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)

Rita Ora attends the World Premiere of JEREMY SCOTT: THE PEOPLE'S DESIGNER, presented by The Vladar Company and Quintessentially at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Tuesday, September 8, 2015, in Hollywood, Calif. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision for The Vladar Company/AP Images)

Spanish actress Rossy de Palma poses as she arrives by taxi boat at the pier of the Excelsior Hotel on August 30, 2019 during the 76th Venice Film Festival at Venice Lido. (Photo by Alberto Pizzoli/AFP Photo)

A long-tailed monkey, wearing jeans and a doll's head perform on the streets of Boyolali, Central Java Indonesia. Primates are used by owners to beg at crossroads, the primate show can earn $ 5 per day. Begging using long-tailed monkeys is opposed by animal lovers community as it is considered to torture and degrade animal health. (Photo by Arief Setiadi/Pacific Press/Barcroft Images)

In this undated photo provided on Monday, November 25, 2019, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, poses as he inspects a women's company under Unit 5492 of the Korean People's Army in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Photo by Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Photo)

People light 25,000 memorial candles on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the assassination of the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, 29 October 2020. Rabin was fatally shot by a far-right Jewish law student, who opposed the signing of the Oslo Accords, after attending a peace rally held in Tel Aviv's Kings of Israel Square (now Rabin Square) on 04 November 1995. (Photo by Abir Sultan/EPA/EFE)

A team of female cadets takes part in a tug-of-war competition at Budyonny Military Academy of the Signal Corps in St Petersburg, Russia on March 7, 2021. (Photo by Peter Kovalev/TASS/Profimedia)

A sifaka lemur eats leaves at the Berenty Reserve in Toliara province, Madagascar, February 15, 2022. (Photo by Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters)