)