Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Operation Shikar: Tackling India’s illegal wildlife trade

The operation, which is now immortalised in the series Poacher, led to the seizure of 500kg of ivory as well as over 70 arrests.

Operation Shikar: Tackling India’s illegal wildlife trade

IN 2015, the forests of southern India witnessed a great tragedy as 28 elephants fell victim to a mass poaching operation.

The law enforcement response that followed, Operation Shikar, was one of most powerful efforts against wildlife crime that India has ever seen.


The operation, which is now immortalised in the series Poacher, led to the seizure of 500kg of ivory as well as over 70 arrests. Yet, despite this victory and so many others across the globe, the scourge of the illegal wildlife trade persists.

Between June 2022 and May 2023, more than 40 rangers were killed in the line of duty while protecting India’s wildlife. India’s rangers are doing excellent work, but the battle against the wildlife crime is not one that can be fought alone.

Ranked as the fourth most profitable trafficking crime globally, behind only narcotics, arms and human trafficking, the illegal wildlife trade is a serious organised crime fuelled by international criminal syndicates. Tackling it requires an equally global, organised response.

India – home to between seven per cent and eight per cent of the world’s recorded species – is one of only a small number of mega-diverse countries in the world. As a result, it is highly vulnerable to wildlife crime. India is not only a major source country, but also a transit, and destination country for trafficked wildlife and wildlife products.

The systemic removal of wildlife from ecosystems through illegal trade has wide-ranging consequences, impacting communities and economies, all the way to our changing climate.

LEAD Comment India wildlife Rob byline headshot Robert Campbell

While poachers have become the face of wildlife crime, the problem does not end with them. Apprehending poachers is essential for immediate enforcement and deterrence, but focusing solely on their crimes overlooks the larger networks orchestrating these activities.

Just as rangers in India have become increasingly experienced and better equipped at tackling wildlife crime over time, the criminal networks behind the trade have also found more advanced ways to evade justice.

One example is moving their activities to cyberspace. With India’s internet user population reaching nearly 500 million, cybercrime poses an enormous challenge to conservation efforts. The network of NGOs tackling wildlife crime in India is strong, but new partnerships and innovation are increasingly necessary to tackle these emerging threats.

United for Wildlife (UfW), founded by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in 2014, aims to make it impossible for traffickers to transport, finance or profit from illegal wildlife products. We work collaboratively with the transport and finance sectors, building key partnerships with law enforcement and NGOs, and sharing information and best practices across the sectors to disrupt global criminal networks.

These public-private partnerships are a powerful tool that allow different organisations to pool resources and expertise across both sectors and borders, effectively reshaping the conservation landscape. This ensures that while rangers may be the first line of defence against wildlife crime, they are no longer the last.

LEAD Comment India wildlife UfW Group Photo The United for Wildlife India Chapter team

With the launch of our India chapter last week at Ranthambhore National Park, UfW is bringing the private sector into Indian conservation networks at scale for the first time.

The public-private partnerships forged in the Indian chapter will help to preserve the nation’s spectacular biodiversity for future generations.

By convening law enforcement agencies, transport companies and financial institutions, United for Wildlife and its partners can follow the money funding wildlife crime and prevent illegal wildlife products from being successfully trafficked across borders.

Our investigations reveal the true scale and scope of the illegal wildlife trade beyond poachers, identifying key players and disrupting the financial backbone that sustains these operations. Through this approach, UfW has made significant strides in disrupting entire supply chains of wildlife products.

Since 2016, the United for Wildlife Transport and Finance Taskforces have grown to 300 members and more than 140 partners across the globe. We have contributed to more than 650 law enforcement cases, nearly arrests, over 350 seizures of wildlife products, and have trained nearly 120,000 people.

Our progress so far is encouraging, but this battle is far from over. Only through cross-border and sector collaboration can we dismantle the vast criminal networks behind this heinous crime and prevent them from driving our most precious species to extinction.

Building on India’s existing conservation networks, the launch of United for Wildlife’s India chapter will fortify India’s fight against wildlife crime to ensure that no ranger bears this burden alone.

More For You

Sri Aurobindo

Heehs’s biography is grounded in extensive archival research across France, England, India and Israel

AMG

Sri Aurobindo and the rise of the Asian century

Dinesh Sharma

My friend and colleague, the American historian Peter Heehs, who has lived in Pondicherry, India, for decades, recently published a compelling new biography, The Mother: A Life of Sri Aurobindo’s Collaborator (2025). Heehs previously authored The Lives of Sri Aurobindo (2008), which remains one of the most balanced and scholarly accounts of Aurobindo’s life.

According to Heehs, most previous biographies of the Mother were written for devotees and relied on secondary sources, often presenting her as a divine incarnation without critical engagement. “Such biographies are fine for those who see the Mother as a divine being,” Heehs said, “but they can be off-putting for readers who simply want to understand her life – as an artist, writer, spiritual teacher, and founder of the Ashram and Auroville.”

Keep ReadingShow less
INSET Hatul Shah Sigma conference chair

Hatul Shah

Showing up with purpose: Lessons in leadership and legacy

Hatul Shah

Last week, I had the privilege of speaking at the Circles of Connections event hosted by the Society of Jainism and Entrepreneurship at Imperial College London. The event was organised by Yash Shah and Hrutika S., and generously sponsored by Koolesh Shah and the London Town Group, with support from Nikhil Shah, Priyanka Mehta, and Ambika Mehta.

The experience reminded me that leadership isn’t just about vision or results — it’s about how you show up, and why you do what you do.

Keep ReadingShow less
Aspirations ignited following Leicester schools Parliament visit

Aspirations ignited following Leicester schools Parliament visit

Dr Nik Kotecha OBE DL

Delighted to pause and look back on a pioneering partnership project, which saw our Randal Charitable Foundation, Leicestershire Police and the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) support pupils, from 5 Leicester schools, tour London and the Houses of Parliament with the aim to help raise aspirations and demonstrate possible future career paths.

With more young people than ever struggling to stay in education, find employment and track down career opportunities, I’ve reflected on the importance of collaborations like this one, which model just one way in that small interventions could reap rewards in the life course of youngsters.

Keep ReadingShow less
Chelsea Flower Show highlights Royal-inspired roses and eco-friendly innovation

King Charles III, patron of the Royal Horticultural Society, walks through the RHS and BBC Radio 2 Dog Garden during a visit to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show at Royal Hospital Chelsea on May 20, 2025 in London, England.

Getty Images

Chelsea Flower Show highlights Royal-inspired roses and eco-friendly innovation

Rashmita Solanki

This particular year at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show, there have been two members of the Royal Family who have had roses named after them.

‘The King’s Rose’, named after King Charles III, and ‘Catherine’s Rose’, named after Catherine, Princess of Wales. Both roses have been grown by two of the most well-known rose growers in the United Kingdom.

Keep ReadingShow less
‘Going Dutch may be a solution to get the UK’s jobless into work’

The growing number of working-age adults not in jobs places a huge financial burden on Britain, according to recent reports

‘Going Dutch may be a solution to get the UK’s jobless into work’

Dr Nik Kotecha

ECONOMIC inactivity is a major obstacle to the UK’s productivity and competitiveness.

As a business owner and employer with over 30 years of experience, I have seen firsthand how this challenge has intensified as the economically inactive population approaches 10 million nationally - almost one million more than pre-pandemic.

Keep ReadingShow less