2016 Rio Olympics, Handball, Preliminary, Women's Preliminary Group B Netherlands vs France, Future Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 6, 2016. Lois Abbingh (NED) of Netherlands celebrates a goal. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

Police gesture in respect towards a monk as they block protesters trying to march to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC summit venue, Friday, November 18, 2022, in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photo by Wason Wanichakorn/AP Photo)

Folk artists perform “iron flowers”, a folk art performance of throwing molten iron to create fireworks, in Daying County of Suining City, southwest China's Sichuan Province on January 26, 2023. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

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 man wears a gas mask as he holds a bouquet of flowers, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus on Valentine’s Day in Hong Kong, China on February 14, 2020. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

A stork-billed kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis) is seen perched on a tree during monsoon rain on July 25, 2016 in Bintan, Indonesia. The stork-billed kingfisher is a tree species which is widely but sparsely distributed in the tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India to Indonesia. This kingfisher is resident throughout its range. It is very large, measuring 35 to 38 cm (14 to 15 in) in length. The adult has a green back, blue wings and tail, and grey head. (Photo by Sijori Images/Barcroft Images)

Nose to Nose; Human/Nature winner. “Doug Gimesy was documenting work at the Joey and Bat Sanctuary near Melbourne when he met a wombat (Vombatus ursinus) whose mother had been killed by a car. Gimesy watched as a young veterinary student bottle-fed the orphaned joey, then touched her nose to the joey’s in a tender moment of interspecies bonding”. (Photo by Doug Gimesy/BigPicture)

A pedestrian holds an umbrella to protect from the sun in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Photo by Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo)