WWF looks for species that:

Help ensure the long-term survival and health of many threatened habitats and their associated species such as:
elephant, reef-building coral.
Are Top predators such as
Amur leopard, clouded leopard, polar bear, sharks, tuna, dolphins, porpoises.
Symbolize key global threats to biodiversity such as:
marine turtles, whales & dolphins, porpoises, sharks, and albatross (bycatch); polar bears (climate change); tigers, elephants, rhinos, marine turtles (illegal wildlife trade).
Are some of the world’s most-threatened large mammals such as:
mountain gorilla, Cross River gorilla, snow leopard, Amur leopard, Javan rhino, Sumatran rhino, Irrawaddy dolphin, North Atlantic right whale.
Are emblematic species such as:
tiger, giant panda, elephant, gorilla, orangutan, whales & dolphins, marine turtles, kangaroos.
Are humankind’s closest relatives:
the Great Apes, especially the bonobo.
Are critical for the health, livelihoods, and economic security of local communities such as:
ginseng, Korean cedar pine, humphead wrasse.
That form the basis of, and are threatened by, significant commercial activity and inadequately regulated or unsustainable global trade such as:
threatened fish species like cod, tuna, salmon, and sturgeon; and threatened hardwood timber species like bigleaf mahogany and ramin.