The endangered species of China may include any wildlife species designated for protection by the national government of China or listed as endangered by international organizations such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The
red panda (
Ailurus fulgens) is a Class II species in China, an
endangered species on the IUCN Red List and listed in Appendix I of the CITES.
As one of the world's most biodiverse countries and its second most populous, China is home to a significant number of wildlife species vulnerable to or in danger of local extinction due to the impact of human activity.[2][3] Under the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife, the national and local governments are required to designate rare or threatened species for special protection under the law. The type of legal protection that a particular species in China enjoys may depend on the locality of administration. For example, the Beijing Municipal Government designates the wild boar and masked palm civet, which are found in the wilderness around the municipality, as local Class I protected species even though none are among the Class I or II protected species designated by the national government.[4]
China is a signatory country to the CITES and the national government's protected species list generally follows the designation of endangered species by CITES, but also includes certain species that are rare in the country but quite common in other parts of the world so as not to be considered globally threatened (such as moose and beaver) or are vulnerable to economic exploitation thus require legal protection (such as sable and otter). The Chinese endangered species classifications are updated relatively infrequently, and a number of species deemed to be endangered by international bodies have not yet been so recognized in China. Many of the listed species are endemic to the country, such as the groove-toothed flying squirrel and the Ili pika.
The species listed in this article are designated by one or more of the following authorities as endangered or threatened:
- The List of Wildlife under Special State Protection as designated by the Chinese State Council pursuant to Article 9 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife[5][6]
- The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in Appendix I of its catalogue includes "species threatened with extinction".[7]
- The Red List of Threatened Species compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[8]
