Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an
international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of
wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. At the time of writing the present introduction
(September 2013), 178 countries were party to CITES.
The United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is the
specialist biodiversity assessment centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the world’s
foremost intergovernmental environmental organization. The Centre has been in operation for over 30 years,
combining scientific research with practical policy advice.
This publication may be reproduced for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission,
provided acknowledgement to the source is made. Reuse of any figures is subject to permission from the
copyrights holders. No use of this publication may be made for resale or any other commercial purpose
without permission in writing from the CITES Secretariat. Applications for permission, with a statement of
purpose and extent of reproduction, should be sent to the CITES Secretariat, International Environment
House, 15, Chemin des Anémones, CH 1219 Châtelaine (Geneva), Switzerland.
The geographical designations employed in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion
whatsoever on the part of the compilers, the CITES Secretariat or the United Nations Environment
Programme concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area, or concerning the delimitation of its
frontiers or boundaries.
Citation:
UNEP-WCMC (Comps.) 2014. Checklist of CITES species. CITES Secretariat, Geneva, Switzerland, and
UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Accessed on [Date].
With financial support from: CITES Secretariat, UNEP-WCMC and the European Commission
Front cover image copyrights: Green iguana: FikMik; Blue branching hard coral: Tyler Fox; Macaw Plumage: Eduardo
Rivero; Frog shadow: Patryk Kosmider; Golden Birdwing butterfly: Jason S; Aloe ferox: Tish1; and Asian elephants:
Ekkachai. All cover images used under licence from Shutterstock.com
FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The advent of new and innovative information and communication technologies provides CITES Parties with
electronic tools and resources that can be used to facilitate the implementation of the Convention. Among
these resources is the database-driven 2013 edition of the Checklist of CITES species, which offer a number
of innovative ways to use nomenclatural information on CITES-listed species.
For example, this new edition allows users to download information on species in different data formats
compatible with databases and other datasets. This will make it far easier to ensure consistency between
national checklists and the nomenclature adopted by the Conference of the Parties to CITES. In addition, it is
now possible to generate customized checklists where information can be collated using different criteria,
including countries, Appendices or taxa, or any combination thereof. This possibility to tailor checklists to
one's needs will make this resource much more flexible and capable of meeting the needs of a wide range of
users. Another bonus is that, because the online Checklist will be updated as necessary, Parties will always
have access to the most up-to-date information.
Equally exciting is the possibility of partnerships with other organizations developing projects to meet the
needs of Parties. In this regard, the CITES Secretariat is working with the UNEP World Conservation
Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) to develop a system where data from the Checklist of CITES species will
be integrated with those from checklists from other multilateral environmental agreements, with a view to
promoting and facilitating harmonization of nomenclature.
A database-driven Checklist also makes information more accessible to the public through the provision of
easy-to-use search criteria, including by country or Appendix. As a result, the Checklist can now serve a dual
role, first as the official digest of scientific names contained in the official standard references, as recognized
in Resolution Conf. 12.11 (Rev. CoP16) on Standard nomenclature, and, second, as an educational
resource for students and teachers.
The CITES Secretariat is planning to enhance the Checklist of CITES species with a number of new services
before the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, scheduled for 2016. Such services will give CITES
Management Authorities the possibility to update their own systems with amendments to the CITES
Appendices as they are made, which will also reduce the risk of introducing errors in copying species names.
Another possibility will be to "pull" the names of species and the Appendices they are included in directly into
a CITES electronic permit or certificate. This function will also assist in the reduction of clerical errors,
thereby making trade easier to monitor and trace.
This database-driven Checklist was developed by UNEP-WCMC using data from the CITES species
database, under contract to the CITES Secretariat. I would like to acknowledge the excellent work of UNEP-
WCMC, and most particularly the staff responsible for the meticulous work involved. I also recognize the
contribution of the specific staff of the CITES Secretariat who not only gave guidance to the UNEP-WCMC
production team but also helped to update the text and prepared the output received for final publication.
The Checklist was also reviewed by the nomenclature specialists of the CITES Animals and Plants
Committees, Ms Ute Grimm and Mr Noel McGough, and the Secretariat is grateful for their work and their
comments.
The production and publication of the Checklist have been made possible through the generous funding of
the European Union. I should therefore like to express my sincere thanks to the European Union, not only for
this project but also for their continued general support for CITES activities.
The Checklist of CITES species is widely used and appreciated by CITES Management Authorities,
Scientific Authorities, Customs officers and others involved in the implementation and enforcement of CITES,
as well as by intergovernmental entities, international and national non-governmental organizations,
academics, the media and many others. We trust that this new electronic edition will be of value to you, and
we very much welcome any feedback and suggestions on ways to improve this resource in the future.
John E. Scanlon
CITES Secretary-General
Structure
The Checklist of CITES species comprises two parts: the Index of CITES species (the present output) and
the History of CITES listings. While users can choose to download tailored outputs of the Index of CITES
species, the complete publication is an alphabetical list of all animal and plant taxa included in the CITES
Appendices. The only exceptions to this are Appendix-II orchids. These are only included if they are listed in
the CITES Orchid Checklist, volumes 1-4, published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, or in the Checklist
for Bulbophyllum and allied taxa (Sieder, Rainer & Kiehn, 2007). For the orchid species not found in these
references, the CITES Species Index contains a record of the genera to which they belong, e.g. Aa spp, but
not of the individual species in each genus.
Three types of record are included in the Index of CITES species:
1) scientific names, which are the main records and contain all information;
Adopted scientific name (as Annotation to the CITES Appendix listing. The explanation
shown by the boldface), and of all annotations in superscript is provided at the end of
author's name and publication this PDF.
date (optional).
Family
11
Acinonyx jubatus (Schreber, 1775) I FELIDAE (Mammalia) (E) Cheetah, Hunting leopard,
(S) Chita, Guepardo, (F) Guépard
CITES Appendix English common names
Adopted scientific Annotation to the CITES Appendix listing. Annotations preceded by ‘#’
name and author relate specifically to plant taxa. The explanation of all ‘#’ annotations is
name (“L.”). "spp." provided at the end of the PDF.
means that all species
in this genus are
"NC" (non CITES) means that some species are
included in the
not included in the Appendices (see the note for
Appendices, unless
annotation "52" at the end of the PDF).
explicitly mentioned.
CITES Appendix number. "I/II" means Annotation to the CITES Appendix listing. The
that some species are included in explanation of all annotations in superscript is
Appendix I and some in Appendix II. provided at the end of this PDF.
I listed in Appendix I
II listed in Appendix II
III listed in Appendix III
NC non CITES
spp. all species of a higher taxon
var. variety
Superscript annotations 1 to 74. see the key for Annotations not preceded by "#" at the
end of this PDF
#1-#14 (flora only) see Key to # annotations at the end of the PDF
A synonym is followed by '=' and the scientific name under which all information is recorded.
Explanation: Loxodonta cyclotis is a synonym of Loxodonta africana. Go to “Loxodonta africana" to see the
full record.
Note: A same species name may be displayed as both a synonym and an accepted name when it has been
given by different authors to different species. Thus, the Index of CITES species contains the following
consecutive entries:
Selecting “Author's name” in the Advanced options will display the authors' names both on screen and in the
downloads, thereby clarifying these records as:
In other words, the Conference of the Parties to CITES has adopted Porites astreoides, as named by
Lamarck in 1816, and Porites solida, as named by Forskål in 1775, as the scientific names of two CITES-
listed species. In addition, it is recognized that the species that Verrill named Porites solida in 1868 is the
same as the one known to CITES as Porites astreoides.