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 woman holds a dressed cat during the exhibition “Autumn-2014” in Minsk, November 23, 2014. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

“What created this unusual hole in Mars? The hole was discovered by chance on images of the dusty slopes of Mars' Pavonis Mons volcano taken by the HiRISE instrument aboard the robotic Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter currently circling Mars”. (Photo by NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Rihanna arrives at the GQ Men Of The Year Party at Chateau Marmont Hotel on November 13, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)

Music fans attend Day 1 of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival 2011 held at the Empire Polo Club on April 15, 2011 in Indio, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Girls hold hands as they arrive their New Year parties in Newcastle, England on December 31, 2019. (Photo by Craig Connor/North News and Pictures)

A bird vendor holds a cage with a bird on a sideroad after a heavy snowfall in Kabul on January 5, 2022. (Photo by Mohd Rasfan/AFP Photo)

A yawning leopard appears to be laughing instead at Chobe National Park in Botswana in January 2023. (Photo by Nick Dale/Solent News & Photo Agency)