Officer cadets at Sandhurst military academy celebrate completing the Sovereign's Parade which see's them become commissioned officers in the army on April 11, 2025. The parade marks the completion of 44 weeks of intensive training for the Officer Cadets of Commissioning Course 242, all of whom will officially hold HM the King's Commission as of the stroke of midnight on the day of the parade. In addition, there are 26 international cadets from 18 countries. (Photo by Times photographer Richard Pohle)

A blue crab, a highly invasive alien species, is seen at Lio Piccolo during the reforestation day on April 05, 2025 in Venice, Italy. The island of Lio Piccolo in the northern lagoon of Venice is being replanted with 16,000 new trees that will protect the salt marsh ecosystem that is fundamental to the natural health of Venice and the lagoon by WOWnature project, an Etifor initiative. (Photo by Simone Padovani/Getty Images)

Young recruits of the 72nd Chorni Zaporozhtsi Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attend an exercise, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine on April 5, 2025. Ukraine's Defence Ministry launched a recruitment drive for young people, 18- to 24-year-olds, to serve in the military for a year for the equivalent of about $24,000 and hefty bonuses. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

An aerial image shows hot air balloons, mostly made from recycled paper and tied with ropes, floating in the air during the annual hot air balloon festival, held since 1950 to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic holiday marking the end of Ramadan, in Wonosobo, Central Java, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Devi Rahman/AFP Photo)

“Yunarmiya” (Young Army) All-Russia National Military Patriotic Social Movement Association members compete during the 7th military-patriotic game “Yunarmiya, forward!” dedicated to Victory Day at the Museum-reserve “Gorki Leninskie” in Gorki Leninskie, Russia, 29 April 2025. A total of 160 teams of Yunarmiya and military-patriotic detachments attended the games, each team consisting of seven people aged between 12 and 17 years old. The games are a continuation of the Soviet military-sports competitions for children and teenagers, “Zarnitsa” (since 1967) and “Orlyonok (Eaglet)” (since 1972). (Photo by Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA/EFE)

A woman looks at some of the 60 plane trees wrapped in a pink-and-white polka-dot design developed especially for Melbourne by Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama titled “Ascension of Polka Dots on the Trees”, in Melbourne on November 27, 2024. The National Gallery of Victoria’s (NGV) world-premiere blockbuster exhibition Yayoi Kusama will be on display from 15 December 2024 to 21 April 2025. (Photo by William West/AFP Photo)

Philippine actor Soliman Cruz wearing a business suit stands inside an 8-foot transparent bubble while other activists wearing masks touch the bubble during an anti-pollution protest near a park in Manila on April 25, 2025. The protest is part of a climate advocates 350 campaign on Manila's air pollution crisis, due to traffic emissions, fossil fuel and unchecked industrial activity. (Photo by Ted Aljibe/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)