Illegal trade News

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Although operations like Green Shield are useful, experts say that they are not the solution for combatting illicit activities in the Amazon in the long run, as activities such as illegal mining continue to expand. Image courtesy of the UAE Ministry of Interior.

Formalizing small-scale gold mining can reduce environmental impacts & crime (commentary)

Robert Muggah 7 Aug 2025
mining equipment on fire

Cross-border operation cracks down on environmental crimes in the Amazon

Mie Hoejris Dahl 6 Aug 2025
Display and sale of fish maw during a cultural festival in Singapore.

Upmarket fish maw trade in Singapore & Malaysia includes endangered species: Study

Keith Anthony Fabro 6 Aug 2025
A loggerhead hatchling in Boa vista. Image courtesy of The Turtle Foundation.

Former poachers guard Cabo Verde’s endangered sea turtles

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 4 Aug 2025

Uncovering forest loss in gorilla park six months after M23 offensive in the DRC

Elodie Toto, Latoya Abulu 31 Jul 2025
Birds captured by traders at a temple in Nepal. Image by Abhaya Raj Joshi/ Mongabay

Illegal pet trade in Nepal now shifting online, research suggests

Abhaya Raj Joshi 31 Jul 2025
A leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea).

Malaysia’s turtle egg buyback scheme saved thousands — but is it sustainable?

Keith Anthony Fabro 31 Jul 2025
A critically endangered Philippine pangolin and its pup. The demand for their scales has resulted in Pangolins being the most trafficked mammals.

To save pangolins, we need to change the narrative (commentary)

Araluen Schunmann 28 Jul 2025
Thai authorities seized more than 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of ivory hidden in luggage shipped out from Congo to Laos via Bangkok in 2015.

Large-scale illegal wildlife shops in Laos found scamming Chinese tourists

Mongabay.com 22 Jul 2025
Mamiraua reserve. Image courtesy of Thiago A. Lacerda via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Community patrols can slash environmental crime by 80% (commentary)

Caetano Franco 21 Jul 2025
A male proboscis monkey with its characteristic long nose. The species is classified as endangered and is already threatened by habitat destruction, wildfires and hunting.

Study finds worrying uptick in proboscis monkey trade in Indonesia

Spoorthy Raman 18 Jul 2025
Yunhua Lin, left, at the court in Malawi in 2021. Image courtesy of EIA.

‘Shock and alarm’ as Malawi pardons wildlife trafficker Lin Yunhua

Madalitso Wills Kateta 16 Jul 2025
Data from transmitters helped the team identify corridors that are critical for the movements of the thick-billed parrots, which are endangered birds endemic to Mexico.

How drug cartels destroy the last habitat of Mexico’s thick-billed parrot (commentary)

Andrew-James Anthony 14 Jul 2025
A leopard in Panna National Park, India.

‘Forgotten’ leopards being driven to silent extinction by poaching and trade

Spoorthy Raman 26 Jun 2025
A mimic poison frog (Ranitomeya imitator).

EU remains major wildlife trafficking hub, report finds

Keith Anthony Fabro 23 Jun 2025
Glass eels are a juvenile form of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla), a species that undergoes an incredible 10,000 kilometer (6,200 mile) migration. Photo courtesy of Alessandro Cresci.

Glass eel smuggling booms despite bans, leaving species on the brink

Keith Anthony Fabro 23 Jun 2025
Waziri Mpogo harvests sea cucumbers at his ranch in Tanzania's Mafia Island. Image by Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay.

Tanzania’s Mafia Island eyes sea cucumber farming to prevent extinction

Mongabay.com 19 Jun 2025

Artificial nests help a rare Brazilian parrot bounce back

Mongabay.com 16 Jun 2025
A shortfin mako

Endangered shark trophies dominate the online wildlife trade, study finds

Spoorthy Raman 11 Jun 2025
A southern white rhino explores its surrounding after translocation from South Africa to Rwanda's Akagera National Park. Image © Gael Vande Weghe.

Seventy southern white rhinos arrive at their new home in Rwanda from South Africa

Graeme Green 10 Jun 2025
Pangolin at the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre in 2022

High-profile wildlife trafficking case tests Malawi’s conservation commitment

Madalitso Wills Kateta 10 Jun 2025
Jandhen Gurung, 82, with her juniper leaf collection. Image by Durga Rana Magar.

In Nepal, centuries-old Buddhist incense tradition faces overharvesting, climate threats

Durga Rana Magar 16 May 2025
Banner image: A truck carries logs cut from the Amazon Rainforest in the state of Rondônia. Image courtesy of Vicente Sampaio/Imaflora.

The world needs a new UN protocol to fight environmental crime (commentary)

Robert Muggah 15 May 2025
Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica

Indonesian pangolin trafficking prosecution reveals police involvement — and impunity

Ayat S. Karokaro 14 May 2025
A giant girdled lizard, also known as a sungazer (Smaug giganteus). Image by Cloudtail the Snow Leopard via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Traffickers slither through loopholes with wild-caught African snakes and lizards

Ryan Truscott 13 May 2025
Brazilian Indigenous lawyer Kari Guajajara. Image by USAID via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

‘We can’t talk solutions without understanding complexities: Kari Guajajara on Brazil’s Amazon

Latoya Abulu 12 May 2025
A male African lion in Serengeti National Park.

Trophies, body parts & live animals dominate global lion trade, data show

Alex Shaw, Spoorthy Raman 8 May 2025
The rescue team carries a deer rescued from an artificial amusement park.

Bangladesh cracks down on illegal wildlife captivity — but what happens after?

Abu Siddique, Sadiqur Rahman 6 May 2025
A chimpanzee of Mikeno Lodge in Virunga National Park, DRC. Image by Joseph King via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

Poaching intensifies in M23-occupied areas of Virunga National Park

Mongabay.com 30 Apr 2025
Agarwood is a prized constituent in incense, perfumes, medicines and ornaments and remains in high demand across East Asia and the Middle East–North Africa region.

Global agarwood trade heavily dependent on wild, threatened trees: Study

Keith Anthony Fabro 23 Apr 2025
Long-tailed macaques being held at Sookvannaseng Integrated's breeding farm in Bolikhamsai province, Laos. Image supplied by source.

Data discrepancies suggest Laos monkey smuggling persists, despite trade ban

Gerald Flynn 23 Apr 2025
Illegal logging observed in Gunung Palung National Park, Indonesian Borneo

Indonesia strengthens forest monitoring with new tool to meet EU deforestation law

Hans Nicholas Jong 21 Apr 2025

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