The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is the primary international framework for regulating wildlife trade. Its success in protecting species varies significantly.
Wildlife trade regulation has welfare implications at every stage. Legally traded wild animals experience capture stress, transport mortality, and often inadequate captive conditions. Illegally traded animals face the same welfare harms without any regulatory oversight. Effective CITES implementation reduces the volume of wildlife entering the trade, and thus the total welfare harm caused. However, CITES focuses on species conservation rather than individual animal welfare — enforcement gaps mean that even listed species face significant trade pressure.