EWI is a wildlife investigation agency committed to the improvement of the conservation and welfare of endangered wildlife, and the upliftment of impoverished local communities throughout the world. 

We adhere to the basic principle that wildlife and local communities get the best possible protection and well-being. Our field experience is used to provide guidance to enforcement agencies, government departments and international policy decision-makers. We form partnerships with international organisations, local groups and activists by supporting their work in providing essential information to affect a positive change. 

Dr Adam Cruise
Founder and Director

Dr Adam Cruise has been a wildlife journalist for twenty years. Decades of reporting on global wildlife issues such as poaching, trade and trophy hunting led him to delve deeper into the mechanisms fuelling such issues. Cruise, together with various individuals and teams of experts, have uncovered and reported on topics from trophy hunting and poaching to the trade in endangered species from elephants to Coral reef fishes. Cruise has a PhD in Philosophy specialising in environmental ethics and has contributed to a number of international publications and documentaries.

In July 2015, Adam broke the global story of Cecil the Lion’s killing by a trophy hunter in Zimbabwe. His report, titled "Sport hunters killed Cecil, Zimbabwe’s best-loved lion", was the first article published worldwide on the tragedy, released on July 20, 2015, at 07:39 AM CAT. The story sparked international outrage and ignited a global conversation about trophy hunting and wildlife ethics, cementing Adam’s reputation as a leading investigative journalist in the conservation world.

Between 2012 and 2019, Zimbabwe captured 144 baby elephants from the wild, exporting them to Chinese zoos and circuses. The trade remained hidden until Adam Cruise, alongside journalist Christina Russo, exposed it through undercover investigations published in The Guardian and National Geographic. Their reports, featuring video and photographic evidence from Hwange National Park, where the elephants—some only months old—were taken from their herds, led to international outrage. The exposé helped drive a global ban under CITES on exporting African elephants from the continent. For their work, Cruise and Russo received journalism awards from the National Press Club and the Humane Society of the United States in 2018.

Adam’s most recently published book ‘It’s Not About the Bats’ explores themes of conservation, the coronavirus and how we must re-set our relationship with nature. The Covid-19 pandemic put the spotlight on how human expansion has led to an increase in zoonotic viruses jumping species, and calls on us to re-set our relationship with nature. In his trademark accessible and anecdotal style, Cruise explores the ethical and practical issues – and solutions – to the greatest problem facing earth.