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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The recent sentencing of six Zimbabweans - members of the so-called Chitiyo Rhino Poaching Gang - to prison terms ranging from 16 to 20 years suggests that authorities are slowly but steadily making inroads in tackling the poaching scourge.
Satellite-tagged vultures uncover two suspected poisoning incidents near Kafue National Park. Conservation groups alongside Africa Parks and Zambia's Department of National Parks and Wildlife have been using a myriad of tools to protect Kafue's wildlife, including deploying some 40 anti-poaching patrol teams. One of the more innovative approaches is tagging white-backed and hooded vultures with satellite trackers to quickly alert wildlife managers of poached or poisoned carcasses.
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ZAM_2023_06_Vulture surveillance system alerts Zambian park to poachers_TimesLive.pdf | 242 KB |
The Kruger National Park (KNP) expects a decline in rhino poaching incidents due to heavy sentences imposed on five poachers in November. The acting managing executive of the KNP, Dr Danny Govender, commended the Skukuza Regional Court for imposing lengthy jail terms in recent cases and said it shows they are making good progress in fighting rhino poaching.
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SA_2022_12_KNP expects decline in rhino poaching_LowVelder.pdf | 401.71 KB |
The reopening of the Skukuza Regional Court is producing positive results, with a 100% conviction rate for rhino poachers over the past two years. The court had been closed by the Mpumalanga Regional Court president Naomi Engelbrecht in August 2019, who wanted it to be moved to Mhala Court about 100 kilometres from Skukuza. However, this decision was overruled and the court was reopened again in April 2021.
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SA_2022_04_Poachers face full might of the law in Skukuza court_Lowvelder.pdf | 526.82 KB |
Wildlife crime in Southern Africa has become easier to track and harder to hide, after the launch of Africa's first geomapping tool designed to follow court cases and convictions in the region.
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SA_2021_11_New Wildeye tool tracks wildlife crime in Southern Africa_Oxpeckers.pdf | 670.37 KB |