THIS month – between the elephants, the giraffes, and the harbour views –Australian artists of all varieties are roaming Taronga Zoo as part of the Artists in Residence program.

The program, which involves 20 artists depicting the zoo on paper and film, grants special access for three months to explore the zoo after dark and before opening hours, meet the keepers, and be part of feeding time.

Each artist will donate awork to be auctioned inAugust to support the Taronga Foundation.

In the first image the Herald photographer Tamara Dean captured a zookeeper, Claudia Bianchi, with Nangaw, a one-winged native powerful owl rescued by the zoo after it became snared in a fence, against the backdrop of the zoo’s heritage elephant house.

The second image, is a portrait of Taronga Zoo’s giraffes, Andara and Nyota, by the artist Rodney Pople.