World Wildlife Day

World Wildlife Day is on March 3 every year to raise awareness of endangered animals and plants, and ways to fight against wildlife crime.

Pledges and Donations

Wildlife crime involves illegally selling and buying animal body parts, as well as stealing or killing animals that are protected by government laws. Organizations like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the United Nations (UN) want to end these kinds of crimes, so they promote the day by asking people to:

• Back a ranger - donate money to help rangers who protect endangered animals get equipment and training they need to stop wildlife crime.
• Sign pledges urging governments to strengthen their laws to stop wildlife crime.

What's Open or Closed?

World Wildlife Day is a global observance and not a public holiday so it's business as usual.

About World Wildlife Day

Wildlife trade is one of the most profitable illicit trades in the world, estimated at up to $10 billion annually. Illegal wildlife trade of elephant ivory, rhino horns, and tiger products, is widespread in many countries, particularly in Asia and Africa. It is controlled by dangerous crime syndicates that traffic wildlife like drugs or weapons.

On December 20, 2013, the UN added World Wildlife Day to its calendar as an official event to be celebrated from March 3, 2014, onwards. It declared the day out of concern that wildlife crime had negative economic, environmental and social impacts worldwide.

While we diligently research and update our holiday dates, some of the information in the table above may be preliminary. If you find an error, please let us know.