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)

At a beauty contest to select the nation's Queen of Height during the first national convention of Tall People's Clubs in New York on July 29, 1949, little Charlie Young, only three feet, eleven inches tall, acting as judge, had a tough time making up his mind for the choice. The national minimum height requirement for women members is 5 feet 10 inches, and for men, 6 feet. (Photo by Robert Kradin/AP Photo)

A boy dressed as Lord Krishna is pictured while Hindu devotees march on the streets to celebrate Janmashtami festival, which marks the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna, in Dhaka, August 14, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters)

Filipino children play as they are doing caroling activities on the street near an airport, days before Christmas in Manila, Philippines, 20 December 2017. Filipinos celebrate the longest Christmas in the world which starts as early as September every year. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA/EFE)

A boy plays with pelicans in Yoff, commune of Dakar, Senegal March 14, 2018. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

US President Donald J. Trump holds a roundtable meeting with Hispanic leaders in the cabinet room before signing an Executive Order in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on 09 July 2020. (Photo by Samuel Corum/EPA/EFE/Pool)

Jack Frost, an ultra rare albino Hedgehog, that has been rescued by Prickly Pigs Hedgehog Rescue in Otley, West Yorkshire on August 23, 2020. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)

A stag reacts as magpies and crows fuss over a resting stag as they feed on ticks from the fur of the deer herd roaming on the Ashton Court Estate, Bristol, in crisp and cold Autumnal weather on November 23, 2020. (Photo by Ben Birchall/PA Images via Getty Images)