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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.

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Displaying results 1 - 7 of 7
Thursday, 9 November 2023
Rondganger L 2023. Perlemoen Plunder: South Africa's battle against R1 billion a year abalone poaching rings.

The west coastal waters of South Africa are under siege, not from the waves of the Atlantic, but from an insidious tide of environmental crime that is sweeping away one of its most precious marine resources. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime has sounded the alarm on the rampant illicit trade of South African abalone, with the country's Haliotis midae species, locally known as perlemoen (abalone), facing potential extinction due to soaring demand from East Asia. So rampant is this environmental crime that the Global…

Thursday, 9 November 2023
Rondganger L 2023. Global environmental crime epidemic fuels multi-billion dollar illicit economy.

These crimes, ranging from illegal wildlife trade to unregulated fishing and the trafficking of rare timber and precious stones, are estimated to be worth between $110 billion and $281 billion annually, positioning them among the most profitable illicit economies worldwide. The report, titled Hidden in Plain Site, is written by Kristina Amerhauser and Robin Cartwright and looks at illicit financial flows (IFFs) related to three specific illicit environmental flows: timber trafficking from Myanmar to China; gemstone trafficking from Mozambique to Thailand; and abalone…

Thursday, 28 September 2023
Rondganger L 2023. R155 billion a year! The cost of organised crime as South Africa becomes a haven for mafia-style networks.

R155 billion!

Friday, 1 January 2021
Prinsloo D, Riley-Smith S, Newton D 2021. Trading years for wildlife - An investigation into wildlife crime from the perspectives of offenders in Namibia.

Commercial and subsistence poaching in protected areas is on the rise. The extent of loss sustained by Namibia on account of the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) is not reliably quantified (Anon., 2017). Wildlife populations for some of Namibia’s most iconic species - African Elephant Loxodonta africana, and Black Rhinoceros Diceros bicornis - are currently under threat due to IWT, and increased poaching in recent years is damaging their otherwise healthy populations.

Monday, 27 July 2020
Paulino C 2020. Dismantled poaching net and gun snipers.

In all, 11 nationals, including firearm suppliers, poachers and game vendors, were arrested last week in Luengue-Luiana National Park, Cuando Cubango province.

Saturday, 14 September 2019
Iilonga A 2019. "Poachers roaming Namibian streets freely" - Shifeta .

The Minister of Environment and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta, has called on the Namibian police to enforce strict bail conditions to reoccurring poachers  as many of the wildlife trafficking incidents that have been reported are mostly committed by criminals who have been released from police custody on bail. He said that because the poaching business in enticing and profitable, many of the suspects commit the same offense immediately after being released on bail as no one is carefully monitoring their movement and whereabouts. 

Rondganger L 2023. South Africa grapples with escalating environmental crimes: Global Crime Index.

South Africa, despite being considered a low-risk area for illegal logging, is grappling with a surge in environmental crimes, the Global Crime Index has shown. The country is not just a consumer of illegal timber and other flora products from neighbouring southern African countries, but is also a significant source country for wildlife crime, involving high-value species such as rhinos, lions, and elephants. Illegal trade of cycads is generating substantial profits, with some specimens fetching up to millions on the international market.

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