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.
Three suspects were shot and fatally wounded in a shootout with police in the early hours of Wednesday, 31 January 2024. Police received intelligence that a group involved in serious crimes including murders committed in the Inanda area were hiding at the Lungelani Informal Settlement in La Mercy. A team comprising of various police disciplines including members of the Hawks descended on the location. Realising that they were surrounded, the suspects opened fire at the police and a shootout ensued.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2024_31_Three suspects fatally wounded in a shootout with police _SAPS.pdf | 101.56 KB |
Meanwhile, the police at Outjo in the Kunene region arrested a 28-year-old suspect while he was transporting a rhinohorn on Friday evening. He was apprehended when the police stopped and searched the vehicle he was traveling inbetween Outjo and Okaukuejo. The rhino horn’s estimated value is N$300,000.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2023_10_Cannabis mandrax and rhino horn possession lands six behind bars_Informante.pdf | 61.38 KB |
Nampol in Omusati thwart a rhino poaching expedition and confiscate the rifle.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2023_06_Nampol in Omusati thwart a rhino poaching expedition and confiscate the rifle_informante.pdf | 236.66 KB |
A wildlife trafficker softly cried upon being sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for illegal possession of and trying to sell a pangolin. Zimbabwean national Tichaona Chifamba (41) appeared and pleaded guilty before Regional Magistrate Victor Ball in the Secunda Regional Court on Thursday, March 24. He was caught in an intelligence-driven operation on August 3 last year while peddling a Temminck's pangolin in the parking lot of A and E Hyperworld in Trichardt.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_03_Pangolin peddler caught near Secunda_gets 10 years in prison_Ridgetimes.pdf | 626.4 KB |
Nadat hy sewe maande agter tralies deurgebring het omdat hy met onwettige renosterhorings in sy besit betrap is, is 'n skoolhoof van die Zambezistreek vry op borgtog ná ’n suksesvolle appèlaansoek by die hoërhof in Windhoek.
After spending seven months behind bars for being caught with illegal rhino horns in his possession, a Zambezi school principal is released on bail following a successful appeal to the Windhoek High Court.
Members of Upington Highway patrol have arrested a male suspect in connection with possession of Endangered Species. Police got information about the suspect yesterday and it was operationalized. The suspect was found at a hiking spot in Upington hitch hiking to Olifantshoek. He was searched and pangolin skin was found in his luggage. It is valued at about R108 750.00, weighing 2,05 kg.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021-01_Man arrested for posession of pangolin skin_SAPS.pdf | 130.92 KB |
Northern Cape-The Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation has resulted in the arrest of a 48-year-old suspect for allegedly trading in a pangolin. The suspect who originates from Botswana was arrested on Tuesday after information surfaced that he intended selling a pangolin that is an endangered species. A sting operation resulted in the suspect being arrested after he was found in possession of the said pangolin.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2020-06_Services_SAPS.pdf | 134.41 KB |
An 80-year-old Chinese man who has lived in Namibia for more than 17 years was granted N$180 000 bail in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court last week, after he was arrested for being in illegal possession of one rhino horn and 60 pieces of raw elephant tusks, a leopard head skin and one cheetah hide.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2018-01_Suburban women tackle robbers_Namibian Sun.pdf | 94.94 KB |
The Namibia Chamber of Environment has made a call for the legalisation of trade in rhino horn. Calls to legalise rhino horn trade in Namibia are growing louder in an effort to save the species from annihilation, particularly after China partly lifted its already weakly implemented 25-year ban on the use of rhino horn and tiger bones in traditional medicines. In a letter to members and affiliates last week, Namibia Chamber of Environment (NCE) CEO Chris Brown warned that the demand for animal products such as rhino horn, ivory, pangolin scales, tiger and lion bones will…
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2018-11_Calls for legal horn trade_Namibian Sun.pdf | 75.18 KB |
Namibia's environment minister Pohamba Shifeta has urged for a review on the blanket ban on the trade of wildlife products, including rhino horns and ivory, in order to better curb the poaching epidemic threatening the survival of high-value species. Speaking at the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London last week, Shifeta told delegates Namibia believes that "banning any trade in products will not necessarily achieve the outcome of stopping the demand and illegal trade. This has not been successful with alcohol, drugs and indeed, rhino horn, pangolin scales and ivory…
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2018-10_Namibia calls for review on wildlife trade ban_Namibian Sun.pdf | 90.24 KB |
Police are clamping down on poachers, with two police busts leading to the arrest of an alleged poaching gang found in possession of rhino horns and another man attempting to smuggle ten elephant tusks. Police at the Divundu police checkpoint arrested two men driving a white BMW in the early hours of Thursday morning after they were found in possession of three rhino horns. They were identified as Liebelo Erick Manja (31) and Aldrian Masule Musisanyani (41), and both were charged with possession of controlled wildlife products.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2018-09_Three men arrested for rhino horns_Namibian Sun.pdf | 61.95 KB |
Gerson Kandjii (51), who is facing multiple charges in four separate criminal cases, was granted N$2 500 bail by the Windhoek Regional court in Katutura on Wednesday. The bail was granted in a case of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, in which he was arrested in December last year. Magistrate Johannes Shuveni postponed the case to 22 May.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-04_Kandjii granted bail_remains behind bars_Namibian Sun.pdf | 91.11 KB |
The poaching case against Gerson Kandjii (51) and four co-accused charged with killing rhinos on a Gobabis farm in December has been postponed to May. The five men remain in custody. Kandjii, a former Brave Warriors physiotherapist, made another appearance before the Gobabis Magistrate's Court on Friday on poaching charges, following three months behind bars after his arrest in late December.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-04_Kandjii court cases continue_Namibian Sun.pdf | 94.99 KB |
The lawyers of two Chinese nationals arrested for possession of rhino horns in January say their clients should be granted bail because the case against them is deeply flawed and would likely not lead to a conviction.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-03_Lawyers dispute evidence in rhino case_Namibian Sun.pdf | 106.31 KB |
Rhino-poaching accused Gerson Kandjii and his five co-accused did not enter a plea before the Okahao Magistrate’s Court on Monday after their lawyer failed to make an appearance. Kandjii, 51, along with David Stephanus, 35, Karunga Martin, Hinu Lucky, Daniel Nghidinwa and Kakuva Tjeparu were arrested in November 2014 and charged with poaching four critically endangered black rhinos in Etosha National Park.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-03_Kandjii on cross-country court spree_Namibian Sun.pdf | 92.24 KB |
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism yesterday tabled a bill for an amendment to the Nature Conservation Ordinance to increase fines related to rhino and elephant poaching from the current N$200 000 maximum penalty to a maximum penalty of N$25 million.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-02_Multi-million fines for wildlife crimes_Namibian Sun.pdf | 69.83 KB |
A young rhino cow that was shot multiple times by poachers at a farm near Gobabis in December, has died of her wounds.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-02_Rhino wounded by poachers dies_Namibian Sun.pdf | 68.66 KB |
A fourth suspect implicated in last month's Gobabis rhino poaching case, in which two white rhinos were killed and two critically wounded, was denied bail yesterday. David Stephanus (35) appeared before the Gobabis Magistrate's Court on charges of illegal hunting of specially protected game, possession of an unlicensed firearm, illegal possession of ammunition and illegal possession of game meat.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-01_Fourth poaching suspect nabbed_Namibian Sun.pdf | 83.25 KB |
Undercover police operations last week led to the arrest of two Namibians near Outapi and two Chinese nationals in Windhoek for illegal possession of two rhino horns in each case. A joint operation lasting most of last week between Namibian intelligence units, the Namibian Police Protected Resource Unit (PRU) and City Police led to the raid on Thursday night of the Eros flat rented by the two Chinese, during which two rhino
horns wrapped in aluminium foil as well as a cache of weapons and ammunition were confiscated and the two men arrested.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-01_Four more rhino horns seized_ Namibian Sun.pdf | 63.93 KB |
While the poaching spotlight is intensely focused on rhino in Namibia, official poaching statistics released by the environment ministry this week show that rhino poaching declined in 2016 while elephant poaching doubled compared to 2015. In total, 216 black and white rhinos have been killed over the past four years, while 266 elephants have been killed by poachers since 2013. According to official figures released by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism this week, poachers killed 63 black and white rhinos in 2016, compared to 91 killed during the previous year and…
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-01_Elephant poaching up rhino down_Namibian Sun.pdf | 105.25 KB |
The case of three men accused of brutally killing two white rhinos and wounding two others on a farm near Gobabis in December has been postponed to 31 March. Gerson Uakaerera Kandjii (51), a former Brave Warriors football team medic, and his two co-accused, Domingo Justice Moma (32) and Erwin Tjiteere (37), appeared before the Gobabis Magistrate’s Court yesterday after a prison transfer from Windhoek last week.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-01_Kandji and Co remain behind bars_Namibian Sun.pdf | 151.39 KB |
Four of the five suspects in a rhino-poaching case at Gobabis in December have been arrested. Former Brave Warriors football team medic Gerson Uakaera Kandjii – previously accused of rhino poaching and murder - is again behind bars after he and three other suspects were arrested for the killing of two white rhinos in the Omaheke Region in late December.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2017-01_Poaching suspect Kandjii behind bars again_Namibian Sun.pdf | 90.43 KB |
Although pangolins are already protected in Namibia, the Cites decision will raise awareness of this critically
endangered animal.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2016-10_Hope for the pangolin_Namibian Sun.pdf | 112.53 KB |
Bail was denied to three accused rhino poachers who appeared before the Otavi Magistrate’s Court yesterday on charges of rhino poaching and illegal possession of three rhino horns. Tjihange Japyangula, Tjingee Kaukamburua and Tjambira Paulus are each charged with one count of hunting of specially protected game and one count of possession of controlled game products.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2016-07_Rhino-horn trio remain behind bars_Namibian Sun.pdf | 95.32 KB |
Three carcasses of black rhinos were discovered in the Uukwaluudhi conservancy situated between Oshakati and Kamanjab last week on Thursday.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2014-06_Black rhino slaughter uncovered_The Namibian.pdf | 248.39 KB |
Two apparently well-connected businessmen accused of smuggling rhino horns have been released on bail.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2016-06_Questions about bail for rhino suspects_Namibian Sun.pdf | 105.66 KB |
Four rhino horns were found in possession of two Namibian suspects arrested during a police operation in Windhoek on Wednesday.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2016-06_Suspects caught with 4 rhino horns_Namibian Sun.pdf | 92.29 KB |
A timely tip-off and a swift police deployment in the dead of the night produced yet another success story in the Namibian Police’s ongoing anti-poaching campaign in the northern regions bordering the Etosha National Park when four suspected illegal hunters were caught red-handed on Wednesday morning. The suspects – including the principal of local primary school - were arrested in the Ompundja Constituency of the Oshana Region after they were allegedly found in possession of the carcasses of four duikers, one steenbok, four springhares, one rabbit and two red-crested korhaans.…
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2015-10_Principal busted for poaching_Namibian Sun.pdf | 113.84 KB |
The police are determined to get to the bottom of the rhino poaching problem regardless of the status of the people involved, Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa, who is leading an anti-poaching operation in the Etosha National Park and surrounding areas in Omusati and Kunene, has warned. On Wednesday, a team of investigating officers was sent from pillar to post by three suspected poachers who had pledged to give their full cooperation to the police.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2015-07_Poachers wont win_Namibian Sun.pdf | 117.38 KB |
The police have made significant progress in their investigation of the recently discovered mass killings of rhino in the Etosha National Park. The death toll is expected to rise, if information at the sites of buried carcasses prove to be correct. A large number of suspects have been arrested and the list includes employees within the park. The Oshana police regional commander, Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa, is heading a team of investigators permanently deployed in Etosha since June 1.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2015-07_Syndicates exposed in Etosha rhino poaching_Namibian Sun.pdf | 84.24 KB |