Endangered Wildlife Investigations

14/02/2024

"Logocentrism: The problem with human language and our relationship with (other) animals."

Read Adam Cruise’s most recently published paper exploring the link between our language usage and the decline of wildlife:

https://www.africanelephantjournal.com/logocentrism-the-problem-with-human-language-and-our-relationship-with-other-animals/

27/10/2023

In October 2021, Endangered Wildlife Investigations undertook an undercover investigation in Johannesburg as part of a wider investigation conducted by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) International. The Chinese Government had been ramping up its expansion of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in Africa as a key part of its controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Major TCM companies and countless clinics are already been established across Africa, with further plans to construct full supply chains from sourcing to sales.

The published report on our findings can be found here:https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/EIA-Lethal-Remedy-FINAL.pdf

And a published article via the Mail and Guardian can be found here: https://mg.co.za/the-green-guardian/2021-12-05-lethal-remedy-concern-over-african-trade-in-traditional-chinese-medicine-that-contains-threatened-species/

16/10/2023

The export of live baby elephants from Zimbabwe (2012-2019) was one of our very first investigations.

Ongoing undercover investigations revealed the scale and horror of the capture, transportation and export of live elephants from Zimbabwe. China became a dominant buyer of African elephants in 2012 at the time when there was a spike for the demand for elephants due to the massive proliferation in the construction of zoos and ‘safari’ parks across the country. Until 2020, when results of these investigations banned any further exports of live elephants. Zimbabwe has since been sanctioned by the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the organisation that regulates international trade in wildlife, to sell live wild-caught elephants abroad.

Links to the CITES document and some of the published articles related to this report can be found below:

https://www.endangeredwildlifeinvestigations.com/work-1/the-export-of-live-baby-elephants-from-zimbabwe-2012-2019

19/03/2023

Calling all Cape Town based conservationists:
Tomorrow (Monday 20th March) Dr Adam Cruise will be giving an enlightening talk at Noordhoek Art Point on the state of wildlife conservation. He’ll address habitat destruction, wildlife population declines and various other conservation issues we are currently facing, along with potential solutions. He’ll also have a few copies of his most recently published, highly acclaimed book “It’s Not About the Bats” on hand.

If you’re around, we’d love to see you. Please RSVP to [email protected] to book your spot for this important conversation.

06/03/2023

Following on from our previous post: On the 11th August 2021, Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) issued a press release stating that it will capture 57 wild African elephants. It had sold them to interested but as yet undisclosed buyers. Of the 57 elephants, 42 were to be exported ‘outside Namibia’.

After a two month field-investigation led by Adam Cruise into Namibia’s overall conservation model (May / June 2021), we found that these impending captures and exports are likely to endanger some of Namibia’s isolated elephant populations, in particular, the uniquely desert-adapted elephants from the arid Kunene Region in the northwest of the country. Also, despite claims by the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, the income generated from these sales is unlikely to benefit local communities, and will most-likely violate Namibia’s international wildlife trade obligations under its agreement with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The full report can be found here:

Namibia’s sale of live elephants (May/June 2021) On the 11th August 2021, Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) issued a press release stating that it will capture 57 wild African elephants. It had sold them to interested but as yet undisclosed buyers. Of the 57 elephan...

06/03/2023

EWI is proud to announce that one of its field investigations - to Namibia in June 2021 - has inspired a magnificent painting by Joni-Leigh Doran Fine Art. It is entitled: The Vanishing. The painting speaks of the unlawful captures and exports of wild elephants from Namibia to zoos in the United Arab Emirates. Twenty-two individuals were plucked from a rapidly dwindling population of uniquely desert-adapted elephants. The impact of such an export may be the tipping point to their extinction. This painting portrays the harsh realities that these animals face. Hopefully, this piece will add to the crescendoing clarion call for better protection, not only of these desert adapted elephants, but for all species of endangered wildlife.

01/02/2023

Endangered Wildlife Investigations is a wildlife investigation agency committed to the improvement of the conservation and welfare of endangered wildlife, and the upliftment of impoverished local communities throughout the world.

We adhere to the basic principle that wildlife and local communities get the best possible protection and well-being. Our field experience is used to provide guidance to enforcement agencies, government departments and international policy decision-makers. We form partnerships with international organisations, local groups and activists by supporting their work in providing essential information to affect a positive change.

EWI Founder and Director, Dr Adam Cruise has been a wildlife journalist for twenty years. Decades of reporting on global wildlife issues such as poaching, trade and trophy hunting led him to delve deeper into the mechanisms fuelling such issues. Cruise, together with various individuals and teams of experts, have uncovered and reported on topics from trophy hunting and poaching to the trade in endangered species from elephants to Coral reef fishes. Cruise has a PhD in Philosophy specialising in environmental ethics and has contributed to a number of international publications and documentaries.

For any issues or concerns relating to threats to endangered wildlife, we can assist. Our expert investigators and analysts combine decades of experience in endangered wildlife-related subjects.

To learn more about us, visit https://www.endangeredwildlifeinvestigations.com