Wildlife on the Market: Oxford Study Calls for Urgent Protection of 900 Vulnerable Species in International Trade

Dr. Dan Challender's groundbreaking study uncovers a crisis: hundreds of species threatened by trade lack CITES protections.

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Challender and his dedicated team embarked on an ambitious journey to map the blind spots of CITES.

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Their startling revelation? Of 38,245 globally threatened and near threatened species, 5.8% (2,211 species) are likely endangered due to international trade.

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CITES only protects 59% (1,307 species) of these, leaving two-fifths, or 904 species, exposed to global trade.

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These unprotected species aren't just any random collection of organisms. They include 370 critically endangered and endangered species.

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These shocking revelations present a critical challenge, both to CITES and the recently brokered Global Biodiversity Framework.

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As the global community gears up for the next CITES Conference of the Parties in 2025, the data presented here should serve as a wake-up call.

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The research indicates that species threatened by local and national resource depletion outnumber those threatened by international trade by four times.

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The time is ripe for a paradigm shift in how we view and manage the trade of our world's precious wildlife.

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