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)

Iraqi firefighters try to stop the fire of burning oil wells in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, 02 June 2016. Two Khabbaz oil field wells in Kirkuk Province, northern Iraq, exploded by suspected insurgents, a security official said. (Photo by EPA/Stringer)

Police officers wield their batons against a man as a punishment for breaking the lockdown rules after India ordered a 21-day nationwide lockdown to limit the spread of coronavirus in New Delhi, India, March 25, 2020. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

A skier in a festive costume attempts to cross a pool of water at the foot of a ski slope while competing in the annual Gornoluzhnik amateur event to mark the end of the ski season at the Bobrovy Log ski resort in the suburbs of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, April 14, 2019. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Lea Meyer of Team Germany falls into the water obstacle during the Women’s 3000m Steeplechase heats on day two of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 at Hayward Field on July 16, 2022 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Martin Rickett/PA Wire Press Association)

Lilly Caron, 8, of Bridgeton, Maine, Jason Homchick, of San Diego, and Lilly's father Jason Caron, (obscured), ride the Sky Swing at Seacoast Adventure, Thursday, July 14, 2016, in Wyndham, Maine. The 100-foot-tall swing gives riders the combined thrills of sky diving and hang gliding. (Photo by Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo)

Latefat Alao, 56, a ethnic Yoruba Muslim woman, waits for customers in front of her in Beere market in Ibadan, southwest Nigeria, January 29, 2015. Much of the grain and wheat traders like Alao sell comes from the north and Boko Haram's campaign has negatively affected farmers and food markets. Reuters photographer Akintunde Akinleye photographed Nigerians and asked them about their views on the elections as well as their hopes and concerns for the country. (Photo by Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)

In this March 2, 2018 photo, an Andean man rests with his llama while tourists take in the natural wonder of Rainbow Mountain in Pitumarca, Peru. Tourists gasp for breath as they climb for two hours to the 16,404-foot (5,000-meter) peak in the Peruvian Andes, but stunned by the magical beauty that unfurls before them. (Photo by Martin Mejia/AP Photo)