Lions and leopards are the target of criminal poacher and trader networks in Senegal and across West Africa where big cat body parts play an important role in local and regional mystical belief systems. Since 2017, Panthera has provided assistance to Senegal’s Directorate of National Parks (DNP) to protect the remaining populations of lions and leopards in Niokolo-Koba National Park (NKNP), where Panthera is focusing efforts on improving park infrastructure and capacitating a security force to halt poaching at source. Given that wildlife trade also negatively affects ecosystems beyond park boundaries and both national and international security, there is an urgent need to complement these activities with a national and regional counter wildlife trafficking strategy. The generation of kno