Abu Dhabi, UAE – September 29, 2025 — The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) warns that the global pet trade in wildlife, both legal and illegal, is escalating, with devastating consequences for wildlife, ecosystems, and health.

At the upcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi (9–15 October), WCS will urge support for Motion 108 (link to motion), which calls for the development of IUCN Guidelines to strengthen national laws and curb the commercial pet trade in terrestrial wildlife.

Although not legally binding, IUCN Guidelines carry significant weight with governments and the conservation community, often shaping national and international policies and best practices. However, the motion is likely to face opposition from groups that resist any restrictions on the global pet trade.

Key Findings from a WCS Briefing:

  • The global terrestrial pet trade is vast, often poorly regulated and increasingly linked to organized crime, spanning everything from more common pets to endangered species coveted by collectors.
  • Most trade occurs outside the scope of CITES, leaving it effectively untracked, while online platforms and social media fuel unregulated sales.
  • Millions of animals—from cheetahs to parrots, songbirds, turtles and tortoises, snakes, lizards, frogs, amphibians, songbirds, and invertebrates such as tarantulas—are traded annually, often illegally and alongside other illicit activities.
  • Corruption and weak enforcement in some countries allow animals to be laundered back into markets, masking illegal activity as legal supply, while undermining the good conservation efforts of other countries.
  • Many countries are trying their best and prohibit export of their often endemic threatened and endangered species, but if those species are not listed on CITES, many importing countries often turn a blind eye and allow imports.
  • Even trade that is legal poses significant risks to many species in the wild; the current global system does not regulate trade unless a species is listed on the CITES Appendices, often after populations are severely depleted.
  • Impacts are severe: species declines, destabilized ecosystems, and mounting risks of pathogen spillover and associated zoonotic disease transmission.

Why It Matters Now

Seizures of illegally traded turtles, parrots, reptiles, and other species are reported almost daily—the visible “tip of the iceberg.” Without stronger international standards and enforcement, wild populations will continue to collapse, threatening both biodiversity and human well-being.

“A new paradigm is urgently needed,” said Sue Lieberman, vice president of WCS International Policy. “The world must recognize the global pet trade in wildlife as a serious threat to species in the wild, that erodes biodiversity and endangers health. Motion 108 is a critical step toward shifting global norms. We call on all IUCN Members to support this important motion at the upcoming Congress in Abu Dhabi.”

Added Elizabeth Bennett, vice president of WCS Species Program: "The wildlife pet trade is insidious because it involves appealing live animals, that people naturally warm to and want to care for. Yet it takes thousands of species and millions of animals out of the wild, leaving behind silent forests and other lands, devoid of their pollinators, seed dispersers—the animals that make the ecosystem function."

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