World Wildlife Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2013 as a way to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants. March 3 was selected since it was the signature day of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973.
The theme of the 2021 World Wildlife Day is Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet. This theme was selected to highlight the importance that forest ecosystems and species play in the lives of hundreds of millions of people globally. This theme also supports some of the UN sustainable development goals and their promises to ensure sustainable use of resources and land conservation.
There are a number of fox species listed in the CITES appendices. The Blanford’s fox, Andean fox, Darwin’s fox, South American gray fox, Pampas fox, Crab-eating fox, and Fennec fox are all listed in Appendix II and the Bengal fox and three subspecies of red fox found in India are listed in Appendix III.