World Wildlife Day

March 3 was proclaimed as the day of signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) at the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly on December 20, 2013. March 3 is the UN World Wildlife Day and it is the day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants. Traditionally, wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species but today, wildlife includes plants, fungi and other organisms that grow and live in the wild. Wildlife can be found in all ecosystems - deserts, forests, rainforests, plains, grasslands as well as urban areas. The 2014 Living Planet Report by World Wildlife Fund indicates that the world wildlife population had decreased significant, as much at 52% from 1970 to 2014. As much as 39% of terrestrial wildlife, 39% of marine wildlife and 76% of freshwater wildlife are extinct.