Kashmiri Muslim brides sit during a mass marriage of 30 couples in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, February 21, 2024. Mass weddings in India are organized by social organizations primarily to help economically weaker families who cannot afford the high ceremony costs as well as the customary dowry and expensive gifts that are still prevalent in many communities. (Photo by Mukhtar Khan/AP 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)

David Pena poses for a photograph with his Lada 2101 built in 1979 on a street in Havana February 9, 2015. Getting parts from the United States is cheaper than in Cuba, where state-run stores sell them at four times the cost, said Pena, a mechanic and president of the Russian Car Club in Havana who drives a souped-up, sporty red 1972 Lada 2101 that he fixed himself. His own Lada has a Fiat engine and an extra Alfa Romeo carburetor. (Photo by Enrique De La Osa/Reuters)

A instructor (2nd L) from the Philippine Mermaid Swimming Academy assists participants of a monofin swimming summer workshop as they practise floating in the water of a private pool in Paranaque city, metro Manila April 5, 2014. The Philippine Mermaid Swimming Academy workshops, which were originally conducted on the beaches of Boracay Island, central Philippines, currently cost 1,800 pesos per person ($40) for a two-hour session. (Photo by Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

An Indian bride, sits during a mass marriage of 162 Muslim couples in Ahmadabad, India, Sunday, March 3, 2013. Mass marriages in India are organized by social organizations primarily to help the economically backward families who cannot afford the high ceremony costs as well as the customary dowry and expensive gifts that are still prevalent in many communities. (Photo by Ajit Solanki/AP Photo/LaPresse)

Tao Xiangli gets out of his homemade submarine after operating it in a lake on the outskirts of Beijing September 3, 2009. Amateur inventor Tao, 34, made a fully functional submarine, which has a periscope, depth control tanks, electric motors, manometer, and two propellers, from old oil barrels and tools which he bought at a second-hand market. He took 2 years to invent and test the submarine which costs 30,000 yuan ($4,385). (Photo by Christina Hu/Reuters)