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)

An ethnic Lisu man dances barefoot on hot charcoal embers to celebrate the annual Knife Pole Festival in Luzhang township of Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan province, China, March 29, 2018. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

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)

Bar Convent employee Lauren Masterman relaxes after cleaning a historic George and Arthur Maw tiled floor created in 1867, one of only two surviving examples of this assemblage of tiles, at England's oldest living convent Bar Convent on October 13, 2020. Visitors to the convent are being invited to follow in the footsteps of residents from the last 150 years and enjoy the historic space decorated with rare 19th century floor tiles. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)

Dancers from “LA Dance Project” perform, wearing a mask, during the drive-in show “Solo at Dusk” in Los Angeles, California, on October 13, 2020, amid the Coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Valerie Macon/AFP Photo)

A French Bulldog named Nord Boss stands an the back of his owner Natasha while they skateboard in the Sokolniki Park in Moscow, Russia on October 14, 2020. (Photo by Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters)

Men dressed in protective suits stand around the coffin of Kenyan doctor Daniel Alushula who died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during his funeral in the village of Khumusalaba, in Kakamega county, Kenya on November 13, 2020. (Photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters)

Residents wearing masks to protect from the coronavirus cross a junction in Beijing on Wednesday, January 20, 2021. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)