Overview

• The date, set at a 1929 Vienna congress by the Organization for World Animal Protection, was chosen to coincide with St. Francis’s feast day.
• Coverage cites National Geographic estimates of roughly 7.7 million animal species worldwide with more than 20% at risk of extinction in 2025.
• Pope John Paul II’s 1980 designation of St. Francis as patron of animals helped popularize traditions such as the Blessing of the Animals.
• Reporting spotlights active efforts like Argentina’s Iberá rewilding, which reintroduces native species to restore ecosystems.
• The day also renews attention to the 1978 Universal Declaration of Animal Rights and to national priorities such as protecting yaguareté, venado de las pampas and the franciscana dolphin.