People sometimes ask me how I can do my job. Actually, I don’t know how the folk at STE do theirs. EIA’s work is in many ways a one removed from the grim reality of poaching because we are focusing on the trade; so it’s rare for us to be present at the immediate aftermath of a poaching incident.
Our Lead Campaigner, Debbie Banks, reports on the recent CITES meeting where civil society was voted out of the room in a ploy for China and others to discuss our ivory investigation findings. China's lack of enforcement is alarming and we will continue to challenge it on its CITES commitments to tigers and elephants.
Our Intelligence Analyst, Charlotte Davies, discusses the valuable insights into criminal behaviour that can be gained from engaging illegal traders through covert operations. These insights need to be shared among enforcement agencies to help better understand and combat illegal wildlife trade in a changing world
The rhino is under siege again. Poaching and the smuggling of their horns has now been acknowledged as out of control. This is evidenced by the flurry of information from the field – particularly from South Africa (SA). Emails and text messages come in pretty much on a weekly basis
You might have heard there was a tiger conference in Delhi last week, you’ve probably seen news about India’s tiger population, but did you hear anything about China’s absurd comment about tiger trade? Probably not.
Being an undercover wildlife crime investigator can be stressful. Convincing the criminals you investigate that you are one of them while at the same time gathering evidence to incriminate them can be mentally exhausting. It’s like being Jekyll and Hyde. Knowing when to press and when to step back is key