Wildlife conservation gets celebrated through images of rescued animals and rehabilitation centres. But there is another, quieter battle that rarely makes headlines — one fought in courtrooms. Investigators trace money trails and prosecutors understand that putting an offender behind bars is not enough if the crime network continues to profit.
To bring legal proceedings against wildlife crime into focus, Wildlife SOS organised the 3rd Workshop on ‘Wildlife Crime and Forfeiture of Crime Proceeds Accumulated From Wildlife Crime’. The event took place on June 6, 2026 at Hindustan College of Science and Technology in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. Building on the success of previous editions held in Mathura and Gorakhpur, this one-day workshop brought together an esteemed gathering — judges from the Allahabad, Agra and Mathura divisions, police officials, forest department officers, prosecutors, senior advocates and legal experts. The aim was not to deliver lectures. It was to sit together, understand ground-level challenges, discuss them collaboratively, and devise solutions. Wildlife crime in India is not being tackled cohesively in terms of legal nuances. This workshop was planned to address issues surrounding this.
Bringing Diverse Institutions Under One Roof
The workshop was inaugurated by Justice Satya Veer Singh of the Allahabad High Court, in the presence of District and Sessions Judges from the Agra and Mathura divisions, the Senior Superintendent of Police, Mathura, and District Forest Officers from both zones. There is something that happens when a bench judge walks into a room full of field officers and prosecutors. Everyone knows, without being told, that this issue is being taken up seriously.
Justice Singh’s inaugural address set the tone for the entire day. He spoke about Wildlife SOS’s three decades of work in a heartwarming way. He talked about a blinded elephant he had seen at one of our centres. He spoke about the empathy he witnessed. About the shared responsibility of protecting those who cannot speak for themselves. He also said what stayed with many in the room: “Awareness and rehabilitation of the culprits, achieves more than any punishment.” Wildlife SOS has taken such a holistic initiative with the Kalandar community as well as erstwhile mahouts that were dependent on the cruel usage of captive bears and elephants respectively. Justice Singh acknowledged our efforts not only to rescue wildlife, but also to create alternative livelihoods for them — acknowledging how conservation can coexist with social welfare.
Justice Singh agreed that conservation is not a law enforcement problem alone — it is a societal problem. And that requires wisdom, not just legal codes.
Defining The Enemy: What Is Wildlife Crime In Contemporary India?
Before you can fight something, you need to understand it. Mr. Wasim Akram, Director of Sustainability and Special Projects at Wildlife SOS, opened the substantive discussions by laying out exactly what we are dealing with: wildlife crime in contemporary India. This is not a simple poaching problem. It is a complex web involving trafficking networks, organised crime, money laundering, corruption, and exploitation of vulnerable communities.
Wasim presented case studies and walked the room through specific examples — from the trafficking of species protected under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972, and listed under IUCN Red List, to the networks that profit from these crimes. He also presented Wildlife SOS’s experience with the ‘dancing’ bear rehabilitation project, illustrating how communities trapped in illegal animal exploitation can be transitioned to sustainable livelihoods. The point was crucial: you cannot address wildlife crime by enforcement alone. You need to understand the economics, the social dimensions, and the systemic vulnerabilities that allow these networks to thrive.
Case Studies From The Field
Wildlife SOS Co-founder and CEO Mr. Kartick Satyanarayan presented case studies drawn from decades of field rescues across India. These were specific investigations where field work and legal processes had to align. When a conservation professional and a prosecutor examine the same case together, they understand what the other needs: field officers learn that documentation matters, prosecutors learn that evidence preservation in remote areas is not easy.
Following The Money Trail
One hard truth about wildlife trafficking: you can arrest offenders, but if criminal networks continue to profit, the networks survive. Mr. Deepak Chauhan, Joint Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), brought 30 years of financial crime experience to the conversation. He walked the room through how PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) and asset forfeiture principles apply to wildlife trafficking — because these networks operate as businesses, and need to be prosecuted like organised financial crime, not treated as minor environmental violations.
The Courtroom Experts Speak
Mr. Sushil Kumar Shukla, Senior Advocate at the Allahabad High Court with 28 years of criminal litigation experience, discussed what evidence actually persuades judges and where wildlife crime prosecutions typically collapse before they reach conviction. Mr. Karambir Singh Nalwa, former Special Public Prosecutor for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), explained how investigative and legal frameworks developed for terror financing and organised crime directly apply to wildlife trafficking networks.
Mr. Vinay Kumar Ojha, Special Public Prosecutor at CBI Headquarters, shared prosecution strategies from scams and major financial crime cases — where meticulous documentation, cross-agency coordination, and the ability to present complex evidence to judges determine outcomes.
Understanding the Financial Architecture
Mr. Kumar Kislay, a prominent legal professional specialising in corporate litigation and white-collar crime, addressed a critical gap: most wildlife officials don’t understand corporate structures, shell companies, and financial laundering mechanisms. He illustrated how trafficking networks deliberately obscure proceeds through business entities and international transactions — and how to trace them.
Making Law Accessible: The Role of Legal Journalism
Mr. Tarun Nangia, a distinguished legal journalist, was present to remind everyone why public understanding matters. If wildlife crime prosecutions are to improve, media coverage and legal journalism that translate courtroom complexities into public language become crucial advocacy tools.
Building India’s Wildlife Crime Prosecution Framework
Ms. Geeta Seshamani, Co-founder and Secretary of Wildlife SOS, captured the workshop’s purpose perfectly: “Conservation succeeds when institutions work together. Capacity building initiatives such as this workshop help create a stronger understanding of wildlife laws, investigative procedures and prosecution strategies, ultimately contributing to more effective protection of wildlife.” Ms. Geeta Seshamani was not speaking about Wildlife SOS alone. She was speaking about a systemic reality: wildlife prosecution in India is fragmented. This workshop intended to bridge those gaps.
To this, Mr. Kartick Satyanarayan added: “By bringing together members of the judiciary, enforcement agencies, and conservation professionals, this workshop aims to strengthen the collective capacity needed to investigate, prosecute, and deter wildlife crime while protecting India’s rich biodiversity.”
The closing remarks by Mr. Satya Veer Singh, Advocate of the Supreme Court of India, reinforced the principle: wildlife crime demands the same institutional rigor that we apply to financial crime, terrorism, and organised crime. Mr. Baiju Raj M.V., Director of Conservation Projects at Wildlife SOS, came forward for the vote of thanks, emphasising on how every single person in the workshop — judge, prosecutor, officer, lawyer — has an important role to play.
Why This Matters Beyond Mathura
Strengthening investigations with better understanding of financial forfeiture can help handling complex wildlife crime cases confidently. A successful conviction of a wildlife trafficking network sends a clear message: you cannot exploit wildlife without consequence, making it tough for the next offender to operate. But none of this can happen if judges and prosecutors and forest officers and police officials work in isolation. It happens when they sit in the same room, understand each other’s cases, and walk out with clarity that wildlife crime is a problem to be jointly dealt with.
As wildlife trafficking networks evolve and grow more sophisticated, the partnerships that stand against them must evolve too. By investing in knowledge, collaboration and institutional coordination, workshops like these build a stronger, more resilient framework for conservation — one that defends India’s wildlife not just in forests and rescue centres, but in courtrooms and through the rule of law.
Wildlife SOS will continue to organise these workshops, strengthen these partnerships, and ensure that the people responsible for protecting India’s biodiversity have the tools, knowledge, and networks they need.
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Feature Image: Mradul Pathak / Wildlife SOS
