Donkeys and Me: Conservation Scientist, Jennifer Croes

Conservation Scientist Jennifer Croes’ work involves combating wildlife trafficking within public and private sectors, and working alongside law enforcement authorities to instigate high-level change. You might not expect this work to intersect with donkeys, but it does. We spoke to her to find out more…

What do you do?

I’m a conservation scientist specialising in illegal wildlife trade or wildlife crime. I was one of the first people working on the illegal wildlife trade before it was even considered a conservation challenge.

What does it involve on a day to day basis?

I make sure that people engage and connect with nature. I educate on the conservation challenge of illegal wildlife trade, also known as wildlife crime or wildlife trafficking, and the nexus of illegal wildlife trade, biodiversity loss and climate change mitigation.

A big part of my role is fostering close public and private partnerships by working with government, embassies and the private sector. This includes the shipping industry and aviation - collaborating with them to help them understand the role they can play in mitigating wildlife trafficking.

My strength is stakeholder management and engagement - being that agent for change and ensuring they understand the science, and the role that they can play in positive impact.

It sounds like a lot of your job is being a people person.

Yes, the impact on community and people is at the heart of it. We think of conservation or animal welfare as being about certain species or individuals, but if you don’t include the wider context, you’re missing out on the dialogue that needs to be had. Whether we like it or not, people are at the core of this work.

With illegal wildlife trade, we look at why people are poachers or trafficking animals. I often wonder, “Why do they do these things? Is it to put food on the table or send their kids to school? Is it just to fuel this incessant greed? Or is it opportunistic because they’re already dealing in other transnational organised crime?”

And how does this intersect with donkeys?

Before working with The Donkey Sanctuary, I was not aware of the extent of the donkey skin trade and its convergence with wildlife trafficking or other transnational organised crime. I was shocked. To combat the donkey skin trade, we need to look at it in the context of wider wildlife crime.

People focus on ‘charismatic species’, animals that tug at people’s heartstrings - elephants, rhinos, tigers, lions. We can raise the profile of donkey skins where it converges with other wildlife crime, specifically rhino horn, big cats, seahorses, pangolin scales and more. We leverage off those conversations to make sure that the donkey skin trade doesn’t get lost. As donkeys are a working animal, they often don’t get the attention that they deserve, but wildlife crime is a big topic.

How are donkey skins connected to the wider illegal wildlife trade?

You have high-value species’ parts like rhino horn, lion bones or pangolin scales that are concealed in cargo shipments. More often than not, based on the research that The Donkey Sanctuary has undertaken and customs seizures in China and Africa, donkey skin hides, because of their large volume, will actually hide some of these other illegal wildlife trade products.

The African Union moratorium on donkey skins was passed by 55 Member States earlier this year banning the donkey skin trade. Before that, it was seen as legal trade in some countries. It didn’t raise a red flag because, “Oh, it’s just skins”. Containerised cargo has a World Customs Organisation Harmonised System Code, but if it’s just defined as ‘skins’, it could be any type of skin. But now, as a result of the African Union moratorium, it has been prioritised. Donkey skins might be deemed as worthy to have their own code, which will then mean shipments can be flagged.

It’s horrifying that so many containers are full of ‘skins’…

It’s appalling. There are many skins in one 20-foot container. Each individual animal has likely gone through hardship and unethical treatment just to remove its skin, for a product that is not scientifically-proven to meet its alleged properties for skin care or fertility. Unfortunately, wildlife crime in general is about myths and trends driven by social media, increasing middle classes with higher disposable income, and a need for social status.

But if you tell people where it actually comes from, its source and how it’s derived, most people may not want it. So I think it’s all about storytelling, making sure that people really know where their product comes from before they consume it.

How did you get into this work?

I was a management consultant, but I just felt as though ‘enough was enough’ in this field. I think passion for your work is so important.

I gave everything up, packed my bags and went to the Amazon Basin in Bolivia with an open-ended ticket. I rescued wildlife from illegal wildlife markets and rehabilitated them. I worked with pumas particularly, but we also had toucans, parrots and spider monkeys that were poached, orphaned and taken from their mothers to be exotic pets. It was crazy when I think about it. I’d run with a puma on a ten-metre long chain or rope, machete in hand, in gumboots, around the jungle to help it understand what it was to be wild again.

This epiphany was my calling to work in this space, but in order for me to be heard and taken seriously, I needed to go back to study as a scientist. In the meantime, I worked at WWF and also at an orangutan rescue centre. The illegal wildlife trade was prominent - it didn’t matter whether I was in Bolivia or in Borneo, it was everywhere - and people were at the centre of it. My role has really evolved from working in the Amazon to donkeys, and everything else in between!

Do you still have the opportunity to do hands-on conservation work?

Not as much as I would like and I miss it. Without it you lose touch of why we are doing what we’re doing. I’m getting back into it - it comes down to giving up your time in order to get out there.

I don’t think we can be influential talking to high-level decision makers unless we talk with authenticity, this level of passion. I also run an ecotourism company with a colleague of mine and, again, it’s about finding a way of getting people to fall in love with nature by being in nature. We are not good advocates of change if we’re not living and embracing what we’re advocating people do.

As well as the personal connection, it sounds like it’s important to have hands-on experience to be able to tell powerful stories.

If you’ve been there to understand what drives traders, being involved in a ‘sting operation’, so to speak, then you can talk with conviction and experience. That goes a long way. It’s that ability to tell a story with experience, what you’ve seen with your own eyes, what you’ve smelled. I’ve seen it all. Beautiful animals being targeted, poached and killed, for what? Medicine, food consumption, exotic pets or to become trophies. It’s then you can explain the beauty of nature and the reason why we need to play a more active role in protecting it.

How do you stay positive and motivated?

I do think it’s hard and I’ve seen many colleagues struggle. The heartache of seeing what’s happening around us, the destruction of nature, it can really get to us. I’m blessed that I’ve got a very strong constitution. I’m very resilient. My personal journey of having gone through breast cancer, and being faced with your own mortality really strengthens you. It makes you even more determined to fight for what you believe in.

What are you most proud of?

I’m really proud of the role that I’ve played in positioning donkey skins as a much-needed action point in the context of wildlife crime. I’ve raised their profile in influential circles.

I have got Interpol on board and presented at the Interpol Wildlife Crime Working Group. I have set up and conducted high level meetings with embassies, High Commissions in Africa, trained 16 member states of the Interpol Regional Bureau of Southern Africa, and engaged with various stakeholders within the private sector including shipping lines and airlines, such as Emirates who have recently committed to a “No Donkey Skins Carriage” policy.

Next year, I hope that we have more stakeholders on board committing to a ‘”No Donkey Skins’ carriage” policy, and that we see that donkeys belong with communities and in the wild as best as they can, as opposed to being skinned for ejiao products.