Wildlife — EIA
A split image featuring a rhino with her calf and a herd of elephants

Wildlife

EIA envisions a world where the world’s most threatened species are protected, recovered, and thriving throughout their natural ranges. EIA’s wildlife campaigns deliver lasting protections for some of the world’s most imperiled species threatened by poaching, illegal trade, and habitat loss. Since its inception in 1989, EIA has been dedicated to protecting the 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 wildlife campaigns focus on stopping the illegal and unsustainable killing of, and trade in, threatened and endangered elephants and rhinos.

Wildlife Program Goals

  • Restore healthy populations of wild elephants and rhinos
  • Stop the poaching of elephants and rhinos and the illegal trade in their parts and products
  • Protect and enhance intact ecosystems for wild elephant and rhino populations

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.
  • 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.

Featured Work

A graphic of an elephant against a red silhouette of Japan, creating the impression of a bloody smear

Japan's Ivory Trade

Though the world banned international trade of ivory in 1989, Japan remains the last major legal ivory market. Learn more about our decades-long campaign to stop Japan's ivory trade.

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An array of ivory products for sale

Closing the Market

Japan's revision of its law on ivory trade presents an opportunity to finally close its legal domestic market. It’s time for Japan to join the rest of the world in protecting elephants.

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Two rhinos face each other

Rhino Horn Trade

South Africa’s plan to reduce demand for rhino horn involves… promoting trade in rhino horn, which inherently requires increasing demand. What could possibly go wrong?

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Related Resources

Report

Sidestepping the Ban

Rhino breeders in South Africa are attempting to bend international wildlife trade regulations to their will and undermine decades of South African law to circumvent the ban on international rhino horn trade.

Report

Routed Through the Courts

EIA encourages China to remain steadfast in its approach to rhino horn trafficking, to enhance transparency of its wildlife crime enforcement, and to take a leadership role in the global effort to protect rhinoceroses by sharing its experiences and expertise with other countries affected by rhino poaching and illegal trade.

Video

Belugas in the Spotlight

How a strong MMPA protects belugas and supports coastal communities  Last Belugas in Cook Inlet  A healthy Cook Inlet for belugas and people 

Blog

Update on Japan’s Domestic Ivory Market at CITES CoP20

A clear outcome from CoP20 is that support for the closure of domestic ivory markets, and monitoring of those that remain open, stands. EIA strongly urges Japan to close its domestic ivory market to align itself with most elephant range States and former leading consumer countries.