Police have arrested two people suspected of breeding and selling exotic cats in Spain. Officers detained the pair at a property in Manacor, on the island of Majorca, after finding 19 exotic cats including a desert lynx and two servals, according to a statement from the Guardia Civil on Monday.

With a demand for exotic felines on the rise, often driven by social media, endangered and protected populations are under even more threat.

Spanish authorities have arrested a couple suspected of selling exotic cats online, including protected species such as white tigers, pumas and clouded leopards. Civil Guard police raided the couple's home on the island of Majorca after learning that they were owning and breeding rare feline species which they then sold on social media.