In a new project, an international group of photographers have joined forces to use their powerful images to raise awareness and funds to help stop the illegal wildlife trade. Here: Fennec foxes are captured for the illegal pet trade. This three-month-old pup was for sale in a market in southern Tunisia. (Photo by Bruno D'Amicis/Photographers Against Wildlife Crime/Wildscreen/The Guardian)

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)

An image of a Fennec fox painted on a tree hole by Wang Yue is seen in Shijiazhuang, on March 13, 2013. Wang Yue, a senior at Dalian Industry University, uses her paintbrush to turn ugly tree holes into lovely views in Shijiazhuang, capital city of Hebei Province, China. Wang and her companions call the tree-hole paintings “meitu”, which means “beautiful journey”. The paintings on the trees have brightened the city during the dull, grey winter. (Photo by Pillar Lee/Reuters)

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A tale of two foxes. Surprising behaviour, witnessed in Wapusk national park, on Hudson Bay, Canada, in early winter. Red foxes don’t actively hunt Arctic foxes, but where the ranges of two predators overlap, there can be conflict. Though the light was poor, the snow-covered tundra provided the backdrop for the moment that the red fox paused with the smaller fox in its mouth in a grim pose. (Photo by Don Gutoski/2015 Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

A crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous), also known as the forest fox, wood fox, or maikong, is seen in the wild in the municipality of Guasca, some 50 km from Bogota, on May 16, 2020. (Photo by Diana Sánchez/AFP Photo)

Breath of an Arctic fox by Marco Gaiotti, Italy. Marco was watching this little Arctic fox as it incessantly called another nearby. Gradually he noticed the fox’s wet breath was quickly freezing in the air after each call. It was late winter in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, and the air was -35C (-31F). Photographing Arctic foxes is often frustrating, as they are normally running around fast in search of food, but this one was very relaxed and let Marco get close enough to focus on it, with the light glowing perfectly in the background. (Photo by Marco Gaiotti/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021)

This image released by Twentieth Century Fox shows Kristen Stewart in a scene from “Underwater”. (Photo by Alan Markfield/Twentieth Century Fox via AP Photo)

Residents in fox makeup participate in the Oji Fox parade to thank the outgoing and welcome the incoming year at the Oji Inari shrine in Tokyo late on December 31, 2017. (Photo by Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP Photo)