Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals in the world. Their meat is a prized delicacy and their scales are used in traditional medicine. Traffickers are targeting Africa as the animal is now scarce in Asia.

Lithuania's foreign minister has defended his country's newly-imposed state of emergency on and around its border with Belarus, amid an increasing number of irregular migrants trying to cross – and has accused the Belarusian president of orchestrating "instrumentalised migration" and participating in "trafficking". Gabrielius Landsbergis told FRANCE 24's Catherine Nicholson that Lithuanian border officials need "more legal instruments to really secure the border", which runs for approximately 700 kilometres.

For years, Vietnamese children and teenagers have been disappearing in Germany. Those responsible are unscrupulous human traffickers whose networks span continents. The young Vietnamese are smuggled into Germany via Russia and Eastern Europe. Many end up in the world of crime, working as slaves for the Vietnamese mafia. This film tells their story. One high-ranking investigator describes the phenomenon as "modern slavery". This is how many children and young people are brought from Vietnam to Germany: They are crammed into vans, loaded into refrigerated trucks, on the road for months, held along the way in abandoned warehouses or apartments. They are beaten, raped, exploited, they fear for their lives. They are lured by the prospect of a better life, as promised to their families by the criminals.

Colombia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, with an enormous variety of wild birds and reptiles. Amidst the COVID-19 lockdown the residents of Bogotá are now discovering that the city has a greater diversity of inhabitants than they had imagined.

Brown hyenas are valuable, social animals. But they are being hunted relentlessly. Now, there are more and more protected zones and wildlife reserves where they can live in safety.

Child trafficking is often described as modern day slavery. despite legal and social measures aimed at combating the practice, it remains rife in a number of west african countries.

Poland plans to build a wall on its border with Belarus to prevent undocumented migrants from crossing into its territory illegally. But environmental campaigners warn a wall could have a dire impact on local wildlife. DW’s Jack Parrock reports.

We take a look at how DNA tracing used to catch serial killers is now being applied to poachers. But first, we see how the press is covering an honour killing in Pakistan, Vladimir Putin's theatrical, de-escalation meeting with Sergei Lavrov and Valérie Pécresse's "flop' of a French presidential campaign rally.

Decades of conflict has made Iraq a hotbed for trafficking. From weapons to drugs, Iraq has dominated headlines. However, less attention has been focused on the trafficking of wild animals. In fact, the Middle East is considered one of the hubs of animal trafficking. Our correspondent in Iraq, Lucile Wassermann, went to meet the players in the trading of wildlife to understand the drivers behind it.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Thursday.

The Honduras Supreme Court has backed the extradition of former President Juan Orlando Hernandez to the US to face charges of drug trafficking. If convicted, Hernandez could face a life sentence.

Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted last year of helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls for years. The British socialite called for a new trial after it was revealed that a juror failed to disclose their past abuse.