Our investigators are courageous and effective in their undercover efforts to document and expose illegal trade in elephant and tiger parts, and the unsustainable killing of whales, dolphins and porpoises.

Our fingerprints are on key wildlife protection policies realized around the world: from the historic 1989 ban on international trade in elephant ivory, to the May 2008 landmark U.S. ban on imports of illegally logged timber – which will help protect the last forest refuges of the orangutan and many other species.

Our pressure on traders and companies that deal in wildlife products has reduced the illegal trade in tiger parts and closed thousands of market outlets for whale meat in Japan.

For more detail and the latest news on our species programs, please follow the links below.

EIA leads international efforts to protect the world's 83 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises – also known as small cetaceans – that remain unprotected by international law. These forgotten whales face an uncertain future and a host of environmental threats, including hunting, pollution, ozone depletion and climate change.
[ more ]

Despite a 19-year ban on international trade in elephant ivory, a dramatic upsurge of elephant poaching is sweeping Africa. This is fuelled by a growing black market demand for ivory, especially from China. Working in both producer and consumer countries, EIA is using its unparalleled experience and contacts in campaigning against elephant poaching and ivory trade to stop the slaughter.
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EIA’s forests campaign was born from a desire to protect the critically endangered habitat of the orangutan – Asia’s last great ape. Once found across much of Southeast Asia, as few as 20,000 orangutans now remain on Sumatra and Borneo. In the past decade alone, populations have plunged by as much as 50 percent due to hunting, illegal logging and land clearing in supposedly protected national parks. EIA’s forests campaign focuses on efforts to protect the habitat of orangutans, as well as other rare species in southeast Asia, Latin America and Eurasia. With our Indonesia partner organization, Telapak, we also build the capacity of local Indonesian groups to document illegal activity in their forests and use the resulting visual materials as advocacy tools.
[ more ] … on our Forests campaign
[ more ]  …on EIA and Telapak’s training program

Only 5,000 wild tigers remain in the world. Since 1996, EIA’s undercover investigations across Asia, Europe and the United States have exposed the scale of the lucrative black market for tiger skins and bone. With India home to 60 percent of all wild tigers, we also have campaigned vigorously for the Indian government to crack down on tiger poaching, trade and habitat destruction.
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In a crossover with our forests campaign, we also have uncovered illegal logging in the Russian Far East – home to the famed and critically endangered Siberian tiger. Our exposé of how timber from this majestic cat’s habitat was ending up in Wal-Mart products sold to American consumers has prompted the retail giant to review its wood procurement policies.
[ read report ]