Wildlife Justice Commission

10/16/2026

Thank you to Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) for covering our latest report on the illegal jaguar trade in Latin America.

Our findings indicate that the trade remains predominantly small-scale and opportunistic across the seven countries investigated, with specific international trafficking connections identified in Peru and Suriname.

The findings also suggest that sustained law enforcement pressure has contributed to changes in the trade, highlighting the importance of maintaining these efforts and closing key intelligence gaps to prevent the trade from expanding again.

An investigation by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) found that an opportunistic, small-scale trade persists across seven countries, while documenting specific international connections involving Peru and Suriname.

10/15/2026

The jaguar is an iconic predator found across Latin America. 🌎 Its parts and products, including teeth, bones, skins and bone paste, have a long history of illegal trade in the region.

So, what does the illegal jaguar trade look like today?🐆

📖 In our new report, "The illegal jaguar trade in Latin America: An updated intelligence picture", the Wildlife Justice Commission examines how the trade has evolved and whether jaguar products are entering international markets, drawing on investigations conducted between 2023 and 2025 across seven countries. 🔍

‼️The findings offer encouraging signs: sustained law enforcement pressure appears to be suppressing the trade, with traders becoming more cautious and opportunities for international trafficking decreasing in several locations.

However, trafficking persists. The report identifies evidence of international trafficking in Peru and Suriname, alongside intelligence gaps that require further investigation.

🕵‍♀️ Discover what our latest investigations reveal about the changing trade, the impact of law enforcement, and what more is needed to protect this iconic species.

Read the report: https://wildlifejustice.org/publications/the-illegal-jaguar-trade-in-latin-america/

10/14/2026

🌟 This week’s Wildlife Win of the Week comes from South Africa.

The Constitutional Court has dismissed an application by the South African Hunters and Game Conservation Association to have the animal well-being provisions in the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) declared unconstitutional and invalid. The provisions stay in place. 💚

Had the challenge succeeded, animal well-being would have lost its place in South Africa’s biodiversity law, the framework that governs how wildlife is managed, permitted and protected. Instead, the court has upheld provisions that took years of public participation, stakeholder engagement and scientific input to shape.

🐅 At the heart of the ruling is the recognition that wild animals are sentient beings, capable of physical, physiological and mental states that affect their quality of life. That means how animals experience their lives is a legitimate consideration in wildlife management and decision-making, not just their numbers or their commercial value.

The focus now shifts to implementation. Authorities will need to build animal well-being into permitting, oversight and enforcement, including finalising outstanding measures like the revised Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) Regulations.

10/13/2026

From the outset, Wildlife Justice set out to do more than expose wildlife crime. We set out to shut it down.

That meant generating intelligence and evidence that authorities could use to identify, investigate, and prosecute the people driving the trade.

One example was an 18-month undercover investigation into Nhi Khe, a major wildlife trafficking hub near Hanoi. Investigators identified 51 traffickers, mapped smuggling routes into China and documented an estimated USD 53 million worth of illegal wildlife products for a sale over a single year.

In November 2016, Wildlife Justice presented the evidence at a Public Hearing at the Peace Palace in the Hague. Within a year, the once open trade in Nhi Khe had largely been eradicated. This is what disruption looks like.

Discover more in "From inception to impact: 10 years of Wildlife Justice" 👉 https://bit.ly/4yhsKHG

10/12/2026

The Wildlife Justice Commission is grateful for the support of partners like Elephant Crisis Fund, whose contributions help us continue working alongside law enforcement to disrupt criminal networks trafficking wildlife. 🐘🤝

10/09/2026

Mozambique is a key transit route for ivory and rhino horn, and a key partner in shutting the trade down.

🔎Through training, mentoring and intelligence-led investigations, WJC has worked alongside partners and Mozambican authorities to strengthen the response to organised wildlife crime.

That work has contributed to major outcomes, including the investigation and arrest of Simon Valoi, known as “Navara”, who ran a major rhino horn trafficking network in the region. 🦏

➡️Swipe to see how our work in Mozambique is helping turn the tide against wildlife trafficking. Follow along as we take you to the next Country Spotlight! 💚

10/08/2026

🐢 This week’s Wildlife Win of the Week comes from Madagascar.

In March 2026, the Wildlife Justice Commission provided operational and intelligence support to Madagascar’s Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development who arrested three men and seized 167 radiated tortoises.

Madagascar’s Anti-Corruption Court sentenced one of the men, a high-level trafficker, to 10 years in prison and a second to five years. Both were also fined approximately USD 22,700. The third suspect was found not guilty.

🌟The Wildlife Justice Commission would like to thank and acknowledge the great work done by the MEDD team who acted decisively and professionally to achieve this result.

Radiated tortoises are classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Yet illegal collection for the pet trade continues to threaten the species.

167 tortoises kept out of the illegal trade, an organized criminal network disrupted and two traffickers behind bars. Cases like this show what’s possible when civil society and law enforcement collaborate.

🌿Sustained cooperation like this is key to disrupting trafficking networks, making wildlife crime a high-risk activity and helps to save species from extinction.

10/07/2026

10/04/2026

When we think about World Animal Day, we often picture the animals we know best.

Wildlife trafficking targets far more than the iconic species. Animals across land and sea are caught up in the illegal wildlife trade.

They may not always make the headlines, but they are valuable commodities for the criminal networks profiting from their exploitation.

This World Animal Day, we’re looking beyond the icons and at the hidden wildlife trades putting lesser-known species at risk.🦈🐢🦠🐉

Support our work to save species from extinction.

10/01/2026

🦏 Another Wildlife Win of the Week coming from South Africa.

The Hawks — South Africa's elite police unit for serious organised crime — have arrested a fifth suspect in one of South Africa's most brazen wildlife trafficking cover-ups. Nguyen Huu D**g, manager of the Voi game lodge, is accused of staging a fake armed robbery in December 2025 to mask the illicit sale of 98 rhino horns; some of which had already turned up in shipments intercepted at Singapore's Changi Airport a month earlier.

D**g is also the cousin of Chu Dang Khoa, alleged head of a wider trafficking syndicate spanning South Africa, Mozambique, and parts of Central and West Africa, with routes into Southeast Asia. 🌐 He now joins four other suspects already facing charges in the case.

🌟 This arrest is a real step forward. It starts to expose the network behind a single heist, not just the horns themselves. Cases like this show why sustained, cross-border investigation is so essential to holding these networks accountable.