In the 1980s and 90s a deadly fungus wiped out hundreds of species of frogs across Central America. Scientists are still battling to find out more. I reported from Panama for @mongabay.com on a new project relocating frogs. news.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-p...

Peruvian police smashed a wildlife trafficking gang calling itself the Predators of the East earlier this summer. Officers raided its headquarters finding sloths and an ocelot among 1,400 live animals worth hundreds of thousands of dollars 🧵 1/

It's Seabird Sunday, your weekly round up of interesting links shared by users on the Seabird app (which you should join too!). First up, traveling to Thailand with @noemamag.com to explore a possible future of eating bugs: www.noemamag.com/would-you-ea...

🌳 SIX OVERLOOKED WILDLIFE STORIES THIS WEEK South Africa's 'Rhino Baron' arrested. He had bred the world's largest herd of 2,000 animals, but had intended to sell the horns in China and other Asian markets.

A bold “rewilding” initiative to reintroduce jaguars and turtles in Argentina raises tough questions about whose vision of nature is being restored, writes @bysammeadows.bsky.social for @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/reportage/re...

NEW: A bold “rewilding” initiative to reintroduce jaguars and turtles in Argentina raises tough questions about whose vision of nature is being restored, writes @bysammeadows.bsky.social for @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/reportage/re...

🧵What is CITES and how does it work? CITES is the international treaty which regulates the commercial trade in wild animals, plants, or animal parts. 1/

Operation Green Shield sweeps through the Amazon + donkey penises seized and a dog fighting ring broken up wildcrime.co.uk/p/illegal-mi...

Inside the trade for the world's most trafficked animal - and the British company apparently helping it happen wildcrime.co.uk/p/exclusive-...

Another of the stars of the Netflix doc Tiger King has wound up in jail. This time for buying endangered animals 🐯 Story in Wild Crime wildcrime.co.uk/p/tiger-king...

Remember Cecil the Lion? He was killed by trophy hunters 10 years ago today. Lion populations remain in crisis - but it's not trophy hunting that is their greatest threat. I spoke to @pantheracats.bsky.social about the challenges facing lion conservationists. wildcrime.co.uk/p/cecils-leg...

Luxury handbags linked to Brazilian leather tainted by Amazon destruction, according to new @earthsight.bsky.social investigation. The situation for the Amazon is urgent. Brands in Europe can't shut their eyes to large-scale forest loss. wildcrime.co.uk/p/luxury-fas...

The UN Ocean Conference in 2025 could be a pivotal moment for the planet, if world leaders are bold enough to act. My latest post looks at why the stakes are so high, and what must change in global ocean policy. 🌍 sammeadows.substack.com/p/oceans-at-... #UNOC2025 #OceanPolitics #GlobalGovernance

Five million dried seahorses seized in just a few years. Many headed for China and Hong Kong. Many supposedly protected. The global trade in seahorses is booming as uncovered by @projectseahorse.bsky.social New story on a hidden marine trafficking crisis: sammeadows.substack.com/p/millions-o...

Dom Phillips was murdered for exposing criminal networks in the Amazon. Two years on, the region is still burning, politically and literally. I wrote about Dom’s legacy and the ongoing dangers faced everyday by environmental defenders. 📖 sammeadows.substack.com/p/dom-philli...

Danielle Kessler (@ifawglobal.bsky.social‬) says Trump-era aid cuts have hampered global conservation. The pulling of key funding could have long-term consequences for wildlife protection. Read more: 🔗 sammeadows.substack.com/p/poachers-t... #conservation #foreignaid #wildlifetrafficking

🦀 3,000 hermit crabs in a suitcase. Last month it was ants in Kenya. Now: 3,000 live hermit crabs found stuffed in suitcases in Japan - likely bound for the exotic pet trade. I cover the story, and more, in my latest post from Wild Crime. sammeadows.substack.com/p/3000-hermi...

“Most of these animals die during capture or transport.” Ilaria di Silvestre @ifawglobal.bsky.social spoke to me about the cruelty at the heart of the illegal wildlife trade - and why stronger EU policy is urgently needed. sammeadows.substack.com/p/interview-... #animalwelfare #wildlifecrime #EU

New data shows pangolin trafficking is down. But poaching likely continues. What’s driving these trends? I dig in here: 📖 sammeadows.substack.com/p/pangolin-t... #conservation #pangolins #wildlifecrime @wildlifejustice.bsky.social

The Gran Chaco forest is South America’s second largest after the Amazon. But vast green expanses – home to jaguars, giant armadillos and howler monkeys – have been turned to fields of dust as loggers plunder its trees. Dispatch 👇 www.theguardian.com/environment/... @tessairini.bsky.social

The ant smugglers I wrote about yesterday have been sentenced to one year in prison or they can pay a fine of just over £5,000. Many campaigners believe that punishments for wildlife crimes are too lenient, and will see this as an example of that. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Two teenagers from Belgium find out their sentence tomorrow after being found with test tubes containing more than 5,000 ants. It's easy to think of ants as harmless, but the booming global trade could have consequences for biodiversity open.substack.com/pub/sammeado...

This week's Wild Crime: Pet lions in the Balkans 🦁 Netflix highlights the pangolin 📺 Spain accused of illegal fishing 🇪🇸 Click the link below for the full news roundup sammeadows.substack.com/p/how-pet-li...

In this week's Wild Crime: 🐜 Ant smuggling 🐯 A major big cat bust in Spain 🐧 Better legal protections for penguins You can read and subscribe here! sammeadows.substack.com/p/ants-in-te...

If you're intrigued to know how one goes about smuggling 320 live tarantulas onto a plane, this week's Wild Crime is one for you... sammeadows.substack.com/p/trapped-tu...

The latest WIld Crime interview is with Dr Sarah Glaser of @worldwildlife.org. We spoke all about the impact of illegal fishing. I hope you find it as interesting as I did. Read and subscribe here! sammeadows.substack.com/p/its-not-ab...

Gorilla trafficking, lizards in luggage and even flamingos feature in this week's WIld Crime news roundup. Share and subscribe here! open.substack.com/pub/sammeado...

Last week I published my interview with Sarah Baker Ferguson of TRAFFIC, one of the biggest international NGOs working on wildlife trafficking. You can read her insights here! open.substack.com/pub/sammeado...

Why aren’t you wearing a suit? Have you said “Thank you” to Greenland and Denmark for allowing you to have a base on Greenland?

My latest from Wild Crime is analysis of a recent seizure of lion cubs from a circus in France - and what it reveals about the links between performing animals and trafficking sammeadows.substack.com/p/the-dark-s...

In this week's Wild Crime news roundup: 🌵 The downfall of the cactus king ⛏️ Organised criminals tighten grip in the Amazon 🦏 An update on rhino poaching sammeadows.substack.com/p/downfall-o...

Brazil’s crackdown on illegal mining in the Munduruku Indigenous Territory has, so far, led to a reduction in mining activities, but fears remain. My latest for @mongabay.bsky.social. Stay tuned for part two, three, four and five coming soon. news.mongabay.com/2025/03/braz...

In October 2020, the lights went off for thousands of families in Cañada Real, Europe's largest shantytown. They lit candles and waited. But the hours turned into days, and then weeks, and now, more than four years and five biting winters later, they still do not have power. My latest report👇

Interesting new report from the @zslofficial.bsky.social and others highlighting how different illegal wildlife activities converge. Endangered tiger parts allegedly travel on board fishing vessels www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-...

Here's the latest public post from my newsletter Wild Crime. Some great stories this week, including a couple whose boasts on a plane about hunting landed them in hot water open.substack.com/pub/sammeado...

I've started a newsletter about wildlife trafficking and environmental crime. Here's why it's so important: 🌴causes environmental destruction 🦜species go extinct ❄️linked to drug smuggling cartels Find out more by subscribing to Wild Crime sammeadows.substack.com/p/how-wildli...

The second news update from my newsletter Wild Crime is available here! Featuring: 🐯jaguar trafficking 🚮mafia waste dumping Please feel free to like and subscribe open.substack.com/pub/sammeado...

I've just sent out the first post of my newsletter Wild Crime. It's all about wildlife trafficking and environmental crime. First up is a free news round-up of some of the things that have been going on in the world this week. open.substack.com/pub/sammeado...

I'm starting an email newsletter about wildlife trafficking and environmental crime. It's called Wild Crime and you can subscribe for free here if that sounds interesting! sammeadows.substack.com?r=2lotne&utm...

🧵Earlier this year I visited a veterinary centre in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where they treat animals rescued from traffickers. Some can be released back into the wild, but others will have to spend their whole lives in captivity.

Javier Milei railed against Peronism and the political 'casta' as he ran to become president of Argentina I wrote for @thetimes.com about his purge of Peronist figures - and why Evita could be a step too far www.thetimes.com/world/latin-...