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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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 |
South African National Parks has confirmed that lions have been targeted in a poisoning campaign in the northern Kruger Park by poachers seeking the animals’ body parts, presumably for the muti trade. The numbers are not huge, but in the wake of the rhino poaching onslaught, the targeting of another charismatic species in the iconic park will set off alarm bells among conservationists.
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SA_2023_07_Kruger lions being poisoned by poachers for body parts_says SANParks_Daily Maverick.pdf | 436.49 KB |
The Wildlife Justice Commission has published details of a rhino horn trafficking case that includes the use of frozen seafood and 'mishandled baggage', as well as the failure of authorities not to publicly report their seizure of the horn.
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 |
Private and communal lands now conserve at least 50% of Africa's rhinos, according to a newly published paper in journal 'Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment', highlighting the need for 'adaptive policies' to build on this success. These trends have policy implications as debates rage about rhino-horn trade and trophy hunting.
African countries are estimated to lose $17 billion to illegal logging each year. This is part of a
global market with an economic value of $30 to $150 billion. The net profit from the illegal
charcoal trade alone in Africa is estimated to be as much as $9 billion, "compared to the [$]2.65
billion worth of street value heroin and cocaine in the region." High-value timber species are in
immense global demand, with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
reporting that Africa’s share of rosewood exports to China rose from 40 percent in 2008 to 90
Rhino poaching declined sharply in South Africa last year, according to the latest official data, and the data also shows that rhinos on state land were far more vulnerable than those in private hands. In South Africa, if you are a rhino on a state reserve, your chances of getting whacked by a poacher are about nine times greater than if you roam a private one.
In the Namibian newspaper of 13 September 2017, under the heading 'N$25m per person killed by wildlife', a participant in one of the consultative meetings held in the Zambezi region by the National Council standing committee on habitat criticised the Ministry of Environment and Tourism for placing more value on an animal's life than on a human's life.
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NAM_2017-10_Putting Namibias Wildlife Crime Penalties in Perspective_The Namibian.pdf | 561.69 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 |