Justice for Wildlife
Kenya is considered as one of the world’s most notorious hotspots of poaching and hubs of trafficking in wildlife products of various species. In fact, Kenya is considered by the Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species as a country that does not meet all the legal requirements in the compliance with protection standards of wildlife under the convention and as such has a low response to wildlife crime. WildlifeDirect has a core mission of connecting people to their wildlife and nature and inspire them to value and act to preserve it. We believe that the only way we can achieve this is by advocating for transparency and accountability in how wildlife and environmental compliance laws are developed and enforced. We do this through our Legal Department which engages with all relevant wildlife law enforcement authorities in Kenya to strengthen their response to wildlife crime. It engages with these authorities through several targeted activities.
Eyes in the Courtroom
Data Collection
Tracking Cases
Capacity Building
WildlifeDirect calls on South Africans to overturn the amendment to the Animal Improvement Act (AIA) that has categorized selected endangered species as farmed animals
WildlifeDirect strongly opposes the legislative move by South Africa to list endangered species as farmed animals – although we recognise South Africa’s sovereign right, this is an abuse of a global natural resources.
Law enforcement officers sentenced to life imprisonment for poaching
Four Administration Police Officers were last week convicted to life imprisonment or pay a fine of not less than 20 million shillings ($200,000) each for being in possession of a wildlife trophy without a permit.
From ivory queen to jail bird
A court in Tanzania has convicted and sentenced Yang Feng Glan, infamously named ‘The Ivory Queen’ and two of her associates to 15 years in prison. This is welcomed news signaling an end to a 5 year protracted case where Ms. Yang and two Tanzanians were charged with economic crimes for trafficking in more than 706 pieces of elephant tusks in 2014.
MADE POSSIBLE BY
The Eyes in the Courtroom Program is a partnership between WildlifeDirect and the Judiciary Training Institute, and is generously supported by Wildlife Conservation Network’s Elephant Crisis Fund (ECF), Save The Elephants, Whitley Segre Foundation, Cedar Hill Foundation, Straus Family Foundation and the Elephant Crisis Fund.
