Sumith Prasad
In Prime Video’s crime drama series ‘Poacher,’ Alan Joseph goes through several call detail records with Mala Jogi to figure out how a group of poachers have killed several elephants in the forests in southern Kerala, a state in India, to extract ivories. Alan’s contribution to the case doesn’t stop with just analyses. He teams up with Mala on the field to hunt down the poachers and the dealers who illegally trade the extracted ivories. He remains a constant and essential part of the investigation by sacrificing his personal life and jeopardizing his relationships!
Who is Alan Joseph?
Alan Joseph is based on Jose Louies, an employee of the Wildlife Crime Control Division at the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in 2015. He was an integral part of the investigation team that solved the infamous Malayattoor poaching case and brought a group of poachers and illegal dealers to justice. He joined the team as an analyst who had enough experience in technology-related affairs.
“It was a meticulous investigation, and that is where we came in to assist the department because there was a lot of tech involved. It was a structured, technology-based investigation, and it was not done in a hurry,” Louies told The Quint. The investigation was done in secret and without involving the press. The team headed by Surendra Kumar, then-Additional Principal Conservator of Forests (Vigilance) in Kerala, and the then-field director Amit Mallick, the inspiration behind the character Neel Banerjee, seemingly wanted someone trustworthy and committed to the cause and Louies ticked the boxes.
Louies teamed up with Manu Sathyan, the inspiration behind the co-protagonist Mala Jogi, to unveil the network of poachers. “These poaching gangs were established over a period of time – and we found out that they actually met each other in courtrooms. Many of them were part of different gangs and they had previous cases against them. Some of them had the same lawyers, and when they came for trials, they began planning these crimes outside courtrooms,” he added. When Richie Mehta set out to make a series based on the case, Louies collaborated with the filmmaker extensively.
“From the steps of Delhi metro to steps of American center was a looooong journey of friendship, brotherhood, passion for the results and lots of learnings… the journey of ‘Poacher’ was a lifetime experience. Big thanks to Richie for bringing the dark n dangerous side of wildlife conservation as a complete thriller without any compromise to the true events,” Louies shared about being a part of the show.
Jose Louies Remains at the Wildlife Trust of India Today
Louies has been serving as the joint director of the Wildlife Trust of India since May 2023. He also heads the organization’s Wildlife Crime Control Division. As the Chief of Enforcement, he leads the nonprofit’s division that handles wildlife trade control and litigation. Being a part of the WTI takes him all across the country in various capacities that range from a speaker to an analyst. His areas of expertise at the WTI include policy research, facilitation, biodiversity conservation, etc. He played a key role in the development of Hostile Activity Watch Kernel AKA HAWK, a specialized software platform created to monitor all aspects of forest and wildlife crime.
The digital system is already used by the Indian states of Kerala and Karnataka to log wildlife crimes. Louies collaborated with his former co-investigator Manu Sathyan to implement the system in Kerala. He described it as a “one of its kind system in the country which can manage all aspects of forest and wildlife crime: starting from storage of random criminal intel to prepare entire court documentation, guiding the frontline staff, and officers to minimize errors and omissions.” In December 2023, he introduced the system at the INTERPOL headquarters.
“‘HAWK’ was always a challenge, mission, and project which tested the nerve since we started it. Today, I presented the HAWK system at Interpol HQ as a tech solution to fight wildlife crime. It’s the result of a great teamwork that made this possible! The hawk system is just out of the nest, exploring the tree and sharpening the talons before the take-off,” Louies shared. He also runs the website, “indiansnakes.org,” to spread awareness concerning the different varieties of snakes found in India.
Louies is the mastermind behind the Big Four Mapping Project, a campaign dedicated to mapping out snake vs. human encounters. The project has an Android application that is used to record snake sightings and a network of more than 1,200 volunteer snake rescuers in India. The project saves not only humans from venomous snakes but also the latter from the people who encounter them. Louies is an avid traveler who visits several “eco hotspots” located all across India. Lately, he is also immersed in beekeeping. “Beekeeping is an art, hobby, profession, or passion and once you taste it, you get intoxicated and addicted,” he shared about his hobby.
Read More: Poacher: Here Are All Locations Where the Amazon Show is Shot
