Combat Trafficking in High Value Wildlife Products from Big Cats | SFOP0004272

Opportunity Information: Apply for SFOP0004272

The grant opportunity titled "Combat Trafficking in High Value Wildlife Products from Big Cats" (Funding Opportunity Number SFOP0004272) was a discretionary grant program offered by the U.S. Department of State through the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). It falls under the Natural Resources funding activity category and is associated with CFDA (now often referenced as Assistance Listing) number 19.705. The program was designed to support work that strengthens the ability of relevant partners to reduce and disrupt illegal trade involving big cat species, with a particular emphasis on high-value wildlife products that drive trafficking networks.

At its core, the opportunity focused on providing technical assistance to combat wildlife trafficking connected to big cats. In practical terms, "technical assistance" typically means targeted support that helps improve how institutions prevent, investigate, and prosecute trafficking, as well as how they identify and interdict illegal products. This can include strengthening enforcement practices, improving coordination among agencies, building capacity for evidence handling and case development, and enhancing tools or procedures that make trafficking harder and riskier for criminal actors. While the notice is brief, the framing by INL signals an interest in approaches that treat wildlife trafficking as a serious transnational crime problem, often linked to organized criminal networks and broader rule-of-law challenges.

The award structure indicated a single anticipated award, with an award ceiling of $2,000,000. That ceiling reflects the maximum funding level for the project under this announcement, suggesting the Department expected one primary implementer to lead a comprehensive effort rather than splitting funding across multiple smaller projects. The funding instrument type was a grant, which generally supports programmatic activities carried out by the recipient to achieve defined objectives, milestones, and deliverables agreed upon with the agency.

Eligibility was listed as "Others," with a note directing applicants to additional eligibility details in the full announcement text. In federal grant listings, this usually means the competition was not restricted only to state or local governments and may have been open to a broader range of applicants such as non-governmental organizations, international organizations, academic institutions, or other qualified entities, depending on the specific eligibility language in the full solicitation.

The timeline for the opportunity shows it was created on April 5, 2018, with an original closing date of June 5, 2018. That roughly two-month application window is typical for specialized foreign assistance or technical capacity-building solicitations, where applicants are expected to propose a clear strategy, a credible implementation plan, and measurable outcomes within the program area.

Overall, this opportunity was aimed at backing a focused, higher-budget intervention to help partners counter the trafficking of big cat products by improving technical capabilities and strengthening operational and institutional responses. With INL as the sponsoring bureau, the emphasis likely leaned toward law enforcement capacity, criminal justice outcomes, and cross-border or interagency coordination that can directly reduce trafficking flows and increase the likelihood of detection and successful enforcement actions.

• The Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics-Law Enforcement in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Combat Trafficking in High Value Wildlife Products from Big Cats" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.705.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 05, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 05, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for SFOP0004272

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: