Wildlife Justice Commission

06/18/2026

🎉 This week we celebrate a major conservation milestone in Zimbabwe, where 17 critically endangered black rhinos have been reintroduced to Matusadona National Park, 30 years after the species was removed to protect it from poaching pressure.

💡 Why this matters: In the early 1990s, poaching reduced Matusadona's black rhino population from around 250, to just 16. Today, advanced protection measures- including dehorning, drone surveillance, and tracking technology are helping to give these rhinos a safer future in the wild.

🦏 But conservation success depends on more than reintroduction and protection efforts. Rhino horn trafficking continues to fuel organised criminal networks and drive poaching across Africa. To ensure wildlife recoveries like this can endure, we have to continue disrupting the illegal trade that threatens rhino populations worldwide.

06/18/2026

🌍 Our Executive Director, Olivia Swaak-Goldman was recently in New York at the United Nations, where governments, experts, and organisations from around the world came together to discuss how to better tackle wildlife trafficking and other crimes that affect the environment. 🤝

At the Wildlife Justice Commission, we've seen that these crimes rarely happen in isolation. The same criminal networks trafficking wildlife are often linked to corruption, money laundering, and other forms of organised crime. 🔗

The takeaway is clear: if we want to protect wildlife and the environment, we need to look beyond the environmental offence itself and work together to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the criminal networks behind it.🎯

06/16/2026

🚨 Four suspected wildlife traffickers arrested and 130.84 kg of ivory seized in Nigeria.

On 13 June, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the National Environmental Standards & Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), acting on intelligence developed by the Wildlife Justice Commission, arrested four suspects during coordinated operations in Ogun State and Lagos.

The operation targeted a senior figure within the illegal ivory trade and is expected to have a significant disruptive impact on the trafficking network.

This marks the 21st successful investigation conducted in partnership with NCS since 2021 and is another example of how intelligence-led enforcement and strong law enforcement partnerships are helping to transform the wildlife trafficking landscape in .

Traffickers who once operated with relative impunity are facing increasing pressure as authorities continue to identify, target, and disrupt the criminal networks driving the illegal wildlife trade.

👏 We commend NCS and NESREA for their commitment and continued leadership in combatting organised wildlife crime.

Read the full story on our website to learn how intelligence-led enforcement is helping to disrupt wildlife trafficking networks in Nigeria:

Four suspected ivory traffickers arrested and seizure of 130.84 kg of ivory in Nigeria following operation supported by Wildlife Justice

06/16/2026

One of the most important steps you can take to help stop the illegal trade in sea turtles is to be a responsible traveller and consumer—think carefully about what you buy, what you consume, and the impact of your choices when abroad. Small, informed decisions can make a real difference.

This is a timely reminder that protecting wildlife starts with awareness and action. 🐢🌊

At Wildlife Justice Commission, we work to disrupt the criminal networks that profit from the exploitation of these species, but we can’t do it alone. You can support this work by staying informed, making responsible choices, and helping to sustain efforts to protect wildlife, including through support that enables this work to continue 👉bit.ly/WildlifeJusticeDonate

06/16/2026

Team Wildlife Crime vs Team Wildlife Justice ⚽️
No match for justice.

06/11/2026

A California man has been sentenced to 65 months in prison for smuggling at least 1,700 reptiles into the United States over a six-year period, including species such as Yucatán box turtles, Mexican box turtles, baby crocodiles and Mexican beaded lizards. 🐢

In total, the trafficking network generated over USD 739,000 in illegal wildlife trade, highlighting how networks operate as structured supply chains, using social media to source, advertise, and coordinate the movement of wild-caught animals across borders without CITES permits or customs declarations. Payments were organised around each successful cross-border “shipment,” reflecting a coordinated and commercialised trafficking model rather than isolated offences.

The Wildlife Justice Commission recognises this as part of a broader pattern in which wildlife trafficking is increasingly driven by criminal networks operating across jurisdictions. It is encouraging to see continued focus by law enforcement on these interconnected criminal structures, which are essential to dismantle in order to disrupt the trade effectively. 💪



https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/california-man-sentenced-65-months-prison-trafficking-least-1700-animals-united-states?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

06/11/2026

2025 was a defining year for the Wildlife Justice Commission. It marked not only one of the most operationally significant years in our history, but also our tenth anniversary—ten years since the organisation was founded at the depth of Africa’s poaching crisis with a singular objective: to disrupt and help dismantle transnational criminal networks driving wildlife crime. 🌍

Over the past decade, our intelligence-led model has evolved into a field-tested model for disrupting wildlife and marine trafficking networks at scale. 🦏 🦈 . In 2025, that work delivered some of our most significant results to date.

None of this would be possible without our partners. From governments and law enforcement agencies to foundations, lotteries, and individual supporters, our partners enable the long-term, intelligence-led approach required to confront organised wildlife crime. 🤝

We extend our sincerest thanks to the supporters who make our work possible.

Read our 2025 Annual Report: bit.ly/4onbxcC

06/08/2026

Beneath the surface, sharks, seahorses, sea cucumbers, and countless other marine species help keep ocean ecosystems healthy, resilient, and in balance. 🦈🪸🪷

Their survival is critical for biodiversity, the health of the oceans that regulate our climate, supporting livelihoods, and sustaining life on Earth.

However, many of these species are being systematically exploited by transnational criminal networks that profit from the illegal wildlife trade. It is pushing species towards extinction and eroding the health and resilience of our oceans.

We need to treat wildlife trafficking as what it is: organised crime. To protect marine species, we must target the criminal networks driving their decline.

The good news is that we know what works. When organised crime is treated as organised crime, these networks can be disrupted, species can recover, and oceans can thrive. 🪸🌊🌱

The thriving ocean in this post is the future we are working towards, and one worth protecting.

06/05/2026

Protecting the environment means protecting wildlife.🐒🦈🐅🦏🦜🐢🐘

Wildlife trafficking often removes keystone species that help keep ecosystems in balance. When these species disappear, forests🌲, oceans🌊, and grasslands🍂 become less resilient, affecting everything from carbon storage and climate regulation to ecosystem recovery.

Climate change and biodiversity loss are closely linked, and protecting wildlife is an important part of protecting the climate. By disrupting the criminal networks that profit from wildlife trafficking, we can help reduce pressure on vulnerable species and support healthier, more resilient ecosystems.

When wildlife is protected and criminal networks are disrupted, ecosystems can recover. Nature has a remarkable ability to restore itself when given the chance.🌱

On World Environment Day, we are reminded that positive change is possible, and that protecting wildlife means protecting a more stable future for all.