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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A now 51 year old Czech who was found trying to smuggle 85 geckos, two snakes and two scorpions from Namibia into the EU via the Vienna Airport on the 23rd of May 2023 has been charged and fined 4000 Euros by a court in Austria (no date given) and all animals forfeited to the state. This was confirmed by the Head Public Relations Official of the Austrian Ministry of Finance, Steffan Trittner, after inquiring via e-mail a month ago. No further details were given because of "protection of data privacy".
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NAM_2024_04_Smuggler fined €4000_Facebook.pdf | 540.1 KB |
A Chinese national Wang Yang and his three local accomplices including a police officer stationed in Harare appeared in court on Wednesday charged with illegal possession of rhino horns worth US$600 000.
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ZIM_2023_01_Chinese national 3 accomplices in court over rhino horns_NewsDay.pdf | 346.34 KB |
A Harare man who, resides at the Presidential Guard Brigade, appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court charged with unlawful possession of a live pangolin.
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SA_2021_08_Man in court for possession of pangolin_News day.pdf | 210.44 KB |
Three people have been arrested after they were found selling pangolin scales.
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ZIM_2021_07_Pangolin scales land 3 in court_NewsDay Zimbabwe_2021.pdf | 220.92 KB |
Rhino and elephant poaching has declined significantly this year in Namibia, home to the only free-roaming black rhinos left in the world, government data showed on Monday. Nine rhinos have been illegally killed by hunters so far in 2021, the lowest number in eight years for the period, according to the figures from the ministry of environment and tourism. Four elephants have been killed this way, a five-year low
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NAM_2021-07_Rhino and elephant poaching declines in Namibia-KFGO.pdf | 262.03 KB |
Two unemployed Harare men appeared in court last week for illegal possession of ivory.
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ZIM_2021_07_2 nabbed for illegal possession of ivory_NewsDay.pdf | 346.58 KB |
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), most of the poachers come from poor communities and are just looking for food. Such ones use snares, wire traps, poisoned watermelons or nails to catch elephants, and spears as weapons to kill the trapped animals.