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)

Hailee Steinfeld performs at the American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater on Sunday, November 19, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP Photo)

Shoppers walk past crocodiles for sale at a market in Bata on February 3, 2015. Markets in Equatorial Guinea sell a variety of animals including pangolins, monkeys and crocodiles as food. (Photo by Carl de Souza/AFP Photo)

A stag deer stands in the road in Richmond Park, in west London, Britain, December 27, 2017. (Photo by Hannah McKay/Reuters)

General Maurice Gamelin, General Officer commanding the French Armies, is on a four day visit to England. He went to the staff college at Minley and is seen inspecting an anti-tank gun at Aldershot, on June 7, 1939. (Photo by AP Photo)

A man reacts to being warned by a British Transport Police officer for not wearing a face mask at King's Cross underground station, London, England on October 8, 2020. (Photo by Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images)

A boy flies a handmade kite from a roof, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). in Old Cairo, Egypt on July 26, 2020. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

Pigeons fly out from the mouth of a giant Buddha statue at Wat Nam Daeng Buddhist temple in Chachoengsao province, east of the Thai capital Bangkok, on October 11, 2020. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)