Adam Cruise
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.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.
Dr. Adam Cruise is a South African investigative journalist and academic who currently leads Endangered Wildlife Investigations and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of African Elephants. Specialising in wildlife crime and environmental ethics, he gained international recognition for breaking the story of Cecil the Lion’s killing in 2015.
His extensive career includes serving as the Acting CEO of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting in 2023, over a decade of independent environmental reporting for outlets like National Geographic and The Guardian. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from Stellenbosch University and has authored several books on conservation and history.