Hongxiang Huang: Undercover for Wildlife
Updated: 2 days ago
Hongxiang Huang's undercover investigations were featured in Netflix’s documentary The Ivory Game. Today, he leads a conservation team working across three continents. He speaks with Kandola Wildlife about his investigations, his motivation and the people giving him hope.
VOICES IN CONSERVATION | KANDOLA WILDLIFE
The traders called out to him in Chinese, offering ivory and rhino horn. They assumed he was a customer. It was 2013, and Hongxiang Huang was visiting an ivory market in Maputo, Mozambique. After graduating from Columbia University, he had joined a fellowship to investigate the wildlife trade in Africa. He had not initially understood why they specifically wanted a Chinese journalist. The encounter made it clear.
He recalls dealers keeping ivory hidden in boxes and staying quiet as other visitors passed. When they saw him, they became eager to sell. They let him take photographs and answered his questions, apparently without suspecting he might be investigating them. Their assumptions gave him access to information that other investigators might struggle to obtain.
Today, Hongxiang leads Agent C Wildlife Initiative as its founder and CEO. Its investigators work across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. He also founded China House, a nonprofit that helps young people contribute to conservation, humanitarian work and global sustainable development. Through both organisations, he creates opportunities for others to learn and contribute.
Finding a way to help
Hongxiang wanted to protect animals long before he knew how conservation organisations worked. As a child, he read about Dr. Jane Goodall and dreamed of travelling to Africa. But he did not know how to turn that dream into a profession. “I didn’t know I could,” he recalls.
He studied journalism at Fudan University, then pursued graduate study in development practice at Columbia University. At Columbia, between 2011 and 2013, he learned about international development and NGOs. He began to see how he could use his skills to help protect wildlife. His investigations in southern Africa gave him that opportunity.
After he published his findings, an NGO invited him to pose as a buyer during investigations. More organisations later asked him to join their work.
The stereotype that the Chinese did not care about wildlife saddened him, and he wanted to challenge it through his work. He also felt a responsibility to act. If demand from his country contributed to the problem, he believed people from that country should help solve it.
Bringing the work to a global audience
In 2016, Hongxiang’s undercover work was featured in Netflix’s documentary The Ivory Game, which exposes the global illegal ivory trade and its threat to African elephants. Executive-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, the film was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
His background in journalism shaped his decision to participate. He believed the film could encourage people to get involved. He hoped international audiences would recognise Chinese conservationists as partners and viewers in China would see a possible future for themselves in conservation.
He believes the documentary helped. In the years that followed, more people from China joined his work, and international NGOs approached him about collaborating. The response encouraged his efforts to bring more people into conservation.
Hongxiang says the film also led him to meet his hero, Dr. Jane Goodall. He recalls feeling deeply flattered when she called him her hero.
His experience also includes research and public engagement. His official biography lists research work with IIED and WWF, along with two ambassador roles: Global Ambassador for Development Practice at Columbia and Conservation Ambassador for Shanghai Pudong. It also records his inclusion in Forbes China’s 30 Under 30 in the social enterprise category.
The encounter in Laos he could not forget
Years of investigation have not made Hongxiang indifferent to what he sees. At a market in Laos, he recalls seeing around ten live pangolins. Sellers told him the pangolins would be sold and killed within a day or two.
He says he had never encountered anything like it in his investigations across different countries. The number of pangolins and the speed at which sellers expected to sell them made Laos a priority for his work.
Investigators need to understand who supplies wildlife, who buys it and which businesses connect them. They must then get their evidence to authorities who can act. Columbia Magazine reported one such result: forestry officials in Laos confiscated four live pangolins after Hongxiang’s team reported vendors. The animals were taken to a rescue centre and later released into the wild.
Building something others could carry forward
Hongxiang recognised that he could achieve more by helping others get involved. In 2014, he founded China House. He had seen an interest in conservation and international work among Chinese youth. The organisation would give them opportunities to learn and contribute.
At Agent C, he applies that same commitment to training wildlife investigators. Earlier in his career, he often worked as an individual investigator alongside international NGOs. Today, he works with a team developing the skills and experience to carry that work forward.
The organisation’s name reflects its purpose: “C” stands for China, Conservation and Change. Its work includes investigations, public awareness, support for law enforcement and policy advocacy. Hongxiang says his team has investigated the jaguar trade in Suriname and pangolin trafficking in Laos. In Kenya, they have investigated sea turtle and ivory trafficking. He says their work there has helped put traffickers behind bars.
Changing the conversation
Hongxiang wants people to recognise both the demand for illegal wildlife products in China and the efforts of the Chinese working to stop the trade. He says only a small proportion of the population buys these products, but in a country as large as China, that can still create considerable demand.
He mentions positive cooperation with Chinese customs. His team has also worked with Chinese communities overseas to help secure financial support for pangolin conservation in South Africa.
What keeps him going
Hongxiang returns to his love for animals and his belief in the importance of the work. He has received death threats and takes the risks seriously. He says careful preparation and professional practice help him manage the danger.
Funding remains a challenge. His team relies on small donations, souvenir sales and personal contributions. Securing wider institutional support is part of the work ahead for Hongxiang and his team.
What gives him hope is seeing young conservationists develop their skills and take on investigations. He once struggled to see how he could turn his love for animals into a profession. Now, he is helping others find their way into that work.
In 2013, traders looked at Hongxiang Huang and assumed they knew why he was there. More than a decade of work has given the world a different answer.
This work takes courage, preparation and support. Hongxiang and his team give their time and skills to protecting wildlife, often with limited resources. Their commitment deserves recognition and support.
Learn more about their work and ways to support it through Agent C Wildlife Initiative
This feature draws on Hongxiang Huang’s interview with Kandola Wildlife, with additional background from the sources below. Interview responses have been condensed and paraphrased for clarity.
Sources: Columbia Magazine Agent C: Founder’s Story Agent C: Who We Are China House: Founder’s Story
