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)

A young woman wearing no trousers hits the ski slopes at a ski resort in Xuzhou, in east China's Jiangsu province on January 13, 2015 in a promotional effort to equal “No Pants Subway Ride”, which was marked on January 11 this year. The promotional “No Pants Subway Ride” stunt on January 11 was held as commuters in some 60 cities around the world braved public transportation in their undies, which has gone global since its first staging by US group Improv Everywhere in New York in 2002. (Photo by AFP Photo)

This photographer has made it her mission to change people’s perception of pigeons – focusing on some of the most beautiful of the more than 300 species found globally. Rather than focus on the gray, nondescript birds people usually associate with the term “pigeon”, Leila Jeffreys has instead decided to snap the more vibrant varieties. Whether it be the wompoo pigeon, with its deep purple breast and green wings, or the rose-crowned fruit dove, with its pink head, Jeffreys, 46, gives the birds the same attention she would give a human model. (Photo by Leila Jefferies/Caters News Agency)

Three Burmese women members of a circus play cards as they wear the brass neck and leg rings traditionally worn by Padaung women since childhood and which cannot be removed, London, January 4, 1935. (Photo by Keystone). P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.

A man paddles a makeshift boat along a flooded street in Guasdualito, in the state of Apure, Venezuela, July 4, 2015. A total of 9,000 families have been affected by the overflowing of rivers Arauca and Sarare in Guasdualito, Apure state, because of the heavy rains in recent days in this area of the country, local media reported. (Photo by Carlos Eduardo Ramirez/Reuters)

Su Daocheng rides his home-made mechanical horse vehicle on a street in Shiyan, Hubei province January 18, 2015. Su spent 2 months making this 1.5 metre high and 2 metre long horse, which weighed 250 kilograms with 4 legs and 2 supportive wheels, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Locals push a freezer after looting it from a shop, believed to be owned by a foreigner, during service delivery protests in Mohlakeng, west of Johannesburg, February 4, 2015. Local media reported that violence broke out on Wednesday morning when locals barricaded roads and burnt tyres during a service delivery protest. (Photo by Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)

This image taken from video provided by TVBS shows a commercial airplane clipping an elevated roadway just before it careened into a river in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, February 4, 2015. The ATR-72 prop-jet aircraft had 58 people aboard. (Photo by AP Photo/TVBS)