India, recognized for its rich native biodiversity, faces even greater challenges. India represents four major biodiversity hotspots—the Western Ghats, the Himalayas, the Sundarbans, and the Indo-Burma region and has lost almost 90% of its unique habitats in these areas. As per International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, In India out of the 1212 animal species, 12% are currently listed under endangered category. This emphasizes how urgent it is to combat with the threats like habitat destruction and illegal trade. Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a major concern and growing global issue that threatens both plant and animals, disrupting their habitat, lead change ecosystem’s and native biodiversity. Between 2015 and 2021, enforcement agencies were seized around 13 million of wildlife products across 162 countries. These products represented around 4000 species from them around 3000 species are listed under CITES. Such highly and widespread exploitation of wildlife puts immense pressure on native biodiversity, species survival, and disturbs ecological structure. The illegal harvesting of wildlife for commercial gains—whether for traditional medicines, exotic pets, or luxury items—worsens the problem. Iconic species such as tigers and elephants, as well as precious woods like sandalwood and red sanders, are being targeted. This not only threatens their survival but also destabilizes the ecosystems they support. Animals such as the Indian Star Tortoise (Geochelone elegans), Monitor Lizards (Varanus) serve as stark examples of how illegal wildlife trades can wave through entire ecosystems. Losing a single species can disrupt the entire food chains and natural system. Moreover, wildlife trafficking increases the risk of zoonotic diseases, that transfer from animals to humans and posing serious health threats. Another significant issue in India is the introduction of non-native and exotic species. By accident or design, these species are widely used in the pet and aquarium industries. Invasive species like water hyacinth and Parthenium have crowded out native flora and fauna, throwing ecosystems off balance. The pet trade has made things worse, turtle species like the Red-eared Slider are outcompeting native turtles’ species, leading to further biodiversity harm. Besides the ecological impact, IWT affects societies that heavily depend on local resources. It undermines local economies and sustainable development. Undertaking this issue calls for strong protection laws, international cooperation, and local people involvement. With only such combined efforts can we hope to protect native biodiversity and reduced IWT.