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.
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ZIM_2024_01_Zimbabwe_Trio arrested for poaching_Journal of African Elephants.pdf | 90.15 KB |
Three Hurungwe men who captured themselves on camera killing an elephant using traditional weapons and dogs yesterday appeared before Kariba magistrate accused of hunting or removing any animal or part of the animal in a safari area without a permit. Francis Chigomararwa (30), Simeon Kezias (23) and Arthur Murimbika (24) all from Nyamakate area are also facing another charge of killing a buffalo.The accused were unlucky when a video went viral of them killing an elephant after setting their dogs on it before attacking it using spears and axes.
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ZIM_2024_16_Trio arrested for poaching_Newsday Zimbabwe.pdf | 191.01 KB |
Two Mutoko men have been jailed nine years each for illegal possession of a pangolin.
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ZIM_2022_09_2 Mutoko men jailed over pangolin_NewsDay.pdf | 329.92 KB |
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism is investigating some of its workers at Etosha National Park for possibly playing a part in the rhino poaching syndicate which recently left 11 of the mammals dead. Addressing the media yesterday environment minister Pohamba Shifeta said they suspect the "act" was an inside job. All the rhinos killed were also dehorned. He said the ministry is broadening investigations to determine whether its workers were complicit in the matter.
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NAM_2022_06_Government probes workers for poaching_The Namibian.pdf | 509.23 KB |
Environment, Forestry and Tourism Minister Pohamba Shifeta says the recent discoveries of 11 dead rhinos are an indication that the country needs to up its game in curbing wildlife crime. This comes after the rhino carcasses were discovered at Etosha National Park, since the beginning of June to date, with their horns removed.
The Environment and Tourism Ministry says it has discovered 11 rhino carcasses at the Etosha National Park since the beginning of this month. According to the ministry's spokesperson Romeo Muyunda, investigations indicate the carcasses are at least three weeks old. "This is regrettable and a strong indication that the fight against poaching is not over," he said. To date, 22 rhinos have been poached this year.
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NAM_2022_06_Eleven rhino carcasses found at Etosha_The Namibian.pdf | 553.15 KB |
Amidst the growing devastating impact of climate change on the Nigerian environment, conservation efforts are being threatened by trafficking of wildlife.
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NIG_2022_03_Concerns as wildlife trafficking continues in Nigeria_allAfrica_com.pdf | 282.02 KB |
Namibia's over-burdened criminal justice system is struggling to keep up with rhino-poaching court cases, some of them delayed by up to six years. Is a special wildlife crime court the answer?
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NAM_2021_02_Calls for a special wildlife crime court in Namibia_Oxpeckers.pdf | 777.04 KB |
Namibia has recorded a drastic drop in rhino and elephant poaching cases in the past three years because of improved response mechanisms, the government said yesterday. Minister of environment Pohamba Shifeta said the country has seen a reduction in rhino poaching numbers from 78 cases in 2018, 49 in 2019 and 17 so far this year.
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NAM_2020-07_Rhino_elephant poaching cases down_The Namibian.pdf | 267.91 KB |
There are worrying signs that Namibia's legendary wild game numbers may be plummeting.
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NAM_2019-04_Troubled times for Namibian wildlife_The Namibian.pdf | 1002.93 KB |
There are worrying signs that Namibia’s legendary wild game numbers may be plummeting. Four years ago the Namibian Professional Hunters Association raised an alarm about the lack of huntable elephant bulls in the Caprivi region, where the number of communal conservancies had grown from one in 1997 to 15 today.
How did 13 rhino bulls from the Kruger National Park end up on a hunting farm owned by a reclusive Russian billionaire in Namibia? John Grobler and Khadija Sharife follow the trail
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Oxpeckers_Christo Wieses Namibian rhino deal under scrutiny.pdf | 261.62 KB |
Xuecheng Hou, a wealthy Chinese businessman linked to wildlife contraband trafficking, has emerged as a major player in the illegal trade in rare African timber in sub-Saharan Africa. John Grobler investigates.
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Oxpeckers_Chinese mafia boss_turns to timber in Namibia.pdf | 1.73 MB |
The Namibian authorities don’t seem to be in any hurry to shut down a rhino horn smuggling syndicate that has infiltrated security at Windhoek’s airport, writes John Grobler.
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Oxpeckers_The horn scam at Windhoeks airport.pdf | 241.34 KB |
Depending on your views about legal trade in wildlife products, the past week was either a good week or a very good week for Namibian conservation, writes John Grobler.
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Oxpeckers_Namibia diaries the good_the bad_the ugly.pdf | 2.66 MB |
After a two-year investigation, John Grobler exposes the totem-based networks facilitating transnational rhino horn smuggling and defeating the criminal justice system’s pursuit of suspects.
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Oxpeckers_A mysterious dead hand driving Namibias poaching.pdf | 1.68 MB |
John Grobler visits Okahao, a sleepy settlement near Etosha National Park at the centre of the poaching plague threatening the world’s last viable population of critically endangered black rhinos.
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Oxpeckers_The epicentre of Namibias rhino poaching.pdf | 1.21 MB |
The second recent court development followed the sensational arrest of a young, up-and-coming Windhoek businessman named “Mox” Namwandi. Who is he? John Grobler tracks his connections.
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Oxpeckers_Bling king accused in Namibian rhino poaching.pdf | 250.11 KB |
Court evidence reveals the typical methdology deployed by one of five organised crime syndicates believed to be active in Namibian wildlife trafficking, reports John Grobler.
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Oxpeckers_Inner workings of a Chinese poaching syndicate.pdf | 1.68 MB |
A 10-month-long investigation by John Grobler uncovers the political and commercial agendas driving the world’s largest black rhino population towards extinction.
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Oxpeckers_Caught in the crossfire_how cattle and Chinese mining interests are killing off Namibia.pdf | 759.26 KB |
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Oxpeckers_Namibias national soccer medic linked to rhino poaching and murder.pdf | 1.28 MB |
The Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) has launched an internal investigation after it was presented with a letter in mid-December outlining possible collusion between some staff members and poachers who have killed at least 18 critically endangered Kunene black rhinos since late 2012. The crisis at the SRT is however just part of a larger one in anti-poaching law enforcement and natural resource management in the so-called “Big Three” communal conservancies - Palmwag, Abenab and Sesfontein - in southern Kunene.
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NAM_2015-01_Wildlife staff probed in Kunene rhino poaching_The Namibian.pdf | 881.87 KB |
How did ‘Boxer’ die? Why are dead rhinos being found in the area his team patrolled? John Grobler digs up strange secrets surrounding the deaths of black rhinos in the Kunene region of Namibia.
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Oxpeckers_Strange death of a rhino protector.pdf | 381.08 KB |