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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Meanwhile, the police at Outjo in the Kunene region arrested a 28-year-old suspect while he was transporting a rhinohorn on Friday evening. He was apprehended when the police stopped and searched the vehicle he was traveling inbetween Outjo and Okaukuejo. The rhino horn’s estimated value is N$300,000.
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NAM_2023_10_Cannabis mandrax and rhino horn possession lands six behind bars_Informante.pdf | 61.38 KB |
Rhino Dehorning Debate Intensifies as Poaching Continues in Hluhluwe/iMfolozi Game Reserve. In the midst of an escalating rhino poaching crisis at the Hluhluwe/iMfolozi (HiP) game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, a contentious debate has arisen over whether dehorning rhinos is an effective strategy to protect them. While some argue that dehorning could deter poachers, others express concerns about its effectiveness and potential consequences. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, responsible for overseeing the park, has voiced reluctance regarding the dehorning approach.
Nampol in Omusati thwart a rhino poaching expedition and confiscate the rifle.
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NAM_2023_06_Nampol in Omusati thwart a rhino poaching expedition and confiscate the rifle_informante.pdf | 236.66 KB |
Botswana's wildlife authorities say four rhinoceroses were shot, and two of them died, in a heavily guarded sanctuary, although their horns were not removed. The shootings at the sanctuary in central Botswana came after the government de-horned and relocated most of the rhinos further inland to discourage poachers.
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BOT_2023_04_Botswana on alert after shooting of rhinos in sanctuary_VOA News.pdf | 272.64 KB |
A Gqeberha man was arrested for suspected abalone poaching in the early hours of January 11, after vigilant Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Metro (NMBM) Police officers spotted a suspicious vehicle, a red Toyota Condor, which was leaking water from the rear end. The man was found travelling with eight bags of de-shelled abalone at around 3.45am in the Summerstrand and Humewood area.
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SA_2023_01_Gqeberha man arrested for possession of 1 620 units of protected abalone_IOL.pdf | 338.94 KB |
A 39-year-old man is expected to appear before the Calcutta Magistrate's Court in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, today after he was arrested by the Nelspruit Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation, the White River K9 Unit and Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Authority.
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SA_2022_12_Suspected poacher nabbed with two elephant tusks_IOL.pdf | 125.91 KB |
A man has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for rhino poaching by a court in Mpumalanga. This comes against the backdrop of another court in the area sentencing a man to 17 years for rhino poaching. The Skukuza Regional Court sentenced Sipho Titus Khosa on Friday to 34 years in jail.
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SA_2022_11_Rhino poacher sentenced to 34 years in jail_IOL.pdf | 172.66 KB |
Botswana said it's seen a dramatic drop in rhinoceros poaching this year after taking greater steps to protect its shrinking rhino population. The significant decline was revealed in a report presented this week at a conference on CITES - the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. After losing 126 animals between 2018 and 2021, only six rhinoceroses have been poached in Botswana in 2022.
The report says poaching incidents peaked in 2020 when the country lost 62 rhinos. The following year, at least 33 were reported killed by poachers.
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BOT_2022_11_Rhino Poaching Way Down in Botswana_VOA Zimbabwe.pdf | 48.36 KB |
Last week, the People's Court of Hanoi, Vietnam, sentenced three women and one man to a collective 18 years imprisonment for the illegal transportation and trade of 984kg of pangolin scales, one of the largest cases of wildlife trading investigated in Vietnam's history.
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SA_2022_07_LOOK_ Smugglers jailed for trading nearly one tonne of pangolin scales_IOL.pdf | 1.27 MB |
Botswana wildlife authorities have refuted reports the country's rhinoceros population is on the verge of extinction due to poaching. The southern African country has battled a rise in poaching, with more than 60 animals killed in the last two years.
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BOT_2021_10_Botswana allays concerns over rhino poaching crisis_VOA News.pdf | 360.29 KB |
Botswana, confronting an unprecedented rise in poaching, has refuted reports by former President Ian Khama that at least 120 rhinoceroses have been killed in the last 18 months. Instead, the government says, wildlife crimes have dropped by 70 percent since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
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BOT_2021_03_Botswana Denies 120 Rhinos Poached in 18 Months_Voice of America.pdf | 402.45 KB |
Auf reges Interesse stieß am 29. Oktober eine Veranstaltung der Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft Swakopmund. Der Veranstaltungssaal des Swakopmund Museums war zu drei viertel gefüllt, als Kelsey Prediger ihren Vortrag zur Ökologie des Steppenschuppentieres (Temminck's ground pangolin) in Namibia hielt. Diese in Namibia heimische Art ernährt sich von Termiten und Ameisen und spielt in der Ökologie des Landes eine wichtige Rolle.
Botswana's National Assembly has rejected a call to rearm its game rangers that was driven by a surge in rhinoceros poaching in recent years. Guns were taken away from the rangers in 201, but an opposition party lawmaker had moved a motion to rearm the wildlife officers.
Botswana has decided to re-arm its wildlife rangers as the southern African country battles increased cases of poaching. In the last six months, at least 17 poachers have been killed in gunfire exchanges with the army. The government had disarmed wildlife rangers in 2018, saying that under the law, only the military was allowed the use of firearms during anti-poaching patrols. With the country losing 56 rhinoceros to poachers in the last two years, the government is reconsidering that approach. Wildlife and Tourism …
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BOT_2020-08_Botswana Moves to Rearm Rangers as Rhino Poaching Intensifies _Voice of America_English.pdf | 952.87 KB |
A timely tip-off and a swift police deployment in the dead of the night produced yet another success story in the Namibian Police’s ongoing anti-poaching campaign in the northern regions bordering the Etosha National Park when four suspected illegal hunters were caught red-handed on Wednesday morning. The suspects – including the principal of local primary school - were arrested in the Ompundja Constituency of the Oshana Region after they were allegedly found in possession of the carcasses of four duikers, one steenbok, four springhares, one rabbit and two red-crested korhaans.…
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NAM_2015-10_Principal busted for poaching_Namibian Sun.pdf | 113.84 KB |
The police are determined to get to the bottom of the rhino poaching problem regardless of the status of the people involved, Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa, who is leading an anti-poaching operation in the Etosha National Park and surrounding areas in Omusati and Kunene, has warned. On Wednesday, a team of investigating officers was sent from pillar to post by three suspected poachers who had pledged to give their full cooperation to the police.
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NAM_2015-07_Poachers wont win_Namibian Sun.pdf | 117.38 KB |
The police have made significant progress in their investigation of the recently discovered mass killings of rhino in the Etosha National Park. The death toll is expected to rise, if information at the sites of buried carcasses prove to be correct. A large number of suspects have been arrested and the list includes employees within the park. The Oshana police regional commander, Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa, is heading a team of investigators permanently deployed in Etosha since June 1.
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NAM_2015-07_Syndicates exposed in Etosha rhino poaching_Namibian Sun.pdf | 84.24 KB |