Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) poses a threat to many countries in Africa, Asia, South and Central America. While the role of informal networks in sustaining wildlife trafficking is ever more on the radar of scholars and practitioners, their modus operandi remains largely understudied. The literature tells us that these informal networks play a role in sustaining this illicit cross-border trade. This paper deep-dives into this and the roles and strategies used by informal networks of poachers, intermediaries, traffickers, and buyers to transport high volumes of wildlife products into, through and out of Uganda. This East African country is an essential entrepôt for wildlife trafficking in East Africa. The analysis is informed by qualitative fieldwork conducted in Uganda between 2019 and 2020. It comprises 47 interviews with Ugandan-based and international anti-IWT experts and 8 focus group discussions (FGDs) with wildlife conservation and anti-corruption experts in Kampala, and members of reformed poachers’ networks in Western Uganda and individuals living around a wildlife habitat in Northern Uganda. This research focuses on the types of actors, functions, and strategies significant for facilitating IWT in the country. The empirical findings confirm the role of informal networks in promoting the illegal wildlife trade in Uganda. First, this paper differentiates between categories of actors depending on their key role in managing illegal wildlife trade in Uganda. Second, it explores the mechanisms of coordination that these actors use to govern network relations for achieving various illicit goals. Third, it analyses the type of informal governance system that enables such mechanisms of network coordination, as based on a mix of centralisation and decentralisation, and organized and opportunistic strategies. Lastly, the empirical findings highlight these informal cross-border networks for being flexible structures that adapt to so-called patterns of ‘least resistance’.

非法野生动物贸易 (IWT) 对非洲、亚洲、南美洲和中美洲的许多国家构成威胁。虽然非正式网络在维持野生动物贩运方面的作用越来越受到学者和从业者的关注，但他们的作案手法仍然在很大程度上未得到充分研究。文献告诉我们，这些非正式网络在维持这种非法跨境贸易方面发挥了作用。本文深入探讨了这一点以及偷猎者、中间商、贩运者和购买者的非正式网络在将大量野生动物产品运入、通过和运出乌干达时所使用的角色和策略。这个东非国家是东非野生动物贩运的重要转口港。该分析基于 2019 年至 2020 年在乌干达进行的定性实地调查。它包括对乌干达和国际反内河运输专家的 47 次采访以及与坎帕拉野生动物保护和反腐败专家的 8 次焦点小组讨论 (FGD)，乌干达西部改革后的偷猎者网络成员以及生活在乌干达北部野生动物栖息地周围的个人。本研究侧重于对促进该国内河运输具有重要意义的参与者类型、职能和战略。实证结果证实了非正式网络在促进乌干达非法野生动物贸易方面的作用。首先，本文根据参与者在管理乌干达非法野生动植物贸易中的关键作用来区分不同类别的参与者。其次，它探索了这些参与者用来管理网络关系以实现各种非法目标的协调机制。第三，它分析了支持这种网络协调机制的非正式治理系统的类型，这些机制基于集权和分权的混合，以及有组织的和机会主义的战略。最后，