Wildlife

EIA’s wildlife campaign delivers lasting protections for some of the world’s most iconic species threatened by illegal trade and habitat degradation. Since its inception in 1984, EIA has been dedicated to protecting our world’s wildlife, relying on the best available scientific and trade data and intelligence from investigations, to support policies and actions that protect threatened and endangered species. EIA’s work focuses on stopping the illegal and unsustainable killing of, and trade in, threatened and endangered species like elephants and rhinos, and protecting the Arctic home of belugas and other whales and the forest habitats of great apes like orangutans.

Wildlife Campaign Goals

  • Restore healthy populations of elephants, rhinos, orangutans, and beluga whales across their natural ranges.
  • Cease the illegal and unsustainable killing of threatened and endangered species and unsustainable commercial trade in their parts. 
  • Prevent and reverse habitat degradation to support the restoration of vibrant ecosystems for threatened species.

Areas of Work

Wildlife Campaign Impacts

  • EIA’s groundbreaking investigation into the illegal ivory trade tracing ivory from Africa through the Middle East to Asian markets provided key evidence that helped secure the 1989 ban on international ivory trade.
  • Since 2006, EIA has persuaded 3,500 Japanese supermarkets, as well as e-commerce sellers Amazon and Google’s Japanese shopping sites, to cease the sale of whale and dolphin products, eliminating more than $60million of ivory products from the Japanese market.
  • After years of campaign work, large and influential retailers Rakuten Ichiba and Yahoo! Japan ceased selling elephant ivory on their platforms, in 2017 and 2019 respectively, eliminating mass quantities of product from the Japanese market.
  • EIA’s release of the “Pebble Tapes” had a game-changing impact on the likelihood of success of the proposed Pebble Mine project, a highly controversial proposed massive copper mine in the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska. Ultimately the project permit was rejected.

Featured Work

Related Resources

Report

Pursuing Global Magnitsky Sanctions for Corruption Related to Wildlife Crime in South Africa

In May 2022, the Environmental Investigation Agency made a formal submission to the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of the Treasury recommending sanctions against Sibusiso Eric Nzimande, Regional Court President for the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, for involvement in widespread corruption related to wildlife crime, including rhino poaching, and human […]

Press Release

On Human Rights Day Conservationists Call for Prosecution of Senior Member of South African Judiciary for Corruption Linked to Rhino Poaching and Human Rights Abuses

The Washington DC-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is calling on the Government of South Africa to prosecute Sibusiso Eric Nzimande, Regional Court President of KwaZulu-Natal, for soliciting bribes and committing other acts of corruption that benefitted rhino poachers and the perpetrators of other violent crimes. EIA has submitted evidence of Mr. Nzimande’s corruption to the […]

Blog

Cutting Through The Noise: EIA’s Take on International Progress to Reduce Underwater Noise in Commercial Shipping

Recently, EIA attended the Ship Design and Construction Sub-Committee (SDC 9) meeting of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London. The IMO is where countries meet to agree on regulatory frameworks to, among other things, minimize the environmental impacts of shipping. EIA has been participating in IMO meetings for nearly eight years. We worked together […]

Letters

Letter: NGOs Urge Action from Tokyo on Ivory

On January 19, 2023, EIA and 17 other Japanese and international NGOs sent a letter to Tokyo’s Governor Koike, applauding her and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for action taken on the trade in elephant ivory thus far. The organizations also encouraged Tokyo to continue to heed the recommendations from the designated Advisory Council, including by enacting an ordinance […]

Press Release

Japan Prime Minister Urged to Commit to Japan’s Ivory Market Closure

Washington, DC and Tokyo, Japan – Before the 19th meeting of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Nov 14-25, non-government organizations are appealing to Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for Japan’s commitment to closing its ivory market to protect elephants from the threat of […]