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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The Springbok SAPS Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit (STESU) arrested two men who were driving a vehicle loaded with bags of Conophytum bilobum plants on the R382 road between Steinkopf and Port Nolloth.
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SA_2023-10_Two nabbed in Northern Cape for possession of protected plants_IOL.pdf | 304.49 KB |
An alleged rhino poacher has been sentenced to 30 years behind bars for killing three rhinos at Kruger National Park in Skukuza. Sydney Sibuyi, 40, was sentenced to thirty years of direct imprisonment in the Skukuza Regional Court on Thursday for poaching-related offences.
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SA_2023_10_Rhino poacher handed 30 years for killing three rhinos in Kruger National Park_IOL.pdf | 122.59 KB |
A Northern Cape man found with a pangolin skin at a truck stop on the N14 Road in Upington was sentenced to a fine of R50,000. Hawks spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Tebogo Thebe said that Zandray Dawids, 40, was arrested in January 2021 after being found with pangolin skin at a truck stop on N14 Road in Upington.
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SA_2023_09_Wildlife Crime_Northern Cape man fined R50_000 for trading in pangolin skin_IOL.pdf | 285.51 KB |
The Hawks' Serious Organised Crime Johannesburg and K9 Unit Johannesburg arrested three men who were driving a Nissan Almera loaded with ivory tusks around the Bruma area in Johannesburg. Three suspects, aged between 33 and 35, were arrested on Wednesday in Bruma, Johannesburg, by members of the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Johannesburg and K9 Unit Johannesburg for the illegal possession of elephant tusks.
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SA_2023_09_Gauteng Hawks bust three men for illegal possession of elephant tusks_IOL.pdf | 218.52 KB |
Zwelithini Mathebula 37, and Lucky Mhlongo 39, were sentenced to 34 years' imprisonment while their co-accused Teddy Dlamini 37, was sentenced to 39 years' imprisonment. NPA regional spokesperson Monica Nyuswa, said that the three culprits were arrested in November 2019, along with their two co-accused who absconded after they were granted bail. The three were convicted of killing three rhinos, possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of a firearm, conspiracy to commit a crime, possession of ammunition, and possession of a dangerous weapon.
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SA_2023_04_Trio of rhino KNP poachers handed prison terms totalling over 100 years_IOL 2023.pdf | 295.28 KB |
Two suspects, aged of 43 and 44 years, appeared before the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on Thursday after they were arrested for being in possession of two elephant tusks they tried to sell to the officers. This followed information acquired by the Hawks' Serious Organised Crime Investigation team in Free State concerning the two suspects who were trying to sell the tusks in Bloemfontein.
Cape Town - Anti-rhino poaching activist Wayne Bolton has called for stronger collaborative action from the government amid concern over rising rhino poaching cases. According to Bolton, rhino poaching across Africa saw a significant decrease during strict Covid-19 lockdowns, but as the restrictions loosened, poachers intensified their onslaught on the species, with South Africa being hardest hit.
On April 1 the number of rhinos poached in Hluhluwe-uMfolozi Park, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), since the 1st of January was 60. It's just one month later, and that already horrific number has shockingly jumped to 94 (actually 95, as of yesterday). Imagine how many rhinos will now not be born because of those that have been killed in Hluhluwe-uMfolozi just this year! Every rhino counts.
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SA_2022_05_95 Rhinos Poached in Hluhluwe_uMfolozi Park So Far in 2022_SAPeople.pdf | 480.95 KB |
Cameroon has deployed its military forces to help rangers crack down on poachers on its eastern border with the Central African Republic. Cameroon wildlife officials say poaching is again increasing after pandemic restrictions saw a drop in the number of animals being killed. Officials say in the last week alone, poachers have killed at least eight elephants along the border. Cameroon's Forestry and Wildlife ministry says several dozen armed poachers are attacking elephants along the CAR border.
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CAM_2021_12_Cameroon deploys military to assist rangers as poaching increases_VOA News.pdf | 30.21 KB |
Cameroonian police say they have for the first time during the pandemic seized parts of an estimated 2,000 pangolins poached in Cameroon and neighboring Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Police say travel restrictions had slowed trafficking of the endangered anteater to Asia, where its meat is considered a delicacy and the scales are used in traditional medicine. At least 12 bags of Pangolin scales and leopard skin are in a police warehouse at Nlonkak, a neighborhood in Cameroon's capital, Yaounde.
Cape Town - An American citizen has been sentenced to two years in jail, suspended for five years, and further banned from the country for the illegal possession of indigenous plants. Kalman Kaminar was sentenced in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on two counts of illegal possession of succulent plants declared as protected.
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SA_2020_04_American nabbed with 354 plants by CapeNature sentenced_IOL.pdf | 133.14 KB |