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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 - 13 of 13
Thursday, 7 December 2023
Francke R-L 2023. PICS: Traditional medicine store owner arrested after several fox skins, elephant foot for muti found.

After a four-month operation, the owner of a traditional medicine store in Cape Town has been arrested after police confiscated various illegal fauna and flora. The store owner is expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court soon. The Western Cape police spokesperson, Captain Frederick van Wyk said in order to address the illegal and ongoing stripping of bark from protected tree species in Table Mountain National Park, Environmental Crime Investigation (ECI) Cape Town identified a shop in Cape Town which purchased bark and other items from illegal suppliers for muti…

Thursday, 13 April 2023
Francke R-L 2023. Prison escapee rearrested at private game reserve is back in court.

Cape Town - A 34-year-old man, who escaped from the Makhanda Correctional Facility in October 2022, appeared in court on new charges. "The suspect was found in possession of hunting implements, and was detained for contravening the National Environmental Management and Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004 Sec 57 (attempted hunting of a threatened or protected species without a permit).

Sunday, 19 February 2023
Swart M 2023. Two arrested for illegal possession of abalone.

In an unrelated incident, an integrated operation led to the arrest of two suspects in Gansbaai on Friday, 17 February 2023. The team set up a vehicle checkpoint on the R43 between Gansbaai and Stanford and stopped a suspicious minibus taxi. They searched the vehicle and the occupants and confiscated 3608 units of abalone. This has an estimated to have a street value of R1.4 million.

Thursday, 16 February 2023
Francke R-L 2023. Suspects transporting abalone worth R200 000 from Mthatha to Bloemfontein nabbed.

Two suspects are expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday on charges of illegal possession of abalone, reckless and negligent driving and assault on a police official.

Monday, 13 February 2023
Francke R-L 2023. Police arrest man for possession of endangered species, including pangolins.

A Lesotho national is expected to appear in the Ganyesa Magistrate’s Court in the North West on Monday for possession of endangered species. During the operation, a search was conducted in a house at Tlakgameng, leading to the discovery of two pangolins, two dead rock pythons and two dead monkeys.

Sunday, 5 February 2023
Swart M 2023. Police on the hunt for rhino poachers who killed two rhinos.

The police in the Eastern Cape are searching for poachers who shot, killed, and dehorned two rhinos on a safari farm in Paterson on Wednesday evening, 1 February.

Friday, 4 November 2022
Francke R-L 2022. Ghanaian national sentenced for possession of over R3m abalone.

Cape Town - A 50-year-old Ghanaian national was sentenced in the Kroonstad Regional Court in the Free State after he pleaded guilty for being in possession of abalone.

Monday, 17 January 2022
Francke R-L 2022. Five arrested for possession of protected plants worth R600 000.

Cape Town - Police in the Northern Cape have arrested five suspects for the possession of protected plants worth over R600 000. According to the provincial police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Sergio Kock, offcers attached to the Springbok Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit, Springbok K9 unit and the Springbok Highway Patrol arrested five male suspects along the N14 highway near Springbok on Thursday.

Monday, 10 January 2022
Francke R-L 2022. Nine Northern Cape suspects bust in Cape Town for possession of protected plants.

Cape Town - Nine suspects are expected to appear in the Goodwood Magistrate's Court soon after they were found to be in possession of protected plants. According to the Northern Cape's provincial police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Sergio Kock, police members from the Springbok and Kuilsriver Stock Theft and Endangered Species Units (STESU) successfully conducted a joint buy and bust operation.

Friday, 23 July 2021
Francke R-L 2021. Eastern Cape suspect busted with abalone worth over R3.7 million .

Cape Town - Police in the Eastern Cape have arrested a 38-year-old suspect and confiscated abalone with an approximate street value of R3.7 million.

Wednesday, 23 June 2021
Francke R-L 2021. Suspect arrested in Edgemead with over R1.7m worth of abalone to appear in court.

Cape Town - A 45-year-old man is expected to appear in the Goodwood magistrate's court on Wednesday after he was found in possession of abalone worth over R1.7 million in Cape Town’s northern suburb of Edgemead.

Friday, 5 February 2021
Thornton A 2021. History repeating: The illegal trade in rhino horn.

Rhino populations are being hammered by poachers, steeping Africa in blood and pushing the species ever-closer to extinction to satisfy the demand for rhino horn in Vietnam and other countries - a demand largely based on the myth of the non-existent medicinal properties of rhino horn. For the record, rhino horn is entirely composed of keratin, also the chief component in hair, nails and animal hooves; you’ve as much chance of curing cancer by biting your nails as you have by drinking powdered rhino horn.

Tuesday, 8 December 2020
Raiva F 2020. Mozambique: Seven arrested on poaching related charges in Sofala.

Two teachers and five other people from Muanza district in Sofala province, including a smallholder and a public administration technician, were arrested this weekend while trying to sell two elephant tusks and the skin of a leopard for 44,000 meticais (24,000 for the tusks and 20,000 for leopard skin).

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