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 number of rhinos being poached in Namibia, home to the world's second-biggest population of the animals, is surging with the government and environmental non-profits suspecting that international syndicates are shifting their focus from South Africa. In the 12 months to the end of August, 74 rhinos were killed illegally, compared with just 16 in the first eight months of 2021, according to government statistics.
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SA_2022_09_Rhino poaching rises in Namibia as population falls in South Africa_News24.pdf | 246.83 KB |
Namibia is experiencing a surge in poaching, with the number of poached rhinoceros rising to 48 this year, Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said Wednesday. In a statement, Muyunda said of the poached rhinoceros, 32 were black rhinoceros and 16 were white rhinoceros.
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NAM_Rhinoceros poaching surges in Namibia_The Star.pdf | 348.34 KB |
As several stories have revealed across different platforms of late, most pertinently in the long delayed release of the Rhino Report in Daily Maverick of 31 May, poaching in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park has boomed. There is little argument among conservation bodies about the numbers - some 95 rhinos have been poached in the park so far this year. It drew to mind an interview I recorded with former Environmental Affairs Minister, Edna Molewa, in about 2013 for a multimedia eBook I was producing called, iRhino.
Cape Town - The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries has joined the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in welcoming the sentencing of a 49-year-old man for the illegal possession and transportation of abalone valued at R2.4 million. Moegamat Amien Fakier was sentenced to a fine of R50 000 or two years' imprisonment when he appeared in the Khayelitsha Priority Court on Thursday last week.
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SA_2021_05_Abalone poacher fined R50 000 for R2_4 million haul_IOL.pdf | 983.63 KB |
Cape Town - CapeNature says it has noted a worrying spike in the theft of indigenous plants in the province. It said it has begun to notice that crimes relating to the theft of endangered indigenous plants in the province had begun to steadily increase, even under strict Covid-19 restrictions. CapeNature spokesperson Petro van Rhyn said while there were several reasons why the illegal trade had picked up recently, the most notable reasons pointed to the huge demand by plant collectors to own the naturally occurring plants, native to South Africa and…
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SA_2021_05_Collectors drive a spike in theft of indigenous plants in the Western Cape_IOL.pdf | 153.37 KB |
South Africa’s drive to use wild animals as commercial trade goods has been ratcheted up a notch with the appointment of a high-level panel to review the policies, legislation and practices of breeding, hunting and trading of elephants, lions, leopards and rhinos. The panel’s terms of reference and the people appointed by Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy make it extremely unlikely to support wildlife welfare and conservation. The appointment of the panel follows the almost surreptitious listing late last year of 32 wild animals under the…
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SA_2020-05_Barbara Creecys wildlife panel is trying to reinvent the wheel _City Press.pdf | 1.05 MB |
Environmentalists and conservation groups have expressed their dismay over the decision by the Windhoek High Court to fine two ivory smugglers only N$20,000, saying such a slap on the wrist defeats Government’s efforts to curb poaching.
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NAM_2017-08_Outrage over N20 000 ivory smuggling fine_Windhoek Observer.pdf | 302.69 KB |
Pangolins are trafficked in high numbers. Estimates suggest that in the period 2000–2019 the equivalent of approximately 900,000 pangolins were illegally traded globally. This primarily occurs within Asia and Africa, and from Africa to Asia2 , but also involves Europe, North America, and other parts of the world. Trade can involve live and dead pangolins, their scales, and other body parts (e.g., skins).
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Guidance for first responders on the short_term care of confiscated pangolins.pdf | 2.61 MB |