A mural painting by graffiti artist Eme Freethinker features likenesses of US President Donald Trump (R) and Chinese premier Xi Jinping wearing face covers in Berlin on April 28, 2020 amid the new coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by John Macdougall/AFP 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 Uyghur boy sits atop a horse as he has his picture taken outside the Id Kah Mosque before the Eid holiday on July 28, 2014 in old Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, China. Nearly 100 people have been killed in unrest in the restive Xinjiang Province in the last week in what authorities say is terrorism but advocacy groups claim is a result of a government crackdown to silence opposition to its policies. China's Muslim Uyghur ethnic group faces cultural and religious restrictions by the Chinese government. Beijing says it is investing heavily in the Xinjiang region but Uyghurs are increasingly dissatisfied with the influx of Han Chinese and uneven economic development. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

In this photograph taken on September 22, 2016, a Pakistani devotee decorates symbolic paper boats, an offering to Muslim saint Abdulqadir Jilani as a way of giving thanks after their desire to give birth to a son was fulfilled, before dropping it into the water during an annual ceremony on the banks of the River Ravi in Lahore. The ceremony commemorates a centuries-old tale that Muslim saint Abdulqadir Jilani raised a sunken ship carrying a wedding party, at the pleading of the groom's mother, saving all the occupants. (Photo by Arif Ali/AFP Photo)

A woman sits as she gets a tattoo on her leg during the annual Panama City Ink Fest in Panama City August 16, 2015. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

Osman Abdulahi carries fish at the Orobo beach in Hamarweyne district of Mogadishu, Somalia on November 5, 2021. (Photo by Feisal Omar/Reuters)

An India Christian devotee reenacts the sufferings of Jesus Christ on the occasion of Good Friday in Mumbai, India, Friday, March 29, 2013. Christians all over the world are marking Good Friday, the day when Christ was crucified. (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/AP Photo)

Long row of shiny new Flying Fortresses, part of huge reserves being built up in Britain for D-Day, stands by to be flown to combat units as replacements, May 25, 1944. (Photo by AP Photo)