Clamping down on wildlife crime in Malawi
A new joint report by our colleagues at Lilongwe Wildlife Trust, in partnership with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, reveals Malawi’s epic fight against criminals wanting to exploit wild animals for profit is having an impressive impact.
Lilongwe veterinarian, Dr. Laston Chimaliro, holding a rescued pangolin (c) Jonas Strahberger
We’re so proud. A major new report about wildlife crime, by our long-term friends at Lilongwe Wildlife Trust, is full of good news as they support government partners to battle to protect wild animals and stop their exploitation. Born Free has been supporting the life-saving work of this remarkable organisation since 2007 – Lilongwe Wildlife Trust is one of Malawi’s leading wildlife charities.
Developed with support from the UK government’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, the new Lilongwe Wildlife Trust report reveals a 50% decrease in wildlife crime cases in recent years, and over 500 successful convictions, including some of Southern Africa’s most notorious wildlife criminals.
At the same time, numbers of iconic species, such as elephants, rhinos and lions, are rising in Malawi – proof that a strong criminal justice response can help bring wildlife back from the brink. Other report highlights include a 67% decrease in elephant crime cases over the past seven years and a 56% decrease in pangolin crime cases in the past three years.
This last news is of particular interest to our charity – Born Free launched our new Pangolin Family adoption, in conjunction with Lilongwe Wildlife Trust, this August. We help fund pangolin rescue, rehabilitation and post-release monitoring while, with Born Free support, Lilongwe Wildlife Trust also operates the ‘Weru’ Wildlife Emergency Response Unit to provide fast response vet support and in-situ treatment for injured wild animals.
It is an honour to support the work of Lilongwe Wildlife Trust.
ADOPT THE PANGOLIN FAMILY
Help Born Free care for pangolins rescued and rehabilitated by Lilongwe Wildlife Trust, and fund our work to campaign against the illegal wildlife trade and protect their natural habitat.