Uganda, Nov. 19 -- In June, through its East African Wildlife Journalism Project, Earth Journalism Network together with conservation groups launched WildEye East Africa, a geo-mapping tool that enables and allows journalists and policy makers in the East African region to track and share data on court cases and convictions related to wildlife crimes.

This was aimed at addressing lack of data on criminal activity, something that had thwarted reporting of illegal wildlife trade, a major challenge facing crime reporters and investigators.

According to conservationists, the unprecedented increase in wildlife crime across East African countries continues to frustrate conservation efforts and threaten hundreds of animal species in the region...