Cats gather in front of a house damaged by shelling in the town of Dokuchayevsk, south of Donetsk, February 12, 2015. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Labourers unload gravel from a boat docked in Dala township, opposite Yangon city, Myanmar, November 12, 2015. (Photo by Olivia Harris/Reuters)

A vendor sleeps as his son waits for customers at their roadside vegetable shop in New Delhi, February 12, 2019. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

A motorway bridge crosses the icy Hunhe River in Shenyang, China on December 12, 2019. (Photo by Costfoto/Barcroft Media)

Afghans pass a clothing storein Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, October 12, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/AP Photo)

Locals light firecrackers on the occasion of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in Chennai, India on November 12, 2023. (Photo by Idrees Mohammed/EPA/EFE)

A theater company performs “Insectes” during Santiago a Mil International Theater Festival in Santiago, Chile on January 12, 2023. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/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)