Pigeon fancier Yonisbel Santana poses for a photo at his rooftop in Havana, Cuba, May 18, 2021. Havana's pigeon keepers crane out of a window, intently watching the grey birds take flight. Mostly staying indoors due to the country's worst outbreak of COVID-19 since the coronavirus pandemic began in March last year, Cubans are increasingly breeding pigeons as a form of escape. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

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 man wearing a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus, walks past in front of an advertisement of an opera performance outside of a theater in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Photo by Lee Jin-man/AP Photo)

Team Jayco Alula's Dutch rider Dylan Groenewegen (L) and Soudal Quick-Step's Belgian rider Tim Merlier (2ndL) crash at the end of the first stage of the Renewi Tour multi-stage cycling race, from Riemst to Bilzen (163,6 km) on August 28, 2024. The five-day race takes place in Belgium and the Netherlands. (Photo by David Pintens/Belga via AFP Photo)

Models are seen backstage prior to the Walter Van Beirendonck Menswear Spring/Summer 2024 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 21, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Francois Durand/Getty Images)

People pose on the red carpet at the premiere of “Barbie” on Sunday, July 9, 2023, at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/AP Photo)

Dana the dog wears glasses as people watch an annular solar eclipse, in Las Horquetas, Santa Cruz, Argentina, on October 2, 2024. (Photo by Agustin Marcarian/Reuters)

A newborn grey seal pup is tended by its mother at Donna Nook, a nature reserve on the county’s coastline managed by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust in Lincolnshire, UK on November 23, 2015. (Photo by David Tipling/Rex Shutterstock)