South African farmers illegally breed tigers and other big cats for sale into the luxury goods and traditional medicine markets. 

While the UK government has been considering a ban on imports of hunting trophies, the South African government recently approved an annual maximum quota of ten legal trophy hunts of endangered black rhinos for 2022.

Alion’s roar or hyena’s whoop are considered “iconic”. But the song of the jackal is one of the wild’s most hauntingly beautiful sounds, easily on par with spine-tingling wolf howls in other parts of the world. 

On the same day that South Africa hosted its fourth Investment Conference in Sandton, a new instrument was offered to investors – a Wildlife Conservation Bond (WCB), or Rhino Bond.

In 2016, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) shifted the conservation status of giraffes from species of “least concern” to “vulnerable”. It seems that in all of six years, the gentle giants had gone from a state of low or no concern to being just four steps away from a complete wipeout.

Japan is failing to regulate its domestic ivory market, resulting in the perfect cover for illegally imported ivory and a supply source for illegal export.