An Ecuadorian judge renderedguilty verdicts last week against three people for trafficking protected species from the Galápagos Islands, including the critically endangered giant tortoise.

Products derived from pangolins, whose populations around the world have been brought to the brink of extinction by relentless poaching, are widely advertised on open web platforms – says a new report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC).

Cheetah trafficking rates by sea from East Africa to Yemen reportedly increased by 58% between March 2020 and February 2021; once captured by poachers, these spotted cats are predominantly destined for the palaces of royalty and wealthy families in the Middle East and South-East Asia.

A non governmental organization fighting against illegal wildlife trafficking said it signed an agreement with the African Union (AU) to help the continent combat illegal wildlife trade and support development.

The fact that the pangolin is the world’s most trafficked mammal may have played a role in the emergence of the novel coronavirus, according to a report from the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime. 

Animal conservationists have warned that only 10 vaquitas are left in the world and have urged Mexico to eradicate illegal fishing in the northern Gulf of California, the animal’s sole habitat.

The president of the Mumbai Congress said a local forests minister has links to international poaching mafia and targeted him for the killing of a tiger that officials say took the lives of 13 people,India Today reported Saturday.

Two weeks after conservation officials alleged there’d been an unprecedented slaughter of elephants in Botswana’s national parks, the country’s officials challenged their numbers, saying this year’s elephant killings were at a normal level.

Over the past 17 years, nearly 96 million large sea snails valued at US$900 million have been illegally poached off the coast of South Africa and trafficked by organized crime groups, a new report released Wednesday reveals.

Illicit financial flows are allowing wealthy countries to profit from Africa’s wealth to the tune of tens of billions of dollars, according to a joint report by several campaign groups released Wednesday.