This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:
Public access to information is a vital component of ensuring community engagement in prevalent issues. Wildlife crime is one of the pressing environmental issues of our time.
Wildlife crime investigations are generally covert operations requiring utmost confidentiality to succeed. Investigations and prosecutions in complex cases may take months or even years to complete. For this reason, the information that can be released to the public without compromising cases is often limited. Nonetheless, the Namibian government strives to share as much information as possible with the public.
The Namibian media has welcomed this approach and regularly publishes statistics and feature articles on wildlife crime. These are entered into the database at regular intervals, creating a comprehensive archive of wildlife crime reporting in Namibia.
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Three members of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) were apprehended on Friday, within the confines of Mangetti National Park. The arrests followed after park officials saw the perpetrators climbing over a fence during a routine anti-poaching patrol and fence inspection. The three soldiers were arrested while attempting to claim over the Mangetti Park’s boundary fence into the Mururani location, bearing bags laden with dried game meat ranging from Eland, Kudu and Wildebeest.
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NAM_2024_04_Three NDF members arrested for poaching in Mangetti National Park_Windhoek Observer.pdf | 187.67 KB |
Between 2015 and February 2024, Namibia lost a staggering 631 rhinos due to poaching, marking a concerning downturn in its conservation success. This is according to statistics provided by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism last week during the Commemoration of World Wildlife Day 2024. Breaking down the figures year by year, statistics paint a grim picture of 97 rhinos poached in 2015 alone, with six reported to be poached in 2016 and five poached in 2017.
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NAM_2024_03_More than 600 rhinos were poached in ten years_Windhoek Observer.pdf | 965.03 KB |
In an operation led by Members of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism (MEFT), in collaboration with the Namibian Police (Nampol) and Namibian Defense Force (NDF), 24 elephant tusks were confiscated during an early morning interception on Friday in the Zambezi region.
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NAM_2023_11_Zambian poachers flee as officials confiscate 24 elephant tusks_Windhoek Observer.pdf | 274.6 KB |
Meanwhile, the police at Outjo in the Kunene region arrested a 28-year-old suspect while he was transporting a rhinohorn on Friday evening. He was apprehended when the police stopped and searched the vehicle he was traveling inbetween Outjo and Okaukuejo. The rhino horn’s estimated value is N$300,000.
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NAM_2023_10_Cannabis mandrax and rhino horn possession lands six behind bars_Informante.pdf | 61.38 KB |
The Windhoek Magistrate Court has handed down prison sentences of up to 15 years to four individuals involved in a heinous rhino poaching case. The culprits were found guilty for their involvement in a poaching incident dating back to December 2016, where four white rhinos were ruthlessly killed on a private farm in the Gobabis District. On 22 December 2016, the suspects allegedly, without a hunting permit, killed four white rhinos - two bulls and two pregnant cows - each valued at N$1.25 million, with a total value…
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NAM_2023_10_Poachers sentenced to 15 years_Windhoek Observer.pdf | 284.34 KB |
Nampol in Omusati thwart a rhino poaching expedition and confiscate the rifle.
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NAM_2023_06_Nampol in Omusati thwart a rhino poaching expedition and confiscate the rifle_informante.pdf | 236.66 KB |
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism has identified its employee Otto Jan Uirab as the suspect in the poaching incident that occurred last week. He is charged alongside Nedbank employee, Harold Xarageb, and two other suspects Gaeb Franklin and Veldskoendraer Neely. The suspects were arrested on suspicion of illegally hunting a blue wildebeest in the Dan Viljoen Park near Windhoek last week. They have since appeared in the Katutura Magistrate’s court. A case has been opened with the Otjomuise Police station and the suspects were remanded in custody until the May 2023…
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NAM_2023_02_MEFT employee nabbed for poaching_Windhoek Observer.pdf | 291.96 KB |
An official from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism was amongst three other suspects that were arrested on suspicion of illegally hunting a blue wildebeest in Dan Viljoen Park near Windhoek. "The incident happened on Tuesday at a roadblock between Dan Viljoen and Windhoek. The Ministry condemns the incident particularly, the alleged involvement of a staff member," said the ministry’s spokesperson Romeo Muyunda. They were arrested on Tuesday at the roadblock, west of Windhoek, leading to the game park.
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NAM_2023_02_Ministry official arrested for poaching_Windhoek Observer.pdf | 257.16 KB |
According to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s rhino poaching statistics available on the organisation’s website, a total of 99 have fallen victim to poachers this year.
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SA_2022_05_KZN rhino poaching numbers already high for 2022_Zululand Observer.pdf | 341.26 KB |
Swift justice has been meted out for this unfortunate smuggler on Wednesday, after he was promptly arrested at OR Tambo for being in possession of no more than eleven separate rhino horn packages.
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SA_2022_02_Gotcha_Smuggler caught with eleven rhino horns at OR Tambo_The South African.pdf | 298.76 KB |
Two Mbire poachers were yesterday sentenced to a combined 20-year jail term by Guruve magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa over possession of 34,12kg of elephant tusks.
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ZIM_2021_10_Mbire poachers jailed 20 years_NewsDay.pdf | 343.06 KB |
Three Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) officials are battling for life at a hospital in Harare after they were recently severely assaulted by suspected poachers in Mushumbi, Mashonaland Central province.
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ZIM_2021_08_Poachers axe ZimParks rangers_NewsDay Zimbabwe.pdf | 95.48 KB |
A plot by a jealous Guruve man to get his ex-wife and her boyfriend imprisoned by planting ivory on her hit a snag after he was arrested for possession of ivory.
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ZIM_2021_07_Jealous man plants ivory in ex_wifes toilet_News Day.pdf | 161.36 KB |
The suspected ivory smuggler from Alberton is facing the full might of the law this week, after two elephant tusks were found in his possession.
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SA_2021_05_Gauteng man busted for possession of two elephant tusks_The South African.pdf | 906.15 KB |
A timely tip-off and a swift police deployment in the dead of the night produced yet another success story in the Namibian Police’s ongoing anti-poaching campaign in the northern regions bordering the Etosha National Park when four suspected illegal hunters were caught red-handed on Wednesday morning. The suspects – including the principal of local primary school - were arrested in the Ompundja Constituency of the Oshana Region after they were allegedly found in possession of the carcasses of four duikers, one steenbok, four springhares, one rabbit and two red-crested korhaans.…
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NAM_2015-10_Principal busted for poaching_Namibian Sun.pdf | 113.84 KB |
The police are determined to get to the bottom of the rhino poaching problem regardless of the status of the people involved, Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa, who is leading an anti-poaching operation in the Etosha National Park and surrounding areas in Omusati and Kunene, has warned. On Wednesday, a team of investigating officers was sent from pillar to post by three suspected poachers who had pledged to give their full cooperation to the police.
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NAM_2015-07_Poachers wont win_Namibian Sun.pdf | 117.38 KB |
The police have made significant progress in their investigation of the recently discovered mass killings of rhino in the Etosha National Park. The death toll is expected to rise, if information at the sites of buried carcasses prove to be correct. A large number of suspects have been arrested and the list includes employees within the park. The Oshana police regional commander, Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa, is heading a team of investigators permanently deployed in Etosha since June 1.
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NAM_2015-07_Syndicates exposed in Etosha rhino poaching_Namibian Sun.pdf | 84.24 KB |