A woman holds an elderly woman on her back to cross a flooded street after a heavy rain in Shenyang, Liaoning province on July 14, 2017. (Photo by Fred Dufour/AFP 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)

Firefighters carry a woman on a stretcher after a car drove into the crowded seaside boardwalk along Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, January 18, 2018. Military police said on Twitter that at least 11 people were injured and that the driver has been taken into custody. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

A waitress of The Palais de Tokyo restaurant wears a protective face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus in Paris, Saturday, September 5, 2020. New French cases of COVID-19 jumped in 24 hours to nearly 9,000, health officials said Friday. The 8,975 new cases were the highest number of infections since France successfully grappled with the spread of the coronavirus during a strict two-month lockdown. There were some 1,800 cases less a day earlier and more than for European neighbors. (Photo by Francois Mori/AP Photo)

A French Bulldog named Nord Boss stands an the back of his owner Natasha while they skateboard in the Sokolniki Park in Moscow, Russia on October 14, 2020. (Photo by Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters)

A flight crew from China Airlines, wearing protective masks, stand in the international terminal after arriving on a flight from Taipei at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on February 28, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the global coronavirus risk level to “very high”. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

A man carries away an injured girl while walking through debris past in the Achrafiyeh district in the centre of Lebanon's capital Beirut on August 4, 2020, following an explosion at the nearby port of Beirut. (Photo by The Mega Agency/Stringer)

Venezuelan migrant and rap singer, Alfonso Mendoza aka “Alca”, 25, practice with his skateboard in a park in Barranquilla, Colombia on September 28, 2018. Alca -who arrived in Colombia nine months ago due to the crisis in his country- was born without legs and changed the wheelchair for a skateboard. At present, he is an example of overcoming adversity, practicing extreme sports, singing rap and giving conferences to young people in vulnerable situations. (Photo by Raul Arboleda/AFP Photo)