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)

Japanese women wearing “yukata” casual summer kimono take selfies at Asakusa district in Tokyo, Japan, 13 September 2020. Asakusa is one of Tokyo's most-visited areas and is usually crowded with tourists. In Japan, the numbers of visitors from abroad fell by 99.9 percent from a year earlier in July due to the ban for entries of foreign visitors amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA/EFE)

Ecuador fans ahead of the FIFA World Cup Group A match at the Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor on Sunday, November 20, 2022. (Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Wire Press Association)

A health worker applies a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine during the first day of a three-day COVID-19 vaccination campaign for people over age 35 in the Complexo da Maré favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Brazil, Thursday, July 29, 2021. Some recipients will be monitored to study the rate of protection the vaccines provide and the extent to which virus variants are circulating. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

Leon Samson, 24-year-old showman, grimaces as an automobile is driven across his chest at Perth, Australia on October 9, 1960. Samson said the towel on his chest is to prevent the wheel from tearing his flesh. (Photo by AP Photo)

Winner of the National Park Foundation's photo contest; Honorable Mention: Fan Favorite. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Three friends enjoy sunrise over the Grand Canyon. (Photo by Peter Blanchard)

Winner. “This was taken in the South Ari Atolls, Maldives, as the south-west monsoon season was setting in. It features my partner – and dive buddy – Emma after surfacing at the end of the last dive of the day to find 1.5 metre swells and dark monsoon clouds. MICK RYAN, JUDGE: This beautiful portrait of a diver in an ocean swell below a menacing sky stands out this month for its emotional and elemental beauty. It is a reminder that while we may play among nature we are always dwarfed by its power and must be constantly on our guard”. (Photo by Simon Dunn/The Guardian)

Dani tribeswoman smokes a cigarette and shows her amputated fingers in, Western New Guinea, Indonesia, August 2016. Deep in the highlands of Western New Guinea, Indonesia, lives one of the world’s most isolated tribes. Known as the Dani people, the tribe was unwittingly discovered by American philanthropist, Richard Archbold, after an expedition in 1938. (Photo by Teh Han Lin/Barcroft Images)