Search results

Multiple arrests have been made recently in connection with pangolin trafficking in operations in Gauteng, Free State and Mpumalanga. Prof Ray Jansen, founding member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Pangolin Specialist Group, and his partners rescued a trafficked pangolin in Midrand in a sting operation last week. It was the 12th pangolin rescued this year. Jansen said the pangolin was in a critical condition and might not survive.

Police thwarted an illegal pangolin sale worth thousands in the east of Pretoria with the help of an environmental activist. Police spokesperson Yeroboam Mbantsane said the environmental activist from the African Pangolin Working Group disguised himself as a potential buyer and approached two men, aged 34 and 27, from the Northern Cape who were selling a live pangolin.

Pretoria-based police have yet again nabbed suspects who attempted to secretly sell an endangered species, a pangolin, which continues to be a problematic crime in the region. On Friday, four people were arrested during a street sale of a pangolin when the sellers were promised R50 000 in a police trap.

Investigations by the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) have revealed Zimbabwe is now a major transit route for smuggling of valuable but critically endangered shell fish, abalone, to China and other countries.

Three alleged pangolin poachers were bust red-handed and arrested when they tried to sell an animal to a "potential client" at a Shell garage on the N1 in Midrand on Friday. Olivia was the seventh pangolin rescued this year from poachers.

Zimbabwe has realised a spike in wildlife poaching as the wildlife management authority has redirected efforts towards combating the spread of Covid-19 during the current lockdown period, a top lobby has said.

"We provide free air support for the reserves up here," explains Rob over the headphones. "The more we’re doing surveillance up in the air, the safer the rhino below. In some cases, our surveillance has seen a 97 per cent drop in rhino poaching." Rob scans the bush constantly and, when he spots two waterbuck at a canter, he swoops down to take a closer look.