The CITES species

Roughly 5,000 species of animals and 29,000 species of plants are protected by CITES against over-exploitation through international trade. They are listed in the three CITES Appendices. The species are grouped in the Appendices according to how threatened they are by international trade. They include some whole groups, such as primates, cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), sea turtles, parrots, corals, cacti and orchids. But in some cases only a subspecies or geographically separate population of a species (for example the population of just one country) is listed. The table below shows the approximate numbers of species that are included in the CITES Appendices as from 22 December 2011*. A more detailed table is available here.

	Appendix I	Appendix II	Appendix III
FAUNA
Mammals	297 spp. (incl. 10 popns) + 23 sspp. (incl. 2 popns)	492 spp. (incl. 4 popns) + 5 sspp. (incl. 1 popn)	44 spp. + 10 sspp.
Birds	156 spp. (incl. 2 popns) + 11 sspp.	1275 spp. + 2 sspp.	24 spp.
Reptiles	76 spp. (incl. 1 popn) + 5 sspp.	582 spp. (incl. 6 popns)	56 spp.
Amphibians	17 spp.	113 spp.	1 sp.
Fish	15 spp.	81 spp.	-
Invertebrates	64 spp. + 5 sspp.	2142 spp. + 1 sspp.	22 spp. + 3 sspp.

FAUNA TOTAL	625 spp. + 44 sspp.	4685 spp. + 8 sspp.	147 spp. + 13 sspp.

PLANTS	301 spp. + 4 sspp.	29105 spp. (incl. 2 popns)	119 spp. (incl. 5 popns) + 1 sspp.

GRAND TOTAL	926 spp. + 48 sspp.	33790 spp. + 8 sspp.	266 spp. + 14 sspp.

(updated on 21 November 2011)

Any type of wild plant or animal may be included in the list of species protected by CITES [see Resolution Conf. 9.24 (Rev. CoP15)] and the range of wildlife species included in the Appendices extends from leeches to lions and from pine trees to pitcher plants. While the more charismatic creatures, such as bears and whales, may be the better known examples of CITES species, the most numerous groups include many less popularized plants and animals, such as aloes, corals, mussels and frogs.

On this site, you can find the lists of species included in CITES Appendices I, II and III, as well as photographs of many of the listed species.

To find more details of the CITES species, you can search the CITES-listed species database hosted by UNEP-WCMC and the Checklist of CITES species.

Please note that these numbers are approximate because there are no agreed lists for some of the higher taxa.

The abbreviation "spp." is used to denote species; "sspp." for subspecies; and "popns" for populations.