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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.

Explore your search results using the filter checkboxes, or amend your search or start a new search.

Displaying results 1 - 14 of 14
Monday, 22 July 2024
Singh K 2024. King Misuzulu issues warning to communities against damaging Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife game reserves' fencing.

King Misuzulu kaZwelithini issued a warning to criminals within communities to stop damaging Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife game reserves’ fencing including cutting fences and stealing poles. The King was speaking during a meeting with an Ezemvelo delegation at his palace in Pongola on Thursday. During his presentation to the King, Ezemvelo chief executive officer Sihle Mkhize, informed the King that Ezemvelo faces challenges beyond rhino poaching, including criminals within neighbouring communities stealing fence materials and poles.

Thursday, 4 July 2024
Dlamini M 2024. Shifeta updates on wildlife protection efforts at National Stakeholder Forum.

The Minister of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta, provided a detailed overview of ongoing efforts in wildlife protection and law enforcement at the 2024 Annual National Stakeholder Forum held this week. According to Shifeta, Namibia has long been recognized for its successful conservation strategies, which have significantly reduced poaching rates since the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly targeting iconic species such as rhinos and elephants.

Wednesday, 8 May 2024
Dlamini M 2024. Namibian precious wildlife is under threat from criminals.

Namibia's precious wildlife is under threat from criminals, as illegal wildlife trade has become the world's fourth-largest form of transnational crime. This was said by Ana Beatriz Martins, the European Union's ambassador to Namibia, at a press debriefing for 'Operation Saving Wildlife through Multilateral Cooperation in Africa' (Sama) in Windhoek yesterday. She said dozens of wildlife species have been pushed ever closer to extinction by habitat loss and illegal trade.

Monday, 6 May 2024
Dlamini M 2024. Poachers killed in shootout with anti-poaching unit in Etosha National Park.

Chief of the Namibian Police, Lieutenant General Joseph Shikongo confirmed a deadly encounter between poachers and members of the anti-poaching operation in Etosha National Park. According to Shikongo, the incident occurred on 1 May between 12:00 and 13:00 at Scorpionbelt – Western Zone within the confines of the park. While conducting patrols alongside the park's fence, members of the poaching unit spotted shoeprints indicating the illegal entry of individuals into the park.

Thursday, 2 May 2024
Dlamini M 2024. Great white sharks off South Africas coast are protected by law, but not in practice.

In less than eight years, white sharks in South Africa have all but disappeared from their historical hotspots in False Bay and Gansbaai, on the Western Cape coast. These areas were once known as the "white shark capital of the world" and were home to a flourishing ecotourism industry. One possible explanation for this change would be a declining white shark population. We are part of an international research team with expertise in shark ecology, genetics, fisheries and conservation, researching sharks for more than 20 years.

Friday, 26 April 2024
Dlamini M 2024. British succulent society chair quits over row about taking specimens from wild.

A furious row has blown up in the UK's leading succulent society over the practice of taking desirable specimens from the wild, with the chair resigning in protest over the behaviour of his fellow enthusiasts. Succulents have risen in popularity in recent years: they are attractive and hardy. A succulent won the Royal Horticultural Society plant of the year award in the UK in 2022, while the plants have also become wildly popular in Asian countries, leading to a massive boom in demand. However, the drought-tolerant plants are often sourced from the wild.

Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Rogers G 2023. Wilderness Foundation offers reward to stop Eastern Cape rhino poaching.

The Wilderness Foundation has offered a reward in an effort to put the brakes on the recent spate of rhino poaching in the Eastern Cape.

Saturday, 4 February 2023
Rogers G 2023. Schotia rhinos Bonnie and Clyde killed by poachers and dehorned.

Two rhinos that survived a poaching attack at Schotia Safaris Private Game Reserve, near Nanaga, nearly 10 years ago were killed by poachers on Thursday. After disabling the pair of male and female white rhinos in the attack, the poachers hacked off their horns with pangas before making their escape.

Saturday, 8 October 2022
Rogers G 2022. Rhino poaching conspiracy ruling boosts conservation efforts.

Rhino conservation has received a major boost with the recent Gqeberha sentencing of a gang convicted of conspiring to poach rhino. The September 22 sentencing of the Chitlongo Three in the Gqeberha Regional Court, the first achieved under National Environmental Management Act "conspiracy to poach" legislation, gives SA lawmakers a lethal new weapon to pursue suspects who have often escaped prosecution in the past because of a lack of evidence.

Tuesday, 31 May 2022
Singh K 2022. KZN man gets 28-year prison sentence for poaching rhino in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve.

Durban - A 45-year-old man convicted of rhino poaching was sentenced to 28 years in prison by the Empangeni Regional Court.

Sunday, 19 December 2021
Moses P 2021. Nigeria now hotspot for wildlife trafficking - Pangolin Chairman.

The chairman of the Pangolin Conservation Guild of Nigeria (PCGN), Prof Olajumoke Morenikeji, has lamented that developed countries have turned Nigeria into a hotspot for wildlife trafficking, describing it as a shame. She noted that wildlife trafficking "is a multi-billion naira illicit act" that has been depleting indigenous animal species in the Nigerian environment.

Friday, 4 December 2020
Singh K 2020. KZN wildlife under siege from illegal hunters.

KwaZulu-Natal wildlife is "under attack" by illegal hunters across the province says Blessed Gwala, the IFP spokesperson for community safety and liaison. Last week the carcasses of four dehorned rhinos were found in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.

Thursday, 19 October 2017
Dlamini M 2017. Initiative to save the pangolin.

The Namibian Chamber of Environment has launched an outreach programme to educate Namibians about the precarious status of the pangolinThe initiative, which involves producing large posters and thousands of business card-sized mini-posters for distribution countrywide, is to raise awareness and appeal to every Namibian to help stop the illegal trade in the animal.

Thursday, 19 October 2017
Dlamini M 2017. Initiative to save the pangolin.

The Namibian Chamber of Environment has launched an outreach programme to educate Namibians about the precarious status of the pangolin. The initiative, which involves producing large posters and thousands of business card-sized mini-posters for distribution countrywide, is to raise awareness and appeal to every Namibian to help stop the illegal trade in the animal.

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