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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Cape Town - Swift response by the Hawks National Intervention Unit (NIU) following a tip-off has led to the arrest of six suspects in connection with the discovery of abalone worth more than R2.8 million. The suspects, aged between 26 and 60, were expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate's court on Tuesday morning facing charges relating to possession of abalone and managing a drying facility.
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SA_2023_04_Hawks smell something fishy_6 held in abalone bust_IOL_2023.pdf | 156.25 KB |
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says the transnational organised crime networks targeting large conservation areas across Southern Africa remain a serious concern. The WWF was reacting to the 2022 rhino poaching statistics which saw a 40% decline compared to 2021 in the Kruger Park and other national parks across the country.
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SA_2023_02_WWF concerned about transnational organised crime targeting iconic rhinos_IOL.pdf | 162.17 KB |
Authorities are on the hunt for poachers after two carcasses of the endangered White Rhino were discovered on a farm near the Windhoek district. According to the police report, the two Rhinos' were poached between Friday 21 October 2022 and Monday 24 October 2022 at an unknown time at Farm Otjisauona. It is alleged that the suspects unlawfully and internationally hunted the complainant's white Rhinos by means of shooting and removing all the horns.
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NAM_2022_10_Rhino carcass discovered in Khomas_Informante.pdf | 66.16 KB |
Cape Town - A third prisoner who escaped from custody in Makhanda last week has been rearrested. Trymore Chauke was nabbed on Sunday after police received information about a possible escapee who was alleged to have been asking people for food in the farming community of Seven Fountains in Makhanda. A police task team immediately followed up on the lead and within 30 minutes Chauke was rearrested, police said. He escaped from the facility through a window with six other inmates last week. He was held in custody for rhino poaching.
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SA_2022_10_Third Eastern Cape prison escapee nabbed after begging for food in Makhanda_IOL.pdf | 179.45 KB |
SA National Parks (SANParks) says it is investigating a suspected poisoning incident in the Kruger National Park after the discovery of a buffalo carcass which appeared to have been laced with poison last Thursday. More than 100 dead vultures and a dead hyena likely to have fed off the carcass were also found on the scene.
According to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks), 322 elephants were killed by poachers between 2016 and 2019, largely for their tusks. These are then shipped out to Asia, via South Africa, but the real number may be much higher, according to wildlife groups. Much of the poaching occurs in northern Zimbabwe in game reserves straddling the border with Zambia, according to ZimParks, a statutory body responsible for managing the country’s wildlife population.
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ZIM_2020-04_Elephant poaching and illicit financial flows_The Sunday Mail.pdf | 312.38 KB |
Wildlife crime has become one of the central conservation challenges in Namibia, with a total of 174 wildlife species poached in the country last year alone. This number signifies an increase, as 115 were poached in 2018.
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NAM_2020-04_Wildlife crime registered every day_Informante.pdf | 834.76 KB |