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)

Crowds on the beach in Cape Canaveral, Fla., watch the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew Dragon on its Crew-1 mission carrying four astronauts, Sunday, November 15, 2020, in this 3 1/2-minute time exposure. The rocket was launched from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center at 7:27 p.m. Sunday evening. (Photo by Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP Photo)

Women walk at lunch time along Kings Road in Chelsea during Storm Eunice, in London, Britain, February 18, 2022. Britain put the army on standby Friday and schools closed as forecasters issued two rare “red weather” warnings of “danger to life” from fearsome winds and flooding due to the approaching storm Eunice. (Photo by Kevin Coombs/Reuters)

Jenn Brown of CFX (Composite Effects) adjusts a silicon mask based on Pinhead from the movie franchise “Hellraiser” in their stall during Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/AP Photo)

A gull gives its familiar cry on the roof of a beach bar on the Baltic coast on July 16, 2024. (Photo by Jens Büttner/dpa)

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 mobile phone showing the time at noon, is displayed for a photo in front of an almost empty road with low traffic, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, March 31, 2020. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Yandex.Eda food delivery service employees by Barrikadnaya Station of the Moscow Metro in Moscow, Russia on April 12, 2020. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expanded non-working period till April 30, 2020 to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. (Photo by Sergei Savostyanov/TASS via Getty Images)