INSIDE THE WAR ON WILDLIFE CRIME

Wildlife crime not only threatens nature’s most iconic species, but exacerbates poverty and corruption, funding an entire spectrum of international crime.

 
In response to an elephant poaching crisis across Central Africa, Gabon’s president created a new army division to fight against wildlife crime. Here, Mba Ndong Marius holds seized Ivory tusks before a pile of confiscated weapons. Menkebe, Gabon.
Despite being resource rich, poverty is widespread in Gabon. This lady is from a Baka pygmy village near Menkebe. The Baka are targeted by crime syndicates and recruited as poachers due to their intimate knowledge of the jungle. Menkebe, Gabon.
Aurelie Kumbe and Tuburse Mouyamba take me to see an elephant carcass they found outside their village in the Gamba district of Gabon. The tusks are long gone, but bones as large as these are not easily buried. Gamba, Gabon.
In Mekobe village a man rolls the skin of a water cobra. For generations, rural Gabonese communities have survived sustainably from bushmeat. But poaching for commercial resale has created an unsustainable demand on large numbers of species.
A juvenile mandril monkey, it's mother was killed by poachers and it now lives in Minkebe village.
A night hunter in a logging concession outside Menkebe national park. Night hunting is illegal in Gabon but it is still a common practice in rural areas.
Two convicted poachers are handcuffed after interrogation at the jail in Oyem, Gabon. Elephant poaching brings much needed income that, for some, outweighs the risk of a three year jail sentence. Oyem, Gabon.
In Gabon, eco guard Soho Jocelyn prepares to leave his family and go on patrol in Menkebe National Park. Poachers frequently use automatic weapons, often killing rangers in clashes deep in the jungle.
Soho Jocelyn, an eco guard from Makokou, Gabon, says goodbye to his wife before going on patrol in Menkebe national park. He will be on patrol for two weeks.
Eco guards patrol the Oua river in North West Gabon. Rivers are often used as quick ways to export poached Ivory and other bush meat out of the jungle.
Eco guards check a dug out canoe on the Oua river. Rivers are often used as quick ways to export poached Ivory and other bush meat out of the jungle.
KWS ranger patrol unit at Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya. As part of WWF's Wildlife Crime Technology project.
Ranger anti-poaching unit at the Mara Conservancy at Maasai Mara National Reserve Kenya. As part of WWF's Wildlife Crime Technology project.
Tracker and detection dog "Anna" and her handler at Mara Conservancy at Maasai Mara National Reserve Kenya.
A large haul of bush meat laid out next to a police post outside Oyem. For generations, rural Gabonese communities have survived sustainably from bushmeat. But poaching for commercial resale has created an unsustainable demand.
A keeper comforts a juvenile elephant by blowing down its trunk.
A blind rhino at the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. It's parents were killed by poachers. Nairobi, Kenya.
Since the start of the 20th century we have lost 95% of our wild tigers. There are now significantly more tigers in captivity than there are in the wild. This Indochinese tiger is in captivity at the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua temple in Thailand.
A monk sits with a tiger at Kanchanaburi tiger temple, Thailand.
A tiger chained at Thailand's notorious 'tiger temple'. The ‘temple’ takes orphaned tigers into sanctuary, although it faces allegations of employing illegal tactics to get more tigers and profit from tourism. Kanchanaburi province, Thailand.
Police Major General Narasak Hemnithi - Commander of Natural Resource and Environment Crime Suppression Division (NRESCD)
Security outside the cargo holding facilty at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, Thailand.
A shipment of African elephant tusks is uncovered at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport Suvarnabhumi is a hub for trafficking narcotics, but the demand for animal products has added elephant tusks to the list of contraband. Bangkok, Thailand.
A Natural Resource and Environment Crime Suppression Division (NRESCD) officer inspects a shop selling ivory in Tha Phrachan market. Ornamental ivory is valued for both spiritual and aesthetic reasons, fetching high prices. Bangkok, Thailand.
In light of the recent escalation in poaching, the Thai government have assigned a special ops military unit to help tackle the issue. This military outfit patrol the Thailand and Myanmar border looking for tiger smugglers and wildlife criminals.
Elephants are not the only commodity being traded. This year has also seen a rise in the illegal sale of rhinos and tigers. This is just one of 16 tigers cubs seized on Friday (26 Oct).
This is one of 16 tiger cubs seized on 26th Oct 2012 after a botched effort to smuggle the cubs across the border from Thailand into Laos. A veterinary team from the wildlife forensic unit take blood samples to trace the DNA. Chaiyaphum, Thailand.
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Trade in domestic ivory is legal in Thailand, but possession of African ivory is not. Wildlife Conservation's biolab tests the DNA of confiscated ivory and captured tigers to establish origins and evidence for prosecution cases. Bangkok, Thailand.
Researchers at the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation's biolab conduct DNA tests on confiscated Ivory in order to determine it source of origin and thus prosecute people found in possession of African Ivroy.
East Africa Swaminarayan Satsang Temple in Nairobi has committed a proportion of the money it raises in donations to fight wildlife crime. Nairobi, Kenya
Seized weapons used by poachers are audited at the justice tribunal in Oyem before being transported to Libreville to be burnt along with the confiscated ivory as part of Gabon's ceremonious Ivory burn.
President Ali Bongo Ondimba in attendance at the Ovory burn. Here pictured speaking with the primeminister, Raymond Ndong Sima.
The president's security keep watch as Gabon burns its Ivory and weapons stockpile.
On 27th July, Gabon's president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, ordered the country's entire stockpile of Ivory, about 10 million dollars worth to be burnt, symbolising Gabon's antipoaching stance and determination to combat the illegal trade.
Gabon's stockpile of confiscated ivory goes up in smoke.
 
 

Sudanese Janjaweed militiamen, believed to be responsible for the massacre of hundreds of elephants earlier this year, are on the move again in Central Africa. Intelligence sources indicate that they are intent on shooting more elephants, profiting from wildlife crime to fund their terrorist activities.

Governments like Gabon are becoming increasingly alarmed by the threat posed by wildlife trafficking to national security. Rebel groups, drug syndicates and even terrorist networks have seen an opportunity to profit from a low risk, high reward criminal enterprise.

To safeguard its remaining elephants, Gabon President Ali Bongo has quadrupled the number of park rangers in the country. Bongo also presided over the burning of $10 million of illegal ivory seized from poachers, to ensure that none leaked back into the illegal trade.

On the other end of the trade, the final products are nearly unrecognizable. Jewellery and amulets made from ivory are sold in up-scale, air conditioned Thai boutiques whilst other animal parts are used in traditional medicines.

Wildlife crime not only threatens nature’s most iconic species, but exacerbates poverty and corruption, funding an entire spectrum of related international crime. These images trace the story from beginning to end, across continents, offering a sense of the fragility of the human lives that lie in its wake.