Members of the public enjoy a tea dance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom on April 12, 2022. (Photo by Sarah Lee/The Guardian)

An Afghan burqa-clad woman with children ride a donkey in Kishim district of Badakhshan province on October 12, 2023. (Photo by Omer Abrar/AFP Photo)

Fog hangs over the east of the capital on a frosty Sunday morning on January 12, 2025 in London, UK. (Photo by David Levene/The Guardian)

A severe thunderstorm hits Omaha, Neb., on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. (Photo by Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via 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 worker stack bricks on his head at a brick factory in Lalitpur January 12, 2015. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

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)