An otter reaches for a snack from a customer at an otter cafe in Tokyo. Asian small-clawed otters are increasingly popular as novelty pets, particularly in Japan. Now international trade in the species may be banned. (Photo by Noriko Hayashi/The New York Times)

Cambodia's Pov Sokha and Soeur Chanleakhena compete in the female pair sword form category of the vovinam event during the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Hanoi on May 19, 2022. (Photo by Nhac Nguyen/AFP Photo)

Thailand's Patsapong Amsam-ang waits under an umbrella during a break due to heavy rains in the men's pole vault final during the 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Phnom Penh on May 8, 2023. (Photo by Mohd Rasfan/AFP Photo)

Thailand's Lac Somruedee Pruepruk balances the ball during the sepak takraw women's match against Malaysia at the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Hanoi on May 17, 2022. (Photo by Ye Aung Thu/AFP Photo)

South Korea's Hur Yoonseo and Lee Riyoung take part in the Free Routine segment of the Artistic Swimming Women's Duet competition at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Saturday, October 7, 2023. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

In this May 12, 2017 photo, Pupy, an African elephant, stands in the doorway of his enclosure at the former city zoo now known as Eco Parque in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A year ago the 140-year old Buenos Aires zoo closed its doors and was transformed into a park. The first director decided that the animals should be housed in buildings that reflected their countries of origin. A replica of a Hindu temple was built for the Asian elephants. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

Indonesian mahouts clean their Sumatran elephant in a river near the zoo in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, 12 December 2014. According media reports, the smallest of the Asian elephants, Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatrensis) is facing serious pressures arising from illegal logging and associated habitat loss and fragmentation in Indonesia. The population has come under increasing threat from rapid forest conversion to plantations. (Photo by Dedi Sahputra/EPA)

Secondary school students perform a barefoot “pilgrimage of suffering” to support the Occupy Central civil disobedience movement at the Admiralty protest site in Hong Kong November 30, 2014. It has been two months since police first fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators from the main protest site in the Admiralty district next to government offices in the heart of the Asian financial centre. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)