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South Africa’s legal commercial lion industry is helping to act as a cover for the illegal international big cat bone trade.
Lions at a commercial facility in South Africa.
Courtesy Bloodlions
About 8,000 lions are being held in facilities across South Africa. In some cases, a legal operation is plugged into an illicit trade network.
Sebastian Chekunov
New research exposing the surprising scale and diversity of Australia’s invertebrate pet trade online highlights the need for better regulation to protect our wildlife and manage biosecurity threats.
The photographer wishes to remain anonymous
New research investigates a poorly known wildlife trade.
A redtailed catfish.
Bk87/Shuttterstock
Trade in exotic pets online is far more prevalent and diverse than previously thought. Threatened species, invasive species and banned imports are all for sale.
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images
The findings suggest that poaching rates are lower where there is strong national governance and levels of local human development are higher.
Ivory poaching is threatening regional elephant populations.
MPH Photos/Shutterstock
Japan was one of the world’s largest ivory markets – research explains why the country is no longer a key destination for the product.
Este Kotze/AP
Tackling this global problem requires an international effort – particularly by rich nations where the demand for exotic pets is increasing.
Techniques from the security sector guide a lot of modern conservation work.
Marina Ortega/Alamy Stock Photo
Money pouring into conservation has funded drones and military-style training for rangers.
An indigo flycatcher.
Zhikai Liao
The pet trade threatens to decimate some species – and dull nature’s colour palette.
Plavi011/Shutterstock
A new study reveals the major players and routes involved.
Endangered Timneh parrots in illegal trade in West Africa.
Rowan Martin/World Parrot Trust
Social media platforms have enabled wildlife traders to connect as never before. Some operate legally, within the boundaries of international laws. Others are less scrupulous.
Amnat30/Shutterstock
We analysed the legal systems regulating the wildlife trade in China. Here’s what we found.
Komodo dragons were illegally exhibited at the zoo.
Anna Kucherova/Shutterstock
The lawsuit resembles earlier legal efforts to make tobacco companies remedy wrongdoing.
Jack Maguire / Alamy
A production line takes tigers from zoos to be harvested for their meat, skin and bones.
EPA-EFE/Laurent Gillieron
Reptiles are consistently overlooked by regulators of the trade in wildlife, but many face extinction in the wild.
For sale: a bird market in Indonesia.
Peter Nijenhuis / flickr
By understanding what drives people to buy wild species, we can figure out how best to stop them.
A smuggled pangolin rescued from the illegal wildlife trade in Indonesia.
Arief Budi Kusuma/Shutterstock
Promote new habits, find out why people engage with the wildlife trade and don’t make it seem more widespread than it really is.
Elephant bulls in the Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe.
GettyImages
Statistical models and the knowledge of on-the-ground rangers are valuable and complementary sources of evidence for biodiversity conservation.
Growing evidence suggests that most leopard populations across southern Africa are threatened by exploitation.
GettyImages
If left unregulated, the unsustainable exploitation of leopards will have severe ecological and evolutionary costs.