Malawi’s amended National Parks & Wildlife Act passed in 2017, providing greater protections for wildlife and stronger penalties for wildlife criminals, including custodial sentences of up to 30 years. That’s why, in addition to our Nature Crime Programme, we also run a wildlife sanctuary, Lilongwe Wildlife Centre, and a mobile Wildlife Emergency Response Unit, which responds to animals in distress across the country – whether it’s is an elephant caught in a snare or a cheetah involved in human-wildlife conflict. Each year we rescue around 100-150 animals at Lilongwe Wildlife Centre, many of which have been affected by the illegal wildlife trade, the illicit pet trade, and other forms of wildlife crime and abuse.