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Namibian Wildlife Crimes article archive

This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:

  • provide easy public access to published information and statistics
  • enable easy stakeholder access to articles
  • provide a comprehensive archive of wildlife crime reporting in Namibia

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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Displaying results 1 - 24 of 24
Tuesday, 3 September 2024
Denker H 2024. Leopard shoting and the hunting dilemma.

The Namibia Professional Hunting Association (Napha) has publicly emphasised the need to distinguish between illegal and ethical practices related to leopard hunting but has not clearly condemned the illegal activities that are being exposed by the media as well as being investigated by law enforcement and prosecuted in the courts. Behind the scenes, parts of the trophy sector are lobbying to legalise hunting with dogs and hunting at night.

Friday, 8 March 2024
Denker H 2024. Leopardenjagd eskaliert.

In Namibia werden vermehrt Leoparden auf inakzeptable Weise gejagt. Jagdpraktiken, die der Tierquälerei nahekommen und nichts mehr mit naturschutzorientierter Jagd im Einklang mit der Natur zu tun haben, fassen in der Branche zunehmend Fuß - dem muss ein Ende gesetzt werden. In Namibia, leopards are increasingly being hunted in unacceptable ways. Hunting practices that come close to animal cruelty and no longer have anything to do with conservation-oriented hunting in harmony with nature are increasingly gaining a foothold in the industry - this must be put to an end.

Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Denker H 2023. Countering poaching and trafficking of illegal wildlife products to support biodiversity protection through Operation Blue Rhino.

Operation Blue Rhino was initiated in 2018 to counter the surge in high-value wildlife crime in Namibia. The formal cooperation between government ministries is enabled through external funding support. Blue Rhino is facilitated through active collaboration amongst numerous partner organisations. Effective conservation systems that enable healthy wildlife populations form the foundation of biodiversity protection in Namibia. Anti-poaching initiatives guard against criminal impacts on vulnerable wildlife.

Tuesday, 31 May 2022
Mazingaizo S 2022. Suspected elephant poachers shot dead by ZimParks rangers.

Two suspected poachers were killed in a shoot-out with Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) rangers in Chirundu at the weekend. ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo said the poachers were killed and "freshly poached ivory" was recovered.

Wednesday, 20 October 2021
Sithole S 2021. Mbire poachers jailed 20 years.

Two Mbire poachers were yesterday sentenced to a combined 20-year jail term by Guruve magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa over possession of 34,12kg of elephant tusks.

Saturday, 14 August 2021
Sithole S 2021. Poachers axe ZimParks rangers.

Three Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) officials are battling for life at a hospital in Harare after they were recently severely assaulted by suspected poachers in Mushumbi, Mashonaland Central province.

Thursday, 22 July 2021
Sithole S 2021. Jealous man plants ivory in ex-wife's toilet.

A plot by a jealous Guruve man to get his ex-wife and her boyfriend imprisoned by planting ivory on her hit a snag after he was arrested for possession of ivory.

Friday, 19 February 2021
Denker H 2021. A moment to celebrate the secretive night crawler.

The scaly creature is among the most-trafficked group of wild animals on earth. The small mammal, named after the Malaysian word 'penggulung', which means 'roller', is an endangered and relatively unknown species. Pangolins everywhere are relentlessly collected in the wild and trafficked to markets in Asia, where they are served as a delicacy in restaurants, and their scales are used in medicinal products. It's this consumption at end markets that drives the trade.

Thursday, 5 November 2020
Denker H 2020. Conservation in a crisis.

Namibian conservation efforts have faced a number of major crises over the past half century.

Thursday, 1 October 2020
Denker H 2020. The data is clear: Don't poach rhinos, you will get caught.

Namibia doesn't just do anti-poaching patrols to protect rhinos. A broad suite of initiatives is in place to combat wildlife crime. These include community participation, monitoring and surveillance, security infrastructure, multi-agency partnerships, private sector support, international collaboration and more. Yet foremost among them are superb law-enforcement mechanisms to find, arrest and prosecute perpetrators.

Thursday, 10 September 2020
Denker H 2020. Anti-poaching units active amid Covid-19.

COVID-19 has had significant effects in Namibia, as it has in every other country on planet Earth. The Namibian tourism industry has been temporarily disrupted, which has halted the tourism income which usually upports conservation initiatives. One may expect this would result in an immediate surge in wildlife crime. This is not the case. In spite of the massive challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic, Namibia has not experienced a spike in wildlife crime, as the number of registered cases is not higher than the same period last year.

Thursday, 13 August 2020
Denker H 2020. Rhino poaching – not just an environmental crime.

For two decades after Namibia's independence, the country experienced minimal commercial poaching. Over the past 10 years this has rapidly changed. Wildlife crime has skyrocketed and Namibia has rallied to counter the surge. A high of 97 poached rhinos estimated for 2015 has been reduced to 45 in 2019.

Thursday, 6 August 2020
Denker H 2020. The Rhino Files: Punishing offenders.

The Rhino Files are periodic articles exploring the complexity of rhino conservation in Namibia. WHEN a rhino is poached, outraged environmentalists often call for the most severe measures of punishment, such as shooting the poachers on sight. Shooting poachers dead doesn't stop poaching. The poachers - usually rural Namibians with bush skills - are at the lowest rung on the criminal ladder.

Thursday, 30 July 2020
Denker H 2020. Wildlife Crime and the Law.

"They just get out on bail and do it again" - this is a widespread public sentiment regarding crime in Namibia, and wildlife crime in particular. There are many misconceptions about law enforcement and the judiciary. Bail is just one of them. At the end of 2019, the number of suspects out on bail amounted to less than 20% for all crimes related to high-value wildlife (pangolin, elephant, rhinos).

Thursday, 23 July 2020
Denker H 2020. The rhino files: The three pillars of rhino management.

The Rhino Files are periodic articles exploring the complexity of rhino conservation in Namibia. "We aim to detect criminal activity and arrest poachers before a rhino is killed." This might sound overly-ambitious, but Barry de Klerk knows it's possible. Operation Blue Rhino has made over 100 pre-emptive arrests in around 30 cases since its inception in mid-2018. Would-be poachers are being caught before they can kill a rhino. Pro-active law enforcement has saved dozens of animals.

Thursday, 2 July 2020
Denker H 2020. Understanding rhino conservation in Namibia.

It's important to know that it wasn't always like this – the government, local communities, NGOs, the private sector and international agencies have made a huge investment in rebuilding Namibian rhino populations from historic lows. The black rhino, a frugal browser of herbs and shrubs, was once distributed across most of what is today Namibia. It penetrated the Namib down to the coast along all larger ephemeral and perennial rivers. Its distribution extended from the Nama Karoo in the south to the broad-leaved woodlands and rivers of today's Zambezi region.

Thursday, 25 June 2020
Denker H 2020. The Rhino Files: Rhino conservation during a pandemic.

The Rhino Files are periodic articles exploring the complexity of rhino conservation in Namibia.

Thursday, 26 March 2020
Denker H 2020. Namibia's Pangolins – What do we Actually Know?.

Kelsey Prediger walks into the bush in the darkness of early evening. She is armed with only a small torch, telemetry equipment, a mobile phone and a belt pouch with small research tools. Although the grass is hip high in places, Kelsey appears unfazed by the possibility of encountering a snake, a leopard or another potentially dangerous creature.

Thursday, 19 March 2020
Denker H 2020. Rhino poaching and the inside job.

The term 'poacher' is often used for anyone involved in wildlife crime. In reality, wildlife crime functions through a complex web of criminals, where the poachers – the people carrying out the illegal killing of an animal to initiate the trade in its parts – are at the lowest level.

Thursday, 6 February 2020
Denker H 2020. The plight of the Namibian pangolin.

Between 1 January and 31 December 2019, 155 suspects were arrested for being found in possession of pangolins or their parts, attempting to trade these, or aiding and abetting those charged with possession or trafficking. During the same year, law enforcement officers in Namibia confiscated 121 pangolins. About 60% of the pangolins were dead. Most of the animals seized alive could be rehabilitated and released back into the wild.

Thursday, 9 February 2017
Goeieman F 2017. Hage wants tougher sentences for poachers.

The highest office in the country has joined the outcry against the spate of poaching and plundering of wildlife resources currently experienced in the country. President Hage Geingob, during the opening of the 2017 legal year, called upon parliament to send him the necessary amendments to the relevant laws to increase penalties so that he can sign them into law for the courts to enforce them.

Tuesday, 17 May 2016
Goeieman F 2016. Accused baffled by bail conditions.

Lawyers appearing for a Chinese national and a Namibian man accused of wildlife crimes, say their clients have not received a list of State witnesses, and were in difficult position, as their bail conditions include that they should not contact or interfere with those who will testify against them.

Friday, 5 February 2016
Goeieman F 2016. Chinese and Namibian in court for rhino horn.

A Chinese national and a Namibian appeared before the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on charges of dealing in protected game products and possession of controlled wildlife products with a combined valued of N$320 000. The two men, Zhi Geng (37) and James Barron Wallace (47), were not asked to plead to the charges Geng was arrested in Windhoek on February 1 for dealing in 1.5kg rhino horn valued at N$232 000 and abalone valued at N$91 000. Wallace is charged only with the possession of abalone.

Denker H 2023. Powerful deterrents agains wildlife crime. Conservation and the Environment in Namibia 44-47

Environmental crime has exploded worldwide in recent years. According to a report by INTERPOL and UNEP, environmental crime has increased at 2 to 3 times the rate of the global economy and is now the fourth-largest criminal sector after drug trafficking, counterfeit crimes and human trafficking. It is a massive problem, receiving massive attention. Similar trends are true for Namibia. Over the past decade, cases have skyrocketed from negligible to crisis levels - but over the past five years crime rates have been curbed through increasingly effective law enforcement.

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