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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Fifteen years after South Africa was hit by an unprecedented wave of rhino-horn poaching, the slaughter rate remains relentless - with one rhino shot almost every day in KwaZulu-Natal, the historic heartland of global rhino conservation. More than 60% of the rhinos killed in South Africa so far in 2023 drew their last breaths in KwaZulu-Natal as poachers continue to shift more of their deadly firepower and axes to the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, one of the world’s last strongholds of wild rhino conservation. Latest poaching …
The Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife conservation agency has, up till now, opted to not dehorn its rhinos to protect them from poachers. But that could change soon, following another year of relentless killings in which the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park emerged as the current rhino poaching hotspot, globally. The latest poaching figures released by national Environment Minister Barbara Creecy show that 244 rhinos were killed by horn poachers in KwaZulu-Natal in 2022 - the vast majority of them in the HIP.
A man arrested for allegedly being in possession of two elephant tusks at the Buffalo checkpoint on Friday evening, was granted bail on Monday.
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NAM_2023_01_Man arrested with ivory granted bail_The Namibian.pdf | 788.96 KB |
The police in Divundu have arrested a 31-year-old man after he was allegedly found in possession of two elephant tusks.
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NAM_2023_01_Man arrested for possessing two elephant tusks_The Namibian.pdf | 220.22 KB |
A police officer working at Otjiwarongo police station is due to appear in the Otjiwarongo Magistrate's Court on Tuesday after one of six rhino horns left in his care went missing.
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NAM_2022_10_Otjiwarongo cop to appear in court over missing rhino horn_The Namibian.pdf | 353.83 KB |
Just as the barbarity of war in Ukraine or the global climate crisis gradually lose their shock value, the unrelenting massacre of South Africa’s rhino has all but drifted from public view. Behind the scenes, however, at least 75 rhinos have been butchered for their horns in KwaZulu-Natal in the opening months of 2022.
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SA_2022_04_Rhino bloodbath in KZN as poachers gun down 75 animals this year_DailyMaverick.pdf | 1.04 MB |
Two men arrested for allegedly being in possession of three python skins at Nkonke village were on Monday granted bail during their first court appearance in the Kahenge Periodic Court.
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NAM_2021_11_Two men arrested with three python skins granted bail_The Namibian.pdf | 1.12 MB |
Die drie mans het verlede week hul eerste hofverskyning gemaak nadat hulle op 'n gruispad naby Ohorongo Cement in besit van 'n knaldemper, lewendige ammunisie, 'n jaggeweer, swaarkaliber-ammunisie, 'n mes en 'n panga betrap is. Die vermoede is dat hulle onderweg was om renosters op 'n nabygeleë plaas te stroop.
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NAM_2021_08_Beweerde stropers bly in aanhouding_Republikein.pdf | 340.51 KB |
NAM_2021_08_Alleged poachers remain in custody_Republikein_Eng.pdf | 341.23 KB |
Three suspects arrested on poaching charges near Otavi last week were remanded in custody by the Otavi magistrate's court. The three were arrested on a gravel road near the Ohorongo Cement factory on Tuesday. They were found in possession of a silencer, ammunition, one hunting rifle, a knife and a machete. They were suspected to have been on a rhino poaching mission at a nearby farm.
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NAM_2021_08_Accused poachers remanded at Otavi_Namibian Sun.pdf | 340.71 KB |
Shocking official statistics have emerged which show that the world's single-largest population of rhinos - those living in the flagship Kruger National Park - has been slashed by between 66% and 70% over the past decade, mainly due to the unrelenting wave of butchery by international hornpoaching syndicates.
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SA_2021_01_Shocking statistics reveal that Kruger rhino population has dropped.pdf | 603.84 KB |
Commercial and subsistence poaching in protected areas is on the rise. The extent of loss sustained by Namibia on account of the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) is not reliably quantified (Anon., 2017). Wildlife populations for some of Namibia’s most iconic species - African Elephant Loxodonta africana, and Black Rhinoceros Diceros bicornis - are currently under threat due to IWT, and increased poaching in recent years is damaging their otherwise healthy populations.
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NAM_2021-01_Wildlife crime from the perspectives of offenders in Namibia_TRAFFIC.pdf | 13.16 MB |
Three poachers brutally killed eight calves and mutilated six more on the farm Randveld of Jacques Swartz at around 02:00 on Sunday. The calves were attacked with spears and axes, and their intestines were ripped out. Swartz said he and a few watchmen were doing their night patrol - something they started doing regularly after a similar incident last month when four cattle were killed in a similar incident.
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NAM_2020-08_Poaching carnage at Randveld farm_Namibian Sun.pdf | 477.15 KB |
Anti-poaching organisation 'Help our Rhinos NOW Namibia' (HoRN.NAM) has called on the public in the Kunene region and across the country to report wildlife crimes.
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NAM_2017-07_N$10 000 reward for reporting poaching_The Namibian.pdf | 556.88 KB |