March 3, 2026

Wildlife trafficking: A global crisis requires a global, collective response

Photo: Fernando Turmo

Wildlife trafficking is not a distant or marginal issue. It is one of the largest forms of transnational organized crime, alongside the trafficking of people, drugs and arms, facilitating the flow of billions of illicit dollars. It touches every continent and every country — whether as a source, a transit route, or a destination — and its consequences are devastating for animals, for people, and for the environment we all share.

Behind every trafficked animal lies a story of suffering, ecosystem damage, and organized crime — and a reminder that we have not yet done enough as human beings. Wildlife trafficking fuels corruption, undermines the rule of law, threatens livelihoods, and increases the risk of zoonotic diseases. It accelerates biodiversity loss at a time when nature can least afford it. It is also essential to remember that wildlife trafficking doesn’t just affect charismatic animals, but a wide range of species that make life on earth possible — fauna, flora, and fungi.

To confront a crisis of this scale, we need more than isolated actions. We need a holistic, long-term, and genuinely collaborative response, rooted in respect and shared responsibility. This is where the Jane Goodall Institute’s integrated approach can make a meaningful contribution.

A shared vision: Animals, People, and the Environment

For more than 45 years, the Jane Goodall Institute has worked at the intersection of Animals, People, and the Environment (APE). This integrated vision recognizes a simple but powerful truth: we cannot protect wildlife without supporting local communities, and we cannot safeguard ecosystems without addressing human needs.

This way of working is essential when addressing wildlife trafficking, a crime that exploits ecological vulnerability, social inequality, and weak governance all at once. It reminds us that lasting solutions must involve the people who live closest to wildlife and depend most directly on healthy ecosystems.

From laws to lives: turning commitment in action

Advocacy has always been an essential part of the Jane Goodall Institute’s work. For decades, the Institute has engaged with governments, international institutions, and multilateral processes to encourage stronger, more protective legislation against wildlife trafficking at national, regional, and global levels.

But laws alone are never enough. If they are not understood, enforced, and supported on the ground, traffickers will always find a way around them. Since 1991, with the creation of the Tchimpounga Rehabilitation Centre in the Republic of Congo, the Jane Goodall Institute has developed and refined a three-part, field-based “triangle” approach that has become a mark of excellence for the rehabilitation and long-term care of confiscated chimpanzees and other wildlife.

For 35 years yet, the Jane Goodall Institute has implemented a triangular, field-based approach to tackle wildlife trafficking, with three linked pillars:

Community awareness and education so people know what is legal and what is not and understand why protecting wildlife matters — not only for animals but also for their own well-being and future.

Training and support for rangers and ecoguards, who are often the first line of defense against trafficking networks, working in complex and sometimes dangerous conditions.

Close collaboration with local authorities — including veterinary services, customs authorities, police, and wildlife departments — to ensure that confiscated animals receive proper care in high-quality sanctuaries such as Tchimpounga, and that their stories help to prevent further trafficking.

When these three elements reinforce one another, laws on paper become protection in the forest, and rescue becomes the beginning of recovery. This approach has been successfully implemented for decades in the areas where the Institute works on community-led conservation programs, always in partnership with local communities. With all our partners, with all parties. And it works.

As Dr. Jane Goodall has said: “No organization on its own, no country on its own, can effectively stop the illegal wildlife trade that knows no borders. Only through our collective efforts, continued collaboration across borders can we stamp out this cruel and devastating trade, wildlife trafficking. Together, we simply must.”

Science, technology, and care on the ground

As a global science-based NGO network, the Jane Goodall Institute grounds its actions in the best available scientific knowledge. This commitment includes the careful use of innovative and emerging technologies to protect habitats better, monitor deforestation and land-use change, and support more effective conservation planning.

Across our programs, the Institute teams increasingly rely on tools such as remote sensing, mapping, and data-driven conservation planning that help identify threats to forests and ecosystems where great apes and other species live. These technologies do not replace human presence; they support and amplify it. They help rangers and local communities do their jobs more safely and effectively, improve the protection of sanctuaries and surrounding landscapes, and ensure that decisions are guided by evidence rather than urgency alone.

By combining science, technology, and longterm field experience, the Jane Goodall Institute and its partners can adapt as pressures on wildlife and habitats evolve. For chimpanzees — one of the species most affected by habitat loss and illegal capture and trafficking — these tools are essential to safeguarding individuals, maintaining viable habitats, and ensuring longterm protection.

Partnerships for impact

Wildlife trafficking cannot be addressed by any one organization, government, or sector alone. Meaningful progress depends on trust, cooperation, and longterm partnerships at many levels.

The Jane Goodall Institute is deeply committed to working within strong international and regional coalitions. The Institute is a champion organization in the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime, a full member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an NGO member of the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP), a founding member of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA), and a member of the Asia for Animals Coalition (AfA) within the special working group known as Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition ( SMACC). The Jane Goodall Institute also collaborates with law enforcement agencies such as Interpol and Europol, as well as with many civil-society and community-based partners on the ground.

Each of these partnerships brings something different: scientific expertise, legal and policy frameworks, enforcement capacity, sanctuary management, youth engagement, or local knowledge and leadership. Together, they form a shared front against trafficking, stronger than any actor standing alone.

Changing minds to change outcomes

Traffickers are increasingly sophisticated, using tactics such as species laundering — fraudulently presenting protected or endangered animals as legally bred or traded. Yet enforcement, while essential, is only one part of the solution. Demand drives this trade. As long as wild animals are seen as commodities, status symbols, entertainment, or material for social media, trafficking will continue.

Public awareness is therefore critical. Through the Jane Goodall Roots & Shoots program — Jane’s global youth movement — the Institute and its partners support young people, and those young at heart, to understand the impact of wildlife trafficking and to take practical action in their schools, communities, and countries, as for example with our ForeverWild campaign. Education helps build empathy, empathy nurtures hope and responsibility, and hope and responsibility inspire action.

At the Jane Goodall Institute, we believe in the power of collective action because protecting wildlife means protecting our shared future. As Dr. Jane Goodall so often reminded us: “Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.”

How responsible social media use can help address this problem

When you see photos and videos that show chimpanzees — and any other animal — in unnatural settings, even when they look AI-generated, report the content. Do not engage with the content, however, because engaging can make the most more popular.

This type of content — images and videos that suggest chimpanzees are pets and are here foro ur entertainment — is dangerous, because it increases demand for the illegal wildlife trade.

Keep this in mind when browsing social media or watching movies:

Chimpanzees should always be shown in natural habitats, engaging in natural behaviours.
Chimpanzees should never be treated as humans, wearing clothes or playing board games or eating at dinner tables.
Chimpanzees should never be props for photos, and they should never interact with humans who are not properly trained.
Chimpanzees should only be out in the wild or in accredited sanctuaries, being cared for by professionals who are properly trained.