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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Police arrest six suspected rhino poachers in Limpopo and Gauteng; recover horns, guns and ammunition.
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.
A Mozambican man, convicted for poaching, will spend the next 18 years in prison. Santos Baloyi, 31, was arrested after a rhino was killed at Kruger National Park in September. He was also convicted on charges of trespassing, contravention of the Immigration Act, possession of a dangerous weapon.
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SA_2023_02_Mozambican gets 18 years in jails well as on arms ammo and trespassing charges_IOL.pdf | 176.82 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.
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SA_2022_12_NPA applauded for tougher stance on rhino poachers_Mail and Guardian.pdf | 238.77 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.
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SA_2022_10_State reinstates charges against rhino poacher Gideon van Deventer_Mail and Guardian.pdf | 308.36 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.
"In the last couple of weeks, we found in certain areas a marked increase in the number of snares and a zebra was just left to rot where it had died, caught up in the snare." "We need to ask people to walk regularly and look for the snares. Quite often, they will set the snares and then they don't return in time to see if the animal has been caught in the snare and the animal is just left to rot." The Msunduzi Municipality has also raised concern about the rise in poaching at the reserve in recent weeks.
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SA_2021_06_Concern over rise in poaching at PMB nature reserve_ECR.pdf | 317.63 KB |
Among the items seized from the suspects are four elephant tusks, two rhino horns, one live pangolin, a giraffe skin and a pangolin skin.
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NAM_2021_06_Police_military officers arrested over wildlife crime_The Namibian.pdf | 431.01 KB |
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism recorded fewer incidents of wildlife poaching and maintained a high number of arrests for wildlife crime in 2020, minister Pohamba Shifeta says.
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NAM_2021-02_Less poaching_more arrests in 2020_The Namibian.pdf | 864.86 KB |
Notorious Congolese poacher Mobanza Mobembo Gérard, who is said to have poached some 500 elephants in the Republic of Congo, was last month sentenced to a 30-year jail term in an unprecedented wildlife crime conviction in that country.
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NAM_2020-09_Butcher poacher locked up for 30 years_The Namibian.pdf | 520.29 KB |
More than half of 363 suspects arrested for animal poaching or trafficking in 2020 were apprehended for crimes involving high-value animal species. This includes rhino, elephant and pangolin, according to the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism.
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NAM_2020-08_Elephant pangolin crimes still highest_The Namibian.pdf | 658.83 KB |
The Namibian Police successfully arrested four suspected pangolin traffickers in a first-of-its-kind cooperation. This in partnership with US law enforcement through the US embassy in Windhoek.
A statement issued by the embassy yesterday said information received by their investigations office in Pretoria was passed on to local authorities to facilitate the successful arrest of the suspects.
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NAM_2020-08_US helps Namibia pounce on pangolin smugglers_The Namibian.pdf | 420.35 KB |
Five suspects were arrested last week for contravening the Controlled Wildlife Products and Trade Act after they were allegedly found in possession of lion and leopard skins.
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NAM_2020-08_Five nabbed over wild cat skins_The Namibian.pdf | 470.69 KB |
Namibia has recorded a drastic drop in rhino and elephant poaching cases in the past three years because of improved response mechanisms, the government said yesterday. Minister of environment Pohamba Shifeta said the country has seen a reduction in rhino poaching numbers from 78 cases in 2018, 49 in 2019 and 17 so far this year.
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NAM_2020-07_Rhino_elephant poaching cases down_The Namibian.pdf | 267.91 KB |
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism today received a donation of a vehicle and vetenary drugs for the ministry's Canine Unit, aimed at supporting anti-poaching efforts. The two donations were made by Standard Bank and Swavet, MDS Animal Health and the Rhino Park Private Hospital, at a handover ceremony hosted in Windhoek today.
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NAM_2020-07_Environment ministry receives donation for Canine Unit_The Namibian.pdf | 957.43 KB |
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism has allocated 36% of its budget to wildlife and protected area management. This was announced by minister of environment, forestry and tourism Pohamba Shifeta during his budget motivation in the National Assembly on Thursday.
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NAM_2020-06_Wildlife gets bulk of environment budget_The Namibian.pdf | 755.58 KB |
The report, which is jointly compiled by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism's intelligence and investigations unit and the protected resources division of the Namibian Police, detailed that the seven cases saw the arrest of 16 suspects. All those apprehended are Namibian nationals. Of those arrested, 11 were in connection with rhino poaching or trafficking, two in connection with elephant poaching or trafficking, two for the hunting of giraffe, and one for contravening the Arms and Ammunition Act. Among the wildlife products seized were six rhino…
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NAM_2020-06_16 Namibians nabbed for Wildlife crime_The Namibian.pdf | 636.08 KB |
KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife says they have seen a decrease in poaching since the start of the national lockdown. But the conservation body says they remain on high alert as poachers continue to operate in the province. Last week, a suspect was arrested in Mtubatuba, North of KZN for the illegal possession and sale of elephant ivory in the KwaMsane Township.
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SA_2020-05_KZN poaching drops since virus lockdown_EastCoastRadio.pdf | 2.59 MB |
Arrests for wildlife crime involving high-value species like elephants, rhinos and pangolins, increased by 36% in 2019 compared to the year before.
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NAM_2020-04_Wildlife crime arrests up in 2019_The Namibian.pdf | 987.27 KB |
The ministry of environment says its anti-poaching activities will not be hindered by the rapidly spreading coronavirus, which has forced many countries, Namibia included, into a lockdown.
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NAM_2020-03_Anti poaching activities not affected by lockdown_The Namibian.pdf | 599.34 KB |
Police reservists at Karibib intercepted a group of poachers, who had killed two oryx at Farm Albrechtshohe, but were only able to apprehend one of the four suspects.
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NAM_2020-03_K9 unit thwarts suspected oryx poachers_The Namibian.pdf | 406.08 KB |
LAW enforcement agents last week cracked down on six individuals who were found in possession of pangolin skin.
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NAM_2020-02 Six arrested for pangolin skin possession_The Namibian.pdf | 265.56 KB |
The Namibian Police last week seized an array of wildlife products comprising elephant tusks, kudu horns and hides, civet skin and warthog carcasses, amongst others.
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NAM_2019-10_Police seize tusks animal hide_The Namibian.pdf | 340.7 KB |
Two men were arrested for being found in possession of 100 pieces of ivory, a summary of wildlife crime statistics from 30 September to 6 October details.
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NAM_2019-10_Two arraigned over 100 ivory pieces_The Namibian.pdf | 433.74 KB |
A 40-year-old suspected rhino poacher exchanged gunfire with a team of 15 Namibian Police officers and members of the Namibian Defence Force for nearly two hours on a farm outside Otavi on Sunday.
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NAM_2019-09_Police_suspected poacher exchange gunfire_The Namibian.pdf | 384.13 KB |
Government is tightening the noose on wildlife crime syndicates as the country's flora and fauna increasingly become endangered.
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NAM_2019-05_Justice ministry to prioritise wildlife crime_The Namibian.pdf | 314.62 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.
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Oxpeckers_Fury at release of rhino pseudo-hunt kingpin.pdf | 241.77 KB |
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism says intensified efforts against poaching and other wildlife crimes are bearing results as law-enforcement agencies continue to wrangle poaching suspects.
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NAM_2021_07_Intensified anti_poaching efforts bear results_The Namibian.pdf | 1.58 MB |