Fighting for
the Wild
Leave Them Wild is an organization that specializes in the use of ethnographic methods to gather data and analyze wildlife crimes. Allison Skidmore, the founder, is a National Geographic Explorer. Her PhD research focused on the poaching and trafficking of Amur tigers in the Russian Far East. Data collection utilized qualitative methods, including interviews and observations, with those directly involved in tiger poaching—the poachers, buyers, middlemen and smugglers—to understand the details of this criminal act from the viewpoint of the offenders themselves. These novel research methods focused on the identification of pinch points in the crime commission sequence for a more nuanced understanding of criminal modus operandi, with the objective of highlighting intervention points that are most likely to disrupt the flow of illegal trade. Allison recently founded Leave Them Wild to provide consulting and training services for researchers interested in wildlife crime related problems. With a focus on the successful utilization of theory and methods within the fields of ethnography and criminology, the goal of Leave Them Wild is to facilitate other researchers who want to gather data, analyze, and ultimately prevent wildlife crime. The illegal wildlife trade is highly contextual; however, these methods are applicable to most regions plagued by high instances of some form of wildlife crime coupled with a lack of information.
Patterns of illegal and legal tiger parts entering the United States over a decade (2003–2012)
We would like to proudly share an article from a fellow tiger warrior Sarika Khanwilkar. The picture that goes with this article was taken by one of the authors of this blog, Allison Skidmore, and shows a tiger cub that was trafficked over the US-Mexican border....
The Forgotten Sister
The Forgotten Sister There was once a land of wild expanse that rivaled all else in the world. With imposing beasts and formidable lands that could be found around every turn. A close but forgotten sister of the Serengeti, punished by the same unforgiving...
Extinction Risk in Carnivore Species
Expressions akin to ‘the sixth mass extinction event’, ‘losing biodiversity at an unprecedented rate’, and ‘we are in an extinction crisis’, have made their way into the language of modern culture and mass media. You no longer need to be a scientist to know that the...
From Our Instagram
Error: Connected account for the user leave.them.wild does not have permission to use this feed type.
Try using the big blue button on the "Configure" tab to reconnect the account and update its permissions.