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.
Explore your search results using the filter checkboxes, or amend your search or start a new search.
The US has imposed sanctions against a Malaysian group, accusing it of engaging in "the cruel trafficking of endangered and threatened wildlife and the products of brutal poaching". The Treasury department said on Friday it has designated Malaysian national Teo Boon Ching, the Teo Boon Ching wildlife trafficking transnational criminal organisation and Malaysian company Sunrise Greenland. Teo Boon Ching specialises in the transportation of rhino horn, ivory and pangolins from Africa. It uses routes through Malaysia and Laos to reach customers in Vietnam and China, the department…
According to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s rhino poaching statistics available on the organisation’s website, a total of 99 have fallen victim to poachers this year.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_05_KZN rhino poaching numbers already high for 2022_Zululand Observer.pdf | 341.26 KB |
Swift justice has been meted out for this unfortunate smuggler on Wednesday, after he was promptly arrested at OR Tambo for being in possession of no more than eleven separate rhino horn packages.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_02_Gotcha_Smuggler caught with eleven rhino horns at OR Tambo_The South African.pdf | 298.76 KB |
Prophet Jackson Babi has been remanded in custody again after High Court Judge Harald January dismissed his bail appeal. The judge did not make available the full judgment, saying it will only be available later after it has been edited. Babi has been in custody since last year after he was arrested on poaching charges.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2021_07_Prophet Babi remanded in custody_Informante.pdf | 555.91 KB |
Judgement in the matter where Prophet Jackson Babi is appealing a decision that denied him bail will be handed own later this week. Babi is appealing a judgment handed down by a magistrate in the lower court.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2021_07_Babis bail appeal judgment is not ready_Informante.pdf | 1.46 MB |
A Namibian Defense Force (NDF) member and a police officer currently stationed at the Etosha national park were arrested last night after they were found in the possession of rhino horns in Oshikango. Speaking to Informanté, Ohangwena Regional Crime Coordinator Sakaria Amakali said that the two suspected poachers were arrested in a sting operation following a tip off. The value of the horns is not yet known. "The two suspects will only be charged today and appear in the Ohangwena court tomorrow," Amakali stated.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2021_06_Cop_soldier arrested for poaching_Informante.pdf | 2.33 MB |
Prophet Jackson Babi has lodged an appeal against a ruling in which a Magistrate denied him bail, saying that the presiding officer misdirected himself when he made the ruling. The appeal was scheduled for hearing in the Windhoek High court today, but will only be heard on 23 June 2021. Babi was arrested on poaching charges and possession of a cellphone while in police custody, as well as bribery. In his heads of argument, Babi claims that during the bail application, no evidence was provided to show he would interfere with investigations if he is granted bail.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2021_06_Jackson Babi to appeal bail judgment_Informante.pdf | 2.17 MB |
The suspected ivory smuggler from Alberton is facing the full might of the law this week, after two elephant tusks were found in his possession.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021_05_Gauteng man busted for possession of two elephant tusks_The South African.pdf | 906.15 KB |
A decision on whether or not Windhoek self proclaimed Prophet, Jackson Babi, will be granted bail will be heard on Friday at the Windhoek Magistrate's Court. Babi was arrested last year on poaching and bribery charges. On the bribery charge, Babi and one Ananias Ananias are alleged to have attempted to offer a police officer N$13 000 to make the charges against Babi in the poaching case disappear.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2021_03_Babis bail judgment on Friday_Informante.pdf | 1.48 MB |
A man suspected of being a poacher, 27-year-old Claudius Hameva, was fatally shot at a game farm around Okakarara earlier this morning following a scuffle between him and the farm's security guard.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2020-12_Suspected poacher killed by guard_Informante.pdf | 918.82 KB |
Prophet Jackson Babi and another man, Ananias Ananias, who stand accused of attempting to bribe a police officer, are expected to make another court appearance next month in connection with the charges. The two men briefly appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on bribery charges after it was alleged that they offered a police officer N$13 000 to make the charges against Babi disappear.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2020-10_Prophet Babi returns to court in November_Informante.pdf | 1.34 MB |
An attempt by Prophet Jackson Babi to bribe the detective investigating poaching charges against him to bear false testimony in court during his formal bail application, has caused the man of God to sink deeper into legal trouble. Besides an amount of N$13 000 in cash police officers searching the cells during the past weekend also found two mobile phones in the possession of the accused persons while they were incarcerated at the Windhoek Police Station which added even more charges to the accused persons’ charge sheets.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2020-06_Prophet appears on attempted bribery charge_Informante.pdf | 289.79 KB |
A CIVIL servant in the employ of the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture was arrested early on Wednesday morning after he attempted to flee from police who was tracking his movements because of his involvement in elephant poaching. The arrest of the education minister official follows an intricate undercover tracking operation launched by the Namibian Police and officials from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in the Zambezi Region. Zambezi Regional Crime Coordinator, Deputy Commissioner Evans Simasiku told Informanté in an exclusive interview that the suspect…
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2019-07_Suspected poacher arrested while using government vehicle_Informante.pdf | 1.5 MB |
NINE men were arrested over the past for the poaching of protected wildlife species. This is according to environment ministry spokesperson, Romeo Muyunda, who stated that the suspects form part of the three newly registered wildlife criminal cases. It is alleged that Gideon Gao-Naseb, Timotheus Kasera and Champion Haraseb killed a rhino at the Omateva farm in the Omitara constituency. They now face charges of hunting of specially protected species and the removal of protected products. The trio was arrested on 20 August and have been remanded in custody.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2019-08_Nine arrested for wildlife crimes_Informant.pdf | 318.89 KB |
A man, who stands accused of poaching two rhinos along with four other men on a private farm in the area of Kamanjab in December last year, was granted bail in the amount of N$18 000 this morning. Magistrate Immanuel Udjombala found that the 35-year-old George Nanyeni only role in the crime was that he transported his four co-accused, who actually slaughtered the rhinos, away from the crime scene.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2019-07_Poacher gets N$18 000 bail_Informante.pdf | 397.34 KB |
A medical doctor who was arrested for the illegal possession of elephant tusks has been granted bail in the amount of N$50 000 during a brief appearance in the Windhoek magistrate’s court. Dr. Thomas van Wyk handed himself over to the police after his friends informed the police that he had three tusks at his Auasblick home. The 44-year-old Van Wyk is employed as a medical doctor at the Namibia Oncology Centre in Windhoek. He has over 15 years of experience in a variety of medical fields.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2019-01_Doctor freed on bail_Informante.pdf | 524.84 KB |
FOUR Chinese nationals serving a 14-year jail term have approached the high court this week to appeal the sentence as it was "too severe", according to their lawyers. Wang Hui, 43, Li Zhibing, 57, Pu Xuexin, 53 and Li Xiaoliang, 34 tried to smuggle 14 rhino horns and a leopard skin out of Namibia in 2014. How they managed to get through security detection machines at the Hosea Kutako International Airport is to date a mystery.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2018-12_Chinese smugglers want lesser sentence_Informante.pdf | 517.97 KB |
The four suspected poachers who were arrested on Saturday following a shoot-out with the police at Khorixas will remain in custody after the court denied them bail.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-06_Suspected poachers remanded in custody_The Namibian.pdf | 217.05 KB |
A man suspected of having travelled from Namibia was arrested at the Hong Kong International Airport on Friday in connection with 12 rhino horns found in express air parcels.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-03_Suspected Nam rhino horns seized in China_The Namibian.pdf | 213.05 KB |
Three suspects were arrested on Tuesday evening at Tjova village in Kavango East after being found in possession of 13 elephant tusks by a joint police and ministry of environment patrol. Police spokesperson Kauna Shikwambi yesterday said police arrested a Namibian and two Angolans, aged 27, 42 and 50, respectively, during an intelligence-led investigation.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-01_Three arrested with 13 elephant tusks_The Namibian.pdf | 564.36 KB |
He was tending to his employer's cattle and not poaching, the suspected poacher shot and wounded by police on Wednesday at a farm in the Outjo district said yesterday.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-01_Man shot by police said he was not poaching_The Namibian.pdf | 531.25 KB |
A suspected poacher was shot and wounded by police yesterday at Farm Harrisy near Etosha National Park, bringing the number of those injured to two since December last year. Three others were shot dead at Bwabwata National Park last week following the invocation of the Criminal Procedure Act where police are instructed to shoot poachers in self-defence.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-01_Police shoot suspected poacher_The Namibian.pdf | 247.54 KB |
The poaching of rhinos and elephants in Namibia is not a crisis because only about 1,2% are poached per year, said environment minister Pohamba Shifeta.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2016-12_Shifeta says poaching not a crisis_The Namibian.pdf | 524.75 KB |
Six people found carrying rifles in the Etosha National Park last week were arrested after a wounded rhino was found in the area.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2016-12_Six arrested in Etosha_The Namibian.pdf | 189.19 KB |
A Chinese man was arrested on Wednesday in South Africa when he was found with 18 rhino horns worth R6,6 million which are suspected to have been smuggled from Namibia.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2016-11_Chinese national arrested with 18 rhino horns_The Namibian.pdf | 965.73 KB |
Government yesterday condemned the random shooting of Namibian citizens suspected of being poachers at the Botswana border, saying the authorities in that country are too quick to pull the trigger.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2015-07_Government condemns Botswana for shooting Namibians_The Namibian.pdf | 290.5 KB |
Yet another black rhino was poached in the Omatendeka Conservancy in Southern Kunene over the weekend, bringing the total number of poached rhinos in the country to 69 this year. The rhino is the fifth to be poached in the same area within a couple of months. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism confirmed yesterday that five people were arrested in connection with the incident after they were discovered with two rhino horns in their possession.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2015-06_Rhino carcass discovered at Omatendeka Conservancy_The Namibian.pdf | 222.79 KB |
Ninety-five black rhinos and eight white rhinos have been poached in Namibia since 2005, the ministry of environment and tourism revealed yesterday. Minister of environment Pohamba Shifeta said this, when he revealed the outcome of tests conducted on the latest rhino and elephant carcasses discovered since 2014.
Shifeta said over the last 10 years, 294 black rhinos died of natural causes, while 95 others were poached and seven others were killed for trophy hunting.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2015-09_103 rhinos poached in the last 10 years_The Namibian.pdf | 222.78 KB |