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.
Explore your search results using the filter checkboxes, or amend your search or start a new search.
Police arrest six suspected rhino poachers in Limpopo and Gauteng; recover horns, guns and ammunition.
After a four-month operation, the owner of a traditional medicine store in Cape Town has been arrested after police confiscated various illegal fauna and flora. The store owner is expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court soon. The Western Cape police spokesperson, Captain Frederick van Wyk said in order to address the illegal and ongoing stripping of bark from protected tree species in Table Mountain National Park, Environmental Crime Investigation (ECI) Cape Town identified a shop in Cape Town which purchased bark and other items from illegal suppliers for muti…
Two accused persons have appeared in court following their arrest by detectives for allegedly trying to unlawfully dispose off an elephant hide for US$1,500.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2023_09_Pair busted selling elephant skin for USD1 500_New Zimbabwe.pdf | 294.55 KB |
The Hawks have arrested a second suspect allegedly linked to the stockpile hit at the North West Parks Board headquarters in Mafikeng last week. According to a Daily Maverick source, the suspect was apprehended in a planned operation near Brits at about 9pm on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning the arrest was confirmed by a senior SAPS officer who did not want to be identified.
Conservationists are raising serious questions about crime scene protocols - and the sense in stockpiling rhino horn - after a report claimed the police took eight hours to respond to a burglary at the North West Parks Board on Monday. In what is being described as a well-planned heist executed with military precision, thieves broke into the Heritage House headquarters of the North West Parks Board in the early hours of Monday and stole 51 rhino horns worth millions of rands on the Asian black market.
Cape Town - A 34-year-old man, who escaped from the Makhanda Correctional Facility in October 2022, appeared in court on new charges. "The suspect was found in possession of hunting implements, and was detained for contravening the National Environmental Management and Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004 Sec 57 (attempted hunting of a threatened or protected species without a permit).
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2023_04_Prison escapee rearrested at private game reserve is back in court_IOL.pdf | 142 KB |
A member of a poaching syndicate has appeared in court for allegedly gunning down a bull elephant valued at US$50 000.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2023_02_Poacher in dock for shooting USdollar 50K elephant_NewsZimbabwe.pdf | 301.32 KB |
Two suspects are expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday on charges of illegal possession of abalone, reckless and negligent driving and assault on a police official.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2023_02_Suspects transporting abalone worth R200 000 from Mthatha to Bloemfontein nabbed_IOL.pdf | 219.02 KB |
A Lesotho national is expected to appear in the Ganyesa Magistrate’s Court in the North West on Monday for possession of endangered species. During the operation, a search was conducted in a house at Tlakgameng, leading to the discovery of two pangolins, two dead rock pythons and two dead monkeys.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2023_02_Police arrest man for possession of endangered species including pangolins_IOL.pdf | 229.94 KB |
Wildlife officials have hailed the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) recent decision to appeal what it called the lenient sentences handed to two rhino poachers in May, as well as the jailing this week of one of the men in a separate case.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_12_NPA applauded for tougher stance on rhino poachers_Mail and Guardian.pdf | 238.77 KB |
Cape Town - A 50-year-old Ghanaian national was sentenced in the Kroonstad Regional Court in the Free State after he pleaded guilty for being in possession of abalone.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_11_Ghanaian national sentenced for possession of over R3m abalone_IOL.pdf | 239.38 KB |
The national prosecuting authority (NPA) has reinstated charges and re-enrolled an eight-year-old case against known rhino poacher Gideon (aka Deon) van Deventer, after it emerged the original case had been quashed and struck from the roll under dubious circumstances. The state’s 2014 Bronkhorstspruit firearms case against Van Deventer was re-opened in June this year after a whistle-blower tipped off law enforcement authorities and court officials about a miscarriage of justice that occurred at the Bronkorstspruit magistrate’s court on 24 July 2015.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_10_State reinstates charges against rhino poacher Gideon van Deventer_Mail and Guardian.pdf | 308.36 KB |
A carcass of a white rhinoceros shot dead by poachers has been discovered in Bikita, Masvingo province, as wildlife poaching escalates in the country. The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) national spokesperson, assistant commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the discovery of the endangered animal's carcass made last Sunday.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2022_02_Poachers kill endangered white rhino_NewZimbabwe.pdf | 545.62 KB |
Cape Town - Police in the Northern Cape have arrested five suspects for the possession of protected plants worth over R600 000. According to the provincial police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Sergio Kock, offcers attached to the Springbok Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit, Springbok K9 unit and the Springbok Highway Patrol arrested five male suspects along the N14 highway near Springbok on Thursday.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_01_Five arrested for possession of protected plants worth R600 000_IOL.pdf | 174.81 KB |
Cape Town - Nine suspects are expected to appear in the Goodwood Magistrate's Court soon after they were found to be in possession of protected plants. According to the Northern Cape's provincial police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Sergio Kock, police members from the Springbok and Kuilsriver Stock Theft and Endangered Species Units (STESU) successfully conducted a joint buy and bust operation.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_01_Nine Northern Cape suspects bust in Cape Town for possession of protected plants_IOL.pdf | 158.5 KB |
A long-serving nature conservation official and a former policeman have been charged in connection with illegally transporting 17 rhino horns from the Northern Cape to North West province in contravention of permit conditions.
Cape Town - Police in the Eastern Cape have arrested a 38-year-old suspect and confiscated abalone with an approximate street value of R3.7 million.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021_07_Eastern Cape suspect busted with abalone worth over R3_7 million_IOL.pdf | 989.86 KB |
Cape Town - A 45-year-old man is expected to appear in the Goodwood magistrate's court on Wednesday after he was found in possession of abalone worth over R1.7 million in Cape Town’s northern suburb of Edgemead.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021_06_Suspect arrested in Edgemead with over R1_7m worth of abalone to appear in court_IOL.pdf | 215.03 KB |
Kasane - Rhino poaching in Botswana is getting worse, and the government is not helping matters in any way due to its split attitude on the crisis. On the one hand, the government of President Mokgweetsi Masisi - in power since 2018 - acknowledges the seriousness of the crisis but, when it suits it, the administration ambivalently denies any calamity and neglects taking decisive action.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
BOT_2021_05_Southern Africa_ Botswana Rhino Poaching Worsens As Government Dithers_allAfrica_com.pdf | 252.64 KB |
A Karoi magistrate has cleared two Karoi villagers for charges of unlawful possession of raw ivory valued at US$1 467,10. Whynos Dzotso (23) and Knowledge Nyamukondiwa (25) who both reside under Chief Kazangarare, Karoi were this Tuesday acquitted by Magistrate Felix Chauromwe who made the ruling following the defence's application for discharge at the close of the state case.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2021_04_Court Acquits Villagers Busted With US1 400 Ivory_New Zimbabwe.pdf | 523.45 KB |
The Namibian man intercepted alongside a party of suspected Zambian rhino poachers that he was attempting to guide into Botswana is a repeat offender wanted in Botswana for skipping the country when he was due for prosecution for rhino poaching and illegal possession of firearms, the Botswana Gazette can reveal.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2021_03_Namibian rhino poaching suspect is a fugitive from justice in Botswana_The Gazette.pdf | 536.3 KB |
TWO Karoi villagers have been dragged to court for illegal possession of an elephant tusk valued at US$1 467,10.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2021-03_Elephant Tusk Lands Karoi Villagers In Trouble_New Zimbabwe.pdf | 477.93 KB |
Zimbabwean police officer Sergeant Tawanda Kwaramba drove from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls on September 16 2019, on a mission to undermine the law he had sworn to uphold. In Victoria Falls he loaded seven Chinese nationals into a stolen car and drove more than 900km to Sango on the border with Mozambique. From Sango border post, the Chinese nationals - Zeng Dengui, Peicon Jang, Liu Cheng, Yu Xian, Yong Zhiu, Cheng Zhiang and Qui Jinchang - were driven across south-central Mozambique to Maputo and the safety of a Chinese fishing boat that was due to sail them home.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
Oxpeckers_2020-01_The perfect rhino crime_Oxpeckers.pdf | 676.23 KB |
Three local men, who allegedly tried to sell a live pangolin, appeared in court here Tuesday facing charges of illegal possession of an endangered species.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2020-07_Chinhoyi Trio Arrested In A Trap Selling Live Pangolin_New Zimbabwe.pdf | 519.09 KB |
Outrage greeted the early release of notorious Thai trafficker Chumlong Lemtongthai, who used false South African hunting permits to launder rhino horns. Simon Bloch reports.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
Oxpeckers_Fury at release of rhino pseudo-hunt kingpin.pdf | 241.77 KB |
Oscar Nkala talks to a jailed Zambian elephant poacher about the structure, financing and operations of cross-border smuggling gangs.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
Oxpeckers_Confessions of an ivory poacher.pdf | 244.99 KB |
Who are the people driving Namibiaʼs plans to open commercial abattoirs for donkey meat and skins for Asia? Oscar Nkala tracks them down.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
Oxpeckers_Faces behind Namibias donkey abattoirs.pdf | 266.66 KB |