WASHINGTON— The United States is a major market for the global pet trade, importing on average more than 90 million live animals each year, according to a report released today by the Center for Biological Diversity. The animals include amphibians, arachnids, birds, aquarium fish, mammals, reptiles and numerous imperiled species.

The Center’s analysis of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service data shows that about 30% of the animals imported for pets each year are taken directly from their wild habitats. In total, 248 million wild-sourced animals were imported from 2016 to 2024. Many of these animals originated from the world’s most biodiverse regions in Southeast Asia and South America.

“It’s alarming how many wild animals are imported to become pets in the U.S. every year. This massive trade puts immense pressure on increasingly vulnerable species and the places where they live,” said Dianne DuBois, a senior scientist at the Center. “Pet store policies and labeling are often confusing, so most consumers probably don’t realize the fish or lizard they bought their child is worsening the global extinction crisis. I hope this report will start to change this destructive trend.”

The report also highlights the United States’ role as a major exporter of wildlife for the pet trade, sending at least 17 million exotic animals to pet markets abroad each year on average. Seven of the top 10 pet exports are turtle species, which are among the most threatened groups of vertebrates and are increasingly at risk from overexploitation and habitat loss.

Imperiled species are regularly traded as pets. Between 2016 and 2024, the United States imported more than 12.5 million animals that the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers to be threatened with extinction. Wildlife exploitation, including for the pet trade, is a major driver of species’ declines and extinctions globally.

To prevent further declines and extinctions because of the pet trade, the Center’s report encourages people to avoid buying exotic pets, or at least ensure the animal is sourced from a legal, reputable captive-breeding facility and its populations are not declining in the wild. It encourages U.S. policymakers to ban the trade of wild-caught animals for the pet trade, implement a positive list of species appropriate for pet ownership, increase funding for effective enforcement of existing trade restrictions, and improve tracking and transparency of the wildlife trade.

“During the holiday season it’s particularly important to understand our role in global consumption and the impact of our purchases,” said DuBois. “The best gift we can give wild animals this season is to leave them in the wild.”