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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 - 18 of 18
Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Maromo J 2023. R200 000 pangolin sale: Four arrested while selling endangered animals at Mahikeng Mall.

Pretoria - At least four people have been arrested by the Hawks in North West while they were selling two pangolins at a mall. Spokesperson for the Hawks in North West, Captain Tlangelani Rikhotso, said the two pangolins were being sold for R200 000.

Monday, 20 March 2023
Maromo J 2023. Woman rhino poacher jailed for 16 years.

Pretoria - A woman involved in rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park was on Friday jailed for 16 years by the Skukuza Regional Court.

Tuesday, 7 February 2023
Maromo J 2023. Rogue Kruger National Park rangers: 14th suspect arrested for rhino poaching case.

Mpumalanga provincial head of the Hawks, Major General Nico Gerber has welcomed the arrest of the 14th accused person, 24-year-old Nkateko Maluleke who was wanted in a case of money laundering, where field rangers allegedly provided tactical information to rhino poachers in the Kruger National Park.

Friday, 16 December 2022
Maromo J 2022. 'Wanted' siblings arrested for allegedly paying Kruger National Park rangers for info to aid poachers.

Pretoria - The Hawks in Mpumalanga have arrested Martin Prince Lekhuleni, 37, and his sister Eunice Lekhuleni, 24, who were circulated by the elite crime fighting unit earlier this week as wanted individuals. The siblings, who were wanted on charges of money laundering in connection to payment of Kruger National Park field rangers in exchange for tactical information, handed themselves in to police.

Wednesday, 14 December 2022
Maromo J 2022. Pangolin in car: Six people remanded in custody for possession of caged animal.

Pretoria - Six people have been remanded in custody after they appeared before the Zeerust Magistrate's Court for possession of a pangolin.

Wednesday, 14 December 2022
Maromo J 2022. Rhino horn in KFC bag: Two men in custody for carrying rhino horns worth R870 000.

Pretoria - Two men, Junior Chauke aged 49 and Prince Ntsako Letswele, aged 33 were remanded in custody by the Ermelo Magistrate’s Court after they were arrested for alleged possession of rhino horn. Hawks' spokesperson in Mpumalanga Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi said the duo was arrested after police received information about a vehicle with the occupants in possession of firearms, reportedly driving towards Ermelo.

Thursday, 17 November 2022
Maromo J 2022. Kruger National Park rhino poacher gets 'what he deserves': 17 years in jail.

Pretoria - Convicted rhino poacher Silvester Sidney Zitha, 40, has been sentenced to an e

Friday, 28 October 2022
Itamalo M 2022. Omusati residents warned against hunting stray animals.

Otamanzi constituency councilor, Johaness Iyambo has warned residents of his constituency to desist from hunting stray Game animals which has found way into their communal land as they search for water. This comes after a two-week open hunting season, for residents in the Otamanzi Constituency which borders the Etosha National Park to the East, where residents have been feasting on the stray animals.

Wednesday, 29 June 2022
Maromo J 2022. PICS: Cop arrested while using SAPS vehicle to deliver 'injured and traumatised' pangolin for sale.

Pretoria - Two men aged 37 and 52, one a police constable, charged with illegal dealing in pangolin and contravention of the National Environmental Management-Biodiversity (Nemba) Act, have appeared before the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court.

Wednesday, 2 March 2022
Maromo J 2022. Woman sentenced to five years in jail for money laundering linked to illegal rhino horn trade.

Pretoria - The Tembisa Regional Court has convicted and sentenced 49-year-old Ping Wu to five years direct imprisonment for money laundering. Spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, said in April 2019, the Hawks serious organised crime investigation team based in Middelburg registered an undercover investigation into allegations of illegal trade in rhino horn. "The scope of the project was to address a syndicate in Gauteng who were illegally dealing in rhino horns," said Sekgotodi.

Sunday, 21 November 2021
Maromo J 2021. German nationals arrested for catching and trading in protected lizards, geckos and tortoises.

Pretoria - Two German nationals are appearing in court on Monday, after being arrested near Askham, Northern Cape for the illegal trade and possession of reptiles and controlled substances. The men were nabbed while illegally catching and trading in reptiles, including Armadillo girdled lizards which are a threatened and protected species, geckos and tortoises in the Northern Cape "with the intention to smuggle them" out of South Africa into the lucrative international exotic pet trade.

Friday, 8 October 2021
Maromo J 2021. North West conservation official and a businessman arrested for illegally dealing in rhino horn.

Pretoria -  An official from the North West department of economic development, environment, conservation and tourism (Dedect) has been arrested in connection with illegal rhino horn trade, the national department of forestry, fisheries and the environment has confirmed. The official and the owner of a security company were arrested yesterday in relation to alleged contraventions of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, the rhino norms and standards and contravention of permit conditions.

Friday, 17 September 2021
Maromo J 2021. Cop and court official nabbed for attempting to smuggle 32 rhino horns to Malaysia.

Pretoria - A 53-year-old warrant officer within the South African Police Service (SAPS) was on Friday appearing in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court, with a female accomplice, on charges of alleged involvement in illegal dealings of rhino horns.

Tuesday, 26 January 2021
Maromo J 2021. Bail denied for trio arrested for being in possession of elephant tusks.

Pretoria - Three men arrested by the police in Limpopo as they attempted to sell elephant tusks valued at R168 000 to undercover law enforcement officers were on Monday denied bail by the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court. Limpopo police provincial spokesperson Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said the trio were arrested on Friday at Savannah Mall and were allegedly in possession of elephant tusks.

Tuesday, 5 January 2021
Guy J 2021. Elephant ivory still being sold on eBay despite 12-year ban.

Elephant ivory is still being sold on eBay despite the online marketplace introducing a ban more than a decade ago, researchers have found. Sellers are misrepresenting the materials used in certain items and sometimes using "code words" to disguise illicit listings, researchers from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent, in England, said in a statement on Monday. In 2008, eBay announced it was introducing a global ban on the sale of ivory starting on January 1, 2009. "Despite eBay's strict policy on…

Monday, 4 December 2017
Itamalo M 2017. Three arrested with two rhino horns.

Ohangwena police on Friday arrested three men found with two fresh rhino horns. The trio were arrested at a temporary roadblock at Omungwelume. According to Ohangwena police spokesperson, sergeant Abner Kaume Itumba, the men were travelling in a seven-seater vehicle when they were arrested.

Thursday, 19 October 2017
Itamalo M 2017. Rhino injures suspected poacher.

A suspected poacher was severely injured by a rhino in the Etosha National Park on Saturday evening. Warrant officer Simson Shilongo of the police in Kunene told The Namibian yesterday that Luteni Muharukua (age unknown) and other alleged poachers had entered the national park illegally to poach rhinos.

Monday, 21 August 2017
Itamalo M 2017. Two men found with fresh rhino horns.

Two Namibian men were arrested on Saturday afternoon at a roadblock in the Ohangwena region after police found two fresh rhino horns in their luggage. According to Ohangwena police spokesman sergeant Abner Kaume Itumba, the men aged 29 and 32 were arrested at the Onhuno roadblock in the Helao Nafidi town.

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