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)

Yu Jietao, 26-year-old wood carver, sits in his homemade wooden car along a street in Guangfeng county of Shangrao, Jiangxi province, China February 9, 2015. The car can travel as fast as 30 km (18.6 miles) per hour, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Keep your eyes peeled: A Chinese teenager slipped and stabbed himself in the face with a 7cm knife while peeling an apple. Ren Hanzhi's father recalled: “He was walking to the sofa while peeling the apple. Suddenly he slipped down and his face hit onto the sharp knife. I dared not pull out the knife as my son was screaming”. The nearest hospital referred the 13-year-old to a larger unit. Chief surgeon Peng Liwei, who operated to remove the knife, commented: “It's shocking. The knife, which is more than 20cm long, penetrated 7cm into his face. The surgery was successful and the patient could recover fully in around a month”. (Photo by Rex Features)

Shortlisted: Pooyan Shadpoor, Houcheraghi. While walking along the shore of Larak, Iran – an island in the Persian Gulf – Shadpoor came across this luminous scene. The “magical lights of (the) plankton ... enchanted me so that I snapped the shot”, he writes. (Photo by Pooyan Shadpoor/2016 EPOTY)

On July 7, Chinese archaeologists from the Academy of Social Sciences announced that they have reconstituted a 5,300-year-old Mongolion pottery statue found at a relic site in North China, according to Xinhua news agency.

This perfectly-timed GoPro snap captures the moment an angrymagpiecame within inches of a biker, as swooping season takes hold in Australia. The notoriously aggressive bird can be seen flying with its wings tucked in so it looks exactly like a torpedo in the magnificent photograph from Middlemount, Queensland. Retail businesswoman Monique Newton, 53 was riding pillion with a friend when she spied the divebombing bird – but rather than speed off, they slowed down to capture it up close. (Photo by Monique Newton/Caters News Agency)

“Li Xiaolu (also known as Lulu and as Jacqueline Li) (born 30 September 1982) is a Golden Horse award-winning Chinese actress, best known for her role in Joan Chen's directing debut Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Chinese actress and singer Li Xiaolu performs during the 2008 Beijing Pop Music Awards ceremony organized by Beijing Music Radio FM 97.4 on January 11, 2009 in Beijing, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Buses are stranded in a flooded street in Fuzhou, Fujian province, July 24, 2014. Typhoon Matmo hit Taiwan on Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and strong winds, shutting financial markets and schools. It passed the island and headed into China, downgraded from typhoon to tropical storm. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)