logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2023
20m 37s

How dangerous is it to be an undercover ...

Bbc World Service
About this episode

“We found out in the middle of an operation that the guy were trying to arrest was related to the hotel owner and we were locked in the hotel… We had to use a weapon at that stage – to disperse the crowd but also to break the padlock and get scot free.”

What does a wildlife investigator do and what part do they play in conserving Africa’s natural heritage?

For today’s Africa Daily podcast, Alan speaks to Adams Cassinga, the founder of Conserv Congo. Its more than 100 members work undercover to catch poachers and smugglers using fake personas and sting operations. They also have a network of informants in local communities.

So how does such an operation manage with meagre resources? And how did Adams, who used to work in the mining sector, get involved in this work?

PRESENTER: Alan Kasujja @Kasujja GUEST: Adams Cassinga @ConservC

Up next
Oct 2025
Tanzanian elections: What issues are young people concerned about?
As Tanzania gears up for elections on 29 October, we hear from two young people about the issues that matter to them and whether youth concerns have been featured in the electoral campaigns.How a young Senegalese footballer's dream of joining a professional club ended in tragedy ... Show More
33m 44s
Oct 2025
Focus on Africa: Hundreds of stolen social media identities used to spread propaganda
A BBC investigation uncovers dozens of social accounts using stolen identities of Somali and Muslim influencers and posting political propaganda content. We hear more about what was uncovered and who might be behind this widespread operation.Chad’s parliament has overwhelmingly a ... Show More
32m 11s
Oct 2025
Focus on Africa Can DRC be declared ebola free?
The last ebola patient in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been released from a treatment centre in Kasai province. Can the country now be declared free of this latest outbreak?What is behind the escalating tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea over control of the Red Sea ... Show More
29m 59s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2025
The Dark Side of Conservation
How far will Western powers go for conservation? In 2015, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, guards shot and killed an Indigenous boy searching for herbs with his father. This tragedy spotlights the violence faced by Indigenous communities from international conservation ef ... Show More
31m 40s
Aug 2022
The Congo
<p>An attempted assassination of the warden of Africa’s oldest national park reveals to the world the dangers and violence lurking inside one of the most beautiful landscapes on earth.</p><p>Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For ... Show More
28m 8s
Sep 2025
Kenya’s Wildlife Murder Mystery
Esmond Bradley Martin spent decades going undercover in the dangerous world of ivory and rhino horn trafficking, risking his life to expose shadowy smuggling rings and the powerful figures protecting them. But just as he was preparing to reveal his most explosive findings yet, Es ... Show More
32m 42s
Aug 2023
60. Extinction or protection: The race to stop the illegal wildlife trade before it’s too late
This episode of the Weekly Tradecast looks at the illegal wildlife trade with David Vivas, an UNCTAD legal officer working on trade and environmental issues. Every year, huge numbers of animals and plants are bought and sold illicitly as food, medicine, clothing, furniture and ev ... Show More
10m 34s
May 2025
The Tracker
<p>When a botched home invasion leads law enforcement to pursue two dangerous men into the Idaho wilderness, the fallout is fatal for the one forest service officer who dared to face the fugitives head-on.</p><p>View source material and photos for this episode at:<a href="https:/ ... Show More
51m 11s
Apr 2023
Selects: How Manhunts Work
When a suspect or prisoner goes on the lam there are plenty of ways to hide: in plain sight, in the mountains, in another country. There are as many types of ways law enforcement uses to track wanted people as their are ways to go on the lam, but there are some founding principle ... Show More
34m 51s
Aug 2024
Trouble in Flamingo
Hunters in the Everglades used to kill millions of birds every year for their feathers. In 1902, a man named Guy Bradley was hired to stop people from shooting the birds – but it wasn’t easy. “If you’re working alone in the wilderness, no witnesses, and the people that you’re goi ... Show More
37m 31s
Jul 2024
Ep. 234: Yellowstone Poacher
In this episode of the Bear Grease Podcast, Clay Newcomb interviews Retired US Forest Service Special Agent, Russ Arthur, once again as the plot thickens with another unbelievable story of undercover law enforcement. This time busting a North Carolina man illegal elk guiding in Y ... Show More
50m 29s