Due to its vast territory, as well as its intricate and diverse natural environment, China’s animal resources are extremely rich, with more than 50,000 species of wild animals. According to relevant statistics in 2018, species of wild vertebrates in China account for more than 10% of the total number of animal species in the world. China has 499 species of mammals, ranking 5th in the world; 1,186 species of birds, ranking 10th in the world; 279 species of amphibians, ranking 6th in the world; 412 species of reptiles, accounting for 6.5% of the world’s total; about 3,400 species of fish, accounting for 12.1% of the world’s total; 30,000 species of named insects; 9 of the world’s 15 species of cranes; 46 of the world’s 148 species of geese and ducks, and 56 of the world’s 276 species of wild pheasants.

In China, there are Asian elephants walking through the tropical rain forests of Xishuangbanna in the south, Siberian tigers crouching in the ice and snow of the Lesser Khiggan Mountains in the north, Chinese sturgeons cruising in the Yangtze River, and Tibetan antelopes running on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Because of its unique history of geological evolution, China has many ancient species that have long been extinct in other parts of the northern hemisphere, such as giant pandas, golden monkeys and wild Bactrian camels. China also has more than 100 species of unique and rare wild animals including South China tigers, brown eared pheasants, red-crowned cranes, crested ibis, white-flag dolphins and Chinese alligators. Meanwhile, China is also a country with a large distribution of endangered animals. According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 120 endangered animals originating in China (referring to species originating in China) listed in the appendix of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, 257 species on the List of Wild Animals under State Priority Conservation, and 400 species of birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish in the China Red Data Book of Endangered Animals.