An Afghan boy jumps off the turret of a Soviet tank on a hilltop on the the outskirts of Kabul, Sunday, March, 4, 2018. (Photo by Rahmat Gul/AP Photo)

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 cat dressed in a traditional outfit takes part during the Orthodox Christmas celebration in Kiev, Ukraine on January 7, 2020. Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas Day on December 25 of the older Julian calendar, which currently corresponds to January 7 in the Gregorian calendar. (Photo by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

A frontline worker reacts as she receives a dose of AstraZeneca's COVISHIELD vaccine, produced by the Serum Institute of India, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination campaign at a medical centre in New Delhi, India, February 24, 2021. (Photo by Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters)

Florin Bors, aged 8 from Bacau, northern Romania, wearing a bear fur takes a break from performing a holiday season ritual in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, December 16, 2014. In pre-Christian rural traditions, dancers wearing colored costumes or animal furs, touring house to house in villages singing and dancing to ward off evil. In recent years following the economic downturn in Romania, a European Union member since 2007, the tradition has moved to Romania's cities where dancers travel to perform the ritual for money. (Photo by Octav Ganea/AP Photo/Mediafax)

Sikh devotee take part in Nagar Keertan procession on the occasion of Guru Gobind Singh birth anniversary in Allahabad, India on December 29, 2016. Guru Gobind Singh, born Gobind Rai (1666 – 1708), was the 10th Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam, Guru Gobind Singh was formally installed as the leader of the Sikhs at age nine, becoming the last of the living Sikh Gurus. (Photo by Prabhat Kumar Verma/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

In this June 29, 2015 photo, hairdresser Loavia Bienaime, 30, sits on her bed as she prepares to begin her day in the room her family occupies in an government office building that was damaged in the 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Bienaime's husband, Jimmy Bellefleur, used his skill as an electrician to connect the abandoned building to the power grid, and has repaired broken televisions, fans, and a blender for the family to use. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

An Indian woman dressed as Hindu Goddess Kali participates in a “Shivratri” procession in Allahabad, India, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014. “Shivaratri”, or the night of Shiva, is dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of death and destruction. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar SinghAP Photo)