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 vendor sleeps as his son waits for customers at their roadside vegetable shop in New Delhi, February 12, 2019. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

As the sun sets on the Malecon in Havana on Friday January 23, 2015, Surenis Angulo de la Paz, 24, center, dances as group of locals play music around her. Behind her is Fidel Lopez, 55. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

This Monday, September 15, 2014 photo shows glazed bricks displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad. The Islamic State militants seek to purge society of all influences that don't conform with their strict, puritanical version of Islam. That means destroying not only relics seen as pagan but also Muslim sites they see as contradicting their ideology, particularly Sunni Muslim shrines they see as idolatrous as well as mosques used by Shiites, a branch of Islam they consider heretical. (Photo by Hadi Mizban/AP Photo)

“Dubai is sometimes called the “City of Gold” because of its stunning growth from a sleepy Gulf port to a world-famous business crossroads in the space of a single generation. Its nickname has a literal meaning for traders in the precious metal. The city is building itself up as a center for the gold trade, between sources in Africa and consumers in the rising economies of China and India”. – Kamran Jebreili via Associated Press

Photo: A gold press operator collects 10 gram gold blanks to press them with the logo of the Emirates Gold company in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Gold prices remained relatively steady in 2012, close to $1,700 an ounce. (Photo by Kamran Jebreili/AP Photo)

A bakery worker rides a bicycle as he carries fresh bread on his head in Cairo, Egypt, February 9, 2016. (Photo by Asmaa Waguih/Reuters)

Self-employed pedicab driver Danilo Guerra, 25, uses his mobile phone as he waits for clients in downtown Havana April 12, 2016. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

Thousands of bright Red Potatoes are washed and sorted at a vegetable market. Workers hose down tons of the vegetables before packing them into sacks at the market in Shibganj Upazila, Bogura, Bangladesh on February 19, 2023. The Red La Soda spuds are then taken to the country's capital Dhaka. (Photo by Mustasinur Rahman Alvi/Rex Features/Shutterstock)