By Dr Daniel Stiles Key Takeaways * The 2008-2018 ivory crisis was widely thought to be over, but a run of large 2026 seizures suggests otherwise. * Four major busts this year (Zambia, Tanzania, Vietnam, Laos) point to organized crime, not isolated incidents. * With seizures estimated at only ~10% of trafficked
By Nick Roden In July 2025, I flew to South Africa with a camera bag full of equipment and a fairly straightforward job: document the training of a new anti-poaching team for Pro Track. The training officially began on 30 July and finished with the passing-out parade on
Danny Banda is the game ranger manager at Nyamvu Safaris in Zambia. Danny grew up in one of the villages around the reserve and joined as a ranger in 2011. Today he runs its anti-poaching operation — the senior man over every scout in the field, some of whom once
On an ordinary day in a Botswana wildlife reserve in 2015, a camera trap caught a leopard doing something extraordinary. She was moving along a track she knew well. Nothing stood in her way. No dogs. No electric fences. No one with a rifle. And then she stopped, turned, and
By Prof Brian Child Key Takeaways * Conservation was imported. Colonial powers transplanted American-style parks and state-owned wildlife through the London Conventions of 1900 and 1933. Little has changed since. * Fences, not hunters, did the damage. Livestock, farming, and fences drove the real historical losses. * Early rangers were not
By Talia Meikle Key Takeaways * For 25 years, VFAPU has protected wildlife in and around Victoria Falls, where people and animals share the same urban landscape. * Its work combines patrols, technology, trained dogs, intelligence networks and community cooperation to disrupt poaching. * Bushmeat, snaring, deforestation and wildlife trafficking remain serious threats,
Of all the animals that the Phalaborwa Natural Heritage Foundation rescues from wire snares, the spotted hyena is at the top of the list. Hyenas get caught in snares more than other animals because the smell of rotting carcasses attracts them, and they end up in snares that are still
The drive from Lusaka to Nyamvu Game Reserve, on the banks of the Luangwa River in eastern Zambia, normally takes 7 hours. It took Zaeed Patel thirty-six hours in his first rainy season in the area. He had to sleep on the side of the road. This is remote
By Dr Daniel Stiles Key Takeaways * Ant trafficking is emerging as a serious new wildlife crime, especially in East Africa. * Booming demand for exotic pet ants in Asia and beyond drives the trade. * Smuggling ants can cause real ecological harm, including colony collapse and invasive-species risks. * Kenya says much
The Kabwoya Wildlife Reserve stands as the only ecologically intact savannah along a 200-kilometer stretch of Lake Albert’s shoreline in Uganda. Established initially as a controlled hunting area in 1963, this remote wilderness once harbored significant populations of Uganda kob, buffalo, and Jackson's hartebeest. Then came
Key Takeaways * Africa’s rangers are frontline conservation workers under intense pressure. Many are underpaid, undertrained, and lack insurance. * Staffing and resource shortages are weakening protection efforts. * Rangers are doing more community engagement, but training has not kept pace. * The report calls for greater recognition, better conditions, and professional reform.
In the far west of Botswana lies a place where people live surrounded by elephants and yet remain among the poorest in the country. For thirty-five years, communities across southern Africa have been told that if they own the wildlife on their land, it can pay. For most, it