A dramatic rise in owning exotic pets in China is fuelling global demand for threatened species. The growing trade in alligators, snakes, monkeys, crocodiles and spiders is directly linked to species loss in some of the world’s most threatened ecosystems. Here: A fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) is groomed in a pet store in central Beijing. Native to the Sahara in North Africa, the species became a popular pet after being depicted as a character in Disney’s 2016 animated movie Zootopia. Individuals can cost between $2,000–$3,000. (Photo by Sean Gallagher/The Guardian)

Omar Gamal, a 28-year-old pigeon keeper, stands next to his pigeon coop on his rooftop in the Egyptian capital's twin city of Giza on February 21, 2021, with the Pyramids of (R to L) Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Chephren), and Menkaure (Menkheres) in the background. An ancient tradition handed down through the generations, the practice of domesticating pigeons stretches across borders from the banks of the Nile to north Africa and beyond, with people not only training birds for competitions, but also serving them up as a dining delicacy. (Photo by Khaled Desouki/AFP Photo)

An Indian labourer carries a sack of plastic bottles on his head near one of the largest disposal sites in north-east India, ahead of the “World Environment Day” in Boragaon area of Guwahati on June 4, 2018. World Environment Day is marked annually on June 5, and aims at promoting awareness and action to protect the environment. (Photo by Biju Boro/AFP Photo)

Filipino children frolic next to ships taking shelter inside a seaport in Navotas city, north of Manila, Philippines, 27 August 2019. According to the latest advisory from Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Tropical Storm Podul intensified from a tropical depression into a tropical storm on August 27, while moving toward Central Luzon with a maximum winds of 65 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 80 km/h. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA/EFE)

A Fulani Pastoralist carries two baby sheep on her donkey cart as her family move on northwards in Barkedji, Senegal on July 21, 2020. Thousands of Pastoralist families will start the movement north in the next weeks. With the first rains comes fresh grass and water for the Fulani herders' livestock, it also marks the point where most of the Pastoralist will move northwards until the dry season. (Photo by John Wessels/AFP Photo)

English TV personality Chloe Ferry joins friends Kimberly Hart-Simpson (Coronation Street) Sophie Kasaei, Abbie Holborn, Bethan Kershaw and Tahlia Chung (Geordie Shore) to LooseFest 22 on July 30, 2022. LooseFest is one of the largest music festivals ever to take place in the North of England and is located on the city of Newcastle's famous Town Moor. Pictured: Chloe Ferry, Kimberly Hart-Simpson, Sophie Kasaei. (Photo by Terry Blackburn/Backgrid UK)

Lebanese women smoke nargileh (water pipe) and watch a streaming broadcast of the FIFA World Cup 2022 group G soccer match between Brazil and Switzerland, at a café-restaurant in the area of Sabtiyeh, north of Beirut, on November 28, 2022. Lebanon being hit hard by the economic crisis, the country did not obtain the rights to broadcast the 2022 World Cup this year, depriving Lebanese fans of the World Cup. (Photo by Joseph Eid/AFP Photo)

Vendor Yegor Dyachkovsky, 45, poses for a picture at an open-air market on a frosty day in Yakutsk, Russia, January 15, 2023. Yakutsk, one of the Russia's north-most cities, is hit by an extreme cold snap as the air temperature on Sunday (January 15) plunged as low as minus 51 degrees Celsius (minus 59.8 degrees Fahrenheit). (Photo by Roman Kutukov/Reuters)