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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A 32-year-old poacher, Freedom Siyabonga Ndlovu, was sentenced to 32 years of direct imprisonment for offences related to poaching by the Skukuza Regional Court. The accused had a hand in the killing of three rhinos.
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SA_2023_06_Freedom Ndlovu handed a 32_year sentence for poaching offences_The South African.pdf | 348.6 KB |
Four men were arrested for allegedly attempting to sell two endangered pangolins for R200 000 in Mahikeng, North West.
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SA_2023_05_Hawks pounce on pangolin peddlers_four arrested_The SouthAfrican.pdf | 438.91 KB |
The Wildlife Justice Commission said a threat assessment on the state of rhino horn trafficking in the past decade showed that much was needed to fight the trade via law enforcement, policymakers and conservation. The assessment found that over the last decade, six countries dominated the supply chain as source, transit and destination locations and that a third of rhino horns were smuggled unconcealed, suggesting a potential reliance on corruption to move shipments along the supply chain. They found that large amounts of harvested horns have been diverted from legal…
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SA_2022_11_Corruption aids rhino horn smuggling_IOL.pdf | 294.55 KB |
Five people were arrested in Midrand, Gauteng for pangolin trafficking and contravening the National Environmental Management-Biodiversity (NEMBA) Act. The Hawks pounced on the suspects after receiving a tip-off.
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SA_2022_04_Police officer and four others arrested for pangolin dealing in Midrand_The South African.pdf | 380.28 KB |
Cape Town - Poaching continues to decimate the rhino population with 451 rhinos poached in South Africa last year, 327 of them from government reserves and 124 from private property.
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SA_2022_03_Rhino poaching_the trade and the convictions_IOL.pdf | 382.22 KB |
Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) spokesperson in the Western Cape said the elephant ivory dealer entered into a plea agreement with the State. The court sentenced Ziwande, 38, to "a fine of R10 000 wholly suspended for five years" for the offence, said Hani. He pleaded guilty to one charge under the Contravention of Section 42(1)(b). Ziwande was arrested on 14 May 2021, after the police’s Crime Intelligence provided the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team in Cape Town with a tip-off.
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SA_2022_03_Elephant ivory dealer already in prison sentenced again_The South African.pdf | 859.5 KB |
Three poachers were sentenced to a cumulative 85 years imprisonment on charges relating to a rhino poaching incident at the Pilanesberg Game Reservice in the North West. On 2 July 2018, the trio were trying to leave the game reserve in the North West in a white Ford bakkie loaded with stolen rhino horns valued at R1.5 million. Their bail application was denied and they remained in police custody until the completion of the trial.
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SA_2021_10_Three rhino poachers sentenced to 85 years imprisonment_The Citizen.pdf | 430.25 KB |
Cape Town - Two men who were caught with R9 million rand worth of abalone have been sentenced to a year behind bars while authorities have warned this is still a very serious crime being committed and is often linked to the drug trade.
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SA_2021_10_Abalone smugglers sentenced while authorities say drugs are often linked to the trade_IOL.pdf | 323.48 KB |
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…
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INT_2021_01_Elephant ivory still being sold on eBay despite 12_year ban, research finds_CNN.pdf | 180.51 KB |