In this July 5, 2016 photo, a tamed elephant rests in a pool of water by a road in Baduraliya, a village outside Colombo, Sri Lanka. Even as the country cracks down on illegal ownership, the enduring demand for elephants has the government planning to set up its own pool of captive animals to be hired out to temples for ceremonies and maintained with budget funds. (Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)

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)

A demonstrator shows her arm with the name “Marielle” written on it, as she performs during a protest against the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, March 20, 2018. Franco's murder came just a month after the government put the military in charge of security in Rio, which is experiencing a sharp spike in violence less than two years after hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics. (Photo by Leo Correa/AP Photo)

Ivanka Trump, Advisor to the US President, attends the “Global Call To Protect Religious Freedom” conference during the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters, September 23, 2019. President Trump skipped the Climate Action Summit as the United States withdrew from the 2016 Paris Climate Agreemnet. (Photo by Anthony Behar/Sipa USA)

Robert Galvan, who is on death row for murder, speaks to members of the media at the Adjustment Center yard during a media tour of California's Death Row at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, California December 29, 2015. America's most populous state, which has not carried out an execution in a decade, begins 2016 at a pivotal juncture, as legal developments hasten the march toward resuming executions, while opponents seek to end the death penalty at the ballot box. (Photo by Stephen Lam/Reuters)

Dead sperm whales are seen washed up on a beach on Texel Island, The Netherlands, January 13, 2016. The five sperm whales that beached on the Dutch lsland of Texel on Tuesday have died overnight, Dutch media reported. It is extremely unusual for so many whales to be in Dutch waters, a spokesman for the Ecomare marine centre told local paper Noordhollands Dagblad. Efforts to get the whales back into open water on Tuesday evening failed and rescuers finally withdrew from the beach at around midnight. The area of beach where the whales are has been closed to the public, to minimise the distress to the animals. (Photo by Cris Toala Olivares/Reuters)

A general view shows the Krasnoyarsk hydro-electric power station on the Yenisei River near the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, January 13, 2016. The power plant, owned by EuroSibEnergo company, part of En+ Group, with a generating capacity of 6,000 megawatt (MW), has a ferro-concrete dam 124-metres high and 1065-metres long and is the second largest Russian hydroelectric power station. About 85% of the energy generated is intended for the Rusal Krasnoyarsk aluminium smelter, according to representatives of the power station. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

A protester is taken to hospital after he was wounded by birdshot during a street protest after it was announced that the runoff Jan. 24, presidential election had been postponed, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, January 22, 2016. The Provisional Electoral Council in Haiti has postponed the election amid escalating protests by the opposition, which claims the first round was marred by fraud in favor of a government-backed candidate. (Photo by Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo)