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 wave carrying plastic waste and other rubbish washes up on a beach in Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand on January 19, 2021. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)

Looking for love by Tony Wu, USA. Highly commended, Animal Portraits. “Accentuating his mature appearance with pastel colours, protruding lips and an outstanding pink forehead, this Asian sheepshead wrasse sets out to impress females and see off rivals, which he will head-butt and bite, near Japan’s remote Sado Island. Individuals start out as females, and when they reach a certain age and size – up to a metre (more than 3 feet) long – can transform into males. Long-lived and slow-growing, the species is intrinsically vulnerable to overfishing”. (Photo by Tony Wu/2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

Ivorian police officers of the Anti-Riot Brigade (BAE) contain the crowd during a performance by French rapper Okou Armand Gnakouri known as Kaaris during the Festival of Urban Music of Anoumabo (Femua) in Abidjan on April 28, 2019. The performance of French-Ivorian rapper Kaaris at the Festival of Urban Music of Anoumabo (Femua) in Abidjan escalated into violence after a crowd surge, causing some minor injuries, according to an AFP journalist at the concert. (Photo by Sia Kambou/AFP Photo)

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)

Emma Raducanu of Great Britain receives treatment in her women's singles first round match against Bianca Andreescu of Canada during day three of Internazionali BNL D'Italia at Foro Italico on May 10, 2022 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

An artist shows her hands after working on a wall as part of a campaign to call for coexistence and the renouncement of violence through the painting of walls in Sanaa, Yemen March 15, 2015. (Photo by Mohamed al-Sayaghi/Reuters)

Highly commended, mammals: Gelada after the storm – Marco Gaiotti (Italy). “Gelada baboons are the only monkey species in the world that feed on grasses. They are native to the tableland of Ethiopia. Every morning large family groups wander from their sleeping places in the steep rock face, up to 1,000 metres high, to the feeding grounds at the tablelands. This image clearly depicts their feeding strategy: they pull out bunches of grass, sort the stalks and then lift them to their mouth. This shot was taken towards the end of the rainy season after a heavy storm”. (Photo by Marco Gaiotti/2019 GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year)