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African pangolins are heavily hunted to meet the international demand for scales as well as for their meat in the local bushmeat trade. But how much each contributes to the hunting of these beleaguered mammals in various parts of Nigeria, a trafficking hub, is unclear. For a recent study, researchers interviewed more than 800 hunters and meat vendors in southeast Nigeria, a poaching hotspot, and found that hunters almost always hunt pangolins opportunistically, mostly for their meat rather than their scales.

Rhino poaching persists despite a slight decrease worldwide over the last three years, driven by relentless demand for their horns in East Asia, according to a recent report by TRAFFIC and the IUCN. Three of the world's five rhino species are still in decline, the report finds, with white rhinos in Africa dwindling to an almost two-decade low. Greater one-horned rhinos in India and Nepal are recovering well, while Indonesia's Javan and Sumatran rhinos - both critically endangered species - continue to teeter on the brink of extinction.

Leopards are the second-most traded wildcat in the world, despite their international commercial trade being prohibited under CITES, the international wildlife trade agreement. Trophies and body parts - primarily skins, claws, bones and teeth - are the most traded, according to CITES data. However, other data indicate that illegal trade in skins and body parts is widespread in Asia and Africa. Southern African countries, particularly South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, are major exporters of leopard parts, while the U.S. is the largest importer, according to data from CITES.

A recent report from the Wildlife Justice Commission analyzed trends in ivory and pangolin scales trafficking from Africa over the past decade using seizure data and found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the illegal trade, with fewer significant seizures reported post-pandemic. The report attributes this dip to pandemic-induced lockdowns, increased law enforcement and intelligence gathering, successful prosecutions, and declines in the prices of ivory and pangolin scales.

In 2019, Malawi dismantled the Chinese-led Lin-Zhang wildlife trafficking syndicate, a major win in its fight against the illegal wildlife trade, thanks in part to funding from the U.S. government. The Trump administration’s recent slashing of international development funds, however, threatens these gains, leaving frontline enforcers and conservation programs without critical support. NGOs across Africa and Southeast Asia, running initiatives from sniffer rat programs to antipoaching patrols, tell Mongabay they're struggling to fill the funding gap.

The U.S., the largest importer of wildlife products in the world, brings in nearly 10,000 species of plants and animals into the country legally, some of which have a high potential to become invasive species. A recent study assessed these imported species and identified 32 as having the highest risk for becoming invasive, posing threats to local ecosystems and to human health.

Lions are the most-traded wildcat in the world, and the only big cat whose commercial trade is permitted under CITES, the international wildlife trade agreement. Lion body parts, including bones, skins, claws and teeth, trophies and live individuals are traded across the world, both legally and illegally. South Africa stands out as a hotspot for the trade due to the flourishing captive lion industry, which also supplies body parts and engages in canned hunting.

A South African court in January sentenced four poachers to several years in prison for two separate crimes committed in Kruger National Park (KNP). The Skukuza Regional Court, which in the past has boasted a near-100% conviction rate and under whose jurisdiction KNP falls, held two South African citizens, Sam Khosa and Solly Selahle, and a Mozambican named Oddis Maluleke, guilty of poaching a rhino and taking its horns in February 2019.

Traditional leaders in Kariba district have condemned wildlife poaching in the area, adding that the crime was detrimental to the development of tourism in the district. Kariba's tourism is anchored on wildlife, hence the need for conservation, but despite a significant drop in elephant poaching, the practice was rampant among other smaller animals.

Zimbabwe has partnered four other states in the Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) in an agreement which will see them joining forces to combat wildlife crime. The four states that will work with Zimbabwe to defend their borders against wildlife threats are Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia.

African governments have been urged to jointly fight wildlife trafficking by coming up with legislation and policies that curb the vice. Leading international wildlife conservation body, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) on Tuesday told journalists attending a wildlife reporting training programme in Harare that laws should be crafted to impose stiffer sentences on wildlife poachers and traffickers. The participants were from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana and Kenya.

Poaching has been the greatest threat to wildlife and might cause its extinction in different African countries including Zimbabwe, a wildlife expert has said. Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe president Emmanuel Fundira yesterday said, while game meat production can contribute to economic growth in the country, there was need to curb poaching activities. In a survey conducted in eastern Madagascar, it was revealed that 95% of those interviewed said they had eaten at least one protected species.

About 45 members of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Africa rhino specialist group yesterday met at Okahandja to discuss ways to curb rhino poaching.