One of the world’s top ivory and rhino horn trafficking investigators has been found dead with multiple stab wounds.
Esmond Bradley Martin was found dead on Sunday at his home in the Nairobi suburb of Karen, according to Kenya’s Interior Ministry spokesman Mwneda Njoka.
Police are investigating and have yet to establish a motive, Njoka told CNN.
Bradley Martin had just returned from a trip to Myanmar and was writing a report on his findings when he was killed.
Bradley Martin is a former UN special envoy for rhino conservation. One of his notable achievements was persuading China to close its legal rhino trade in 1993.
For decades, Bradley Martin traveled the world exposing trafficking routes in Laos, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Nigeria, often working with Kenya-based NGO Save the Elephants.
The NGO paid tribute to him in a post on Twitter Monday.
“We are deeply saddened by the death of wildlife-trade researcher Esmond Bradley Martin who died yesterday in Nairobi. A long term ally for STE, passionate champion of wildlife and meticulous researcher, his loss will be deeply felt by all who knew him,” the NGO wrote on its twitter account.