An airplane house is pictured in the village of Miziara, northern Lebanon May 12, 2015. Miziara prides itself on building residential homes that resemble ancient Greek temples and Egyptian ruins, one is even built in the shape of an Airbus A380. (Photo by Aziz Taher/Reuters)

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)

Dancers perform on their way to attend a rally with former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, “Lula”, supporting President Dilma Rousseff in the historic Lapa neighborhood on April 11, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazil's congressional impeachment committee approved the motion to proceed with President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment process today. A full vote by the lower house of Congress on the impeachment is scheduled for Sunday to decide whether she will face trial. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

A Hawaiian cleaner wrasse provides its cleaning services to a yellowfin goatfish in a reef community off the Big Island in Hawaii. Cleaner species help rid their hosts of ectoparasites, dead tissue, bacteria and fungi. Studies have shown cleaning to play a vital role in keeping many reef ecosystems healthy. (Photo by Marty Snyderman/Caters News Agency)

Split-view of a killer whale at sunrise off the coast of Northern Norway. At least half of the world’s killer whale populations are doomed to extinction due to pollution of the oceans, a new study says. (Photo by Audun Rikardsen/Science)

Nobby the polar bear cools down as he plays in a lake at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster, England, Friday June 17, 2022. A blanket of hot air stretching from the Mediterranean to the North Sea is giving much of western Europe its first heat wave of the summer, with temperatures forecast to top 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) from Malaga to London on Friday. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Wire via AP Photo)

A Lion-Tailed macaque holds a big block of ice with a mix of frozen vegetables and fruit at the zoo in Leipzig, central Germany, Friday, July 19, 2013. Weather forecasts predict sunny weather and warm temperatures for Germany in the next few days. (Photo by Jens Meyer/AP Photo)

A chevrotain or mouse deer feeds in its enclosure at Zurich Zoo, Zurich, Switzerland, October 17, 2012. (Photo by Patrick B. Kraemer/AP)