At least 107,356 wild animal, plant and fungus species are in use or traded globally, more than double the roughly 50,000 previously estimated by IPBES. Researchers, led by the University of Melbourne and published in Science Advances, drew on records from nearly 10 international databases.

The trade spans timber, seafood, medicinal plants, ornamental fish, cut flowers, pets and fungi — and, for the most part, it is legal.

When people picture wildlife trade, they imagine smuggled elephants, tigers or pangolins, but lead author Alice Hughes says the trade is far broader and largely legal.

The Guardian reports the boom in online exotic pet sales — sellers posting spider eggs worldwide or sneaking reptiles onto planes — has left past assessments completely behind.

Sri Lanka Guardian reports seizures of illegally obtained wildlife account for just 0.01% of total trade volume, with illegal trafficking worth no more than 10% of the market.

CITES records about 40,980 species, mostly plants, but only covers species whose trade may threaten survival. The US LEMIS system, covering roughly 21,000 species, proved a key source because few countries record wildlife at species level.

Orchids make up almost two-thirds of traded plant species, and birds are the most traded vertebrates, with about 65% of known bird species involved in commerce.

Sri Lanka Guardian reports over 4,000 butterfly species and nearly 2,000 arachnid species are traded — more butterflies than IPBES estimated for all traded terrestrial invertebrates, as The Guardian notes.

Sri Lanka Guardian reports roughly 37 million seahorses are captured and sold every year, about 95% from countries where CITES has banned their trade.

The Center for Biological Diversity has petitioned to list the Javan slit-faced bat under the Endangered Species Act, warning The Guardian that US consumers buy taxidermied bats as Halloween decor. A 2023 review linked wildlife trade to the extinction of nearly 300 species.

Regulatory listings can take up to two decades, meaning species can be nearly extinct in the wild before protection arrives.

Hughes says the dimensions of trade have changed and cannot be managed without representative monitoring, calling current tracking completely inadequate.

Most countries lack systematic data outside CITES, and researchers urge systematic data collection and sharing, especially from Europe and emerging Asian exotic-pet markets.

Four years ago, nearly 200 countries agreed wild species trade must be sustainable, safe and legal, but progress is measured mainly through fish stocks — at most 3% of traded species, The Guardian reports.