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.
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 |
A former KwaZulu-Natal cop has been convicted and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for a 2018 incident in which he was found in possession of an unlicensed firearm and rhino horns.
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SA_2022_02_Former KZN cop gets 10 years for rhino poaching_TimesLive.pdf | 632.21 KB |
"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 |
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 |
Rhino horns weighing more than 70kg were discovered in chicken food mixture in a warehouse in Kempton Park in December. The Hawks arrested a 36-year-old man in Gauteng at the weekend for being a suspected rhino horn dealer.
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SA_2021_01_Police arrest suspected rhino horn dealer in Gauteng_Times Live.pdf | 372.67 KB |
In all, 11 nationals, including firearm suppliers, poachers and game vendors, were arrested last week in Luengue-Luiana National Park, Cuando Cubango province.
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ANG_2020-07_Dismantled poaching net and weapon snipers_Provinces_Jornal de Angola_Online.pdf | 244.75 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 |