Rachel Nuwer Investigated A School For Wildlife Traffickers

For 1843 Magazine, Rachel Nuwer reported on a school for wildlife traffickers.

Nuwer told Study Hall, “I’ve been reporting on the illegal wildlife trade beat for over a decade now, but I’d never heard of anything like this before: a Taiwanese and Chinese-run Buddhist orphanage and boarding school in Malawi that is grooming children to become wildlife traffickers.”

She added,”The kids who are recruited speak fluent Mandarin and ultimately work for one of the biggest ivory syndicates in southern Africa. I spent two weeks in Malawi interviewing graduates of the school and current and former syndicate members. Reporting highlights included visiting a prison and going undercover to see the orphanage for myself. The syndicate leader, a Chinese national named Yunhau Lin, has been behind bars since 2019 but in July received a presidential pardon. 

She said, “My hope is that this story will make some difference for keeping Lin in prison and ensuring the safety and proper treatment of the students still enrolled at these schools.” 

Nuwer’s reporting has appeared in The New York Times, National Geographic, and Scientific American.