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 |
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.
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NAM_2022_10_Omusati residents warned against hunting stray animals_Confidante.pdf | 356.39 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 |
A report by the South African government reveals a worrisome increase in the number of rhinos poached in 2021, as the decline attributed to the COVID restrictions is now being threatened with reversal. But is it too late to turn the tide?
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SA_2022_04_It is too late to save South Africas rhinos_Fair Planet.pdf | 334.73 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 |
The continued refusal by the government of Botswana to allow game rangers to carry firearms, coupled with the country's secrecy on poaching statistics and other wildlife data, is baffling conservationists. On 25 September, as Botswana marked a belated World Rhino Day, former president Ian Khama - a renowned wildlife conservationist - took to his Facebook page to share his thoughts.
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BOT_2021_12_Political rivalries flare in Botswana and animals pay the price_FairPlanet.pdf | 451.12 KB |
A 24 percent decline in the number of white rhinos over the past decade has caused wildlife conservationists to panic over the future of the endangered pachyderms on the African continent. Despite concerted efforts made by most African states to protect their rhinoceros populations, an International Rhino Foundation (IRF) report has revealed that rhino numbers continue to drop due to poaching.
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AFRICA_2021-10_Continued African Rhino loses alarm conservationists_ FairPlanet.pdf | 75.19 KB |
Four people were arrested in the Kamanjab area after they were found with rhino horns.
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NAM_2021_07_Four caught with rhino horns_The Namibian.pdf | 580.6 KB |
According to police crime coordinator deputy commissioner Moses Simaho, the suspects were arrested after they tried to sell the scales to undercover officers at Epalela on Tuesday at 09:30. The pangolin products as well as cannabis were allegedly smuggled into the country from Angola without a permit from competent authorities in that country. "The two suspects have been arrested for possession of and dealing with controlled wildlife and dealing in prohibited dependence-producing drugs. We seized a bag containing cannabis whose value has not yet been determined and 2,22 pangolin…
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NAM_2021_06_Two nabbed for possessing pangolin scales_The Namibian.pdf | 361.88 KB |
Six months into COVID-19 lockdown and with most southern African nations not having social safety nets for their citizens, there has been an uptick in wildlife poaching across the region.
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.
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NAM_2017-12_Three arrested with two rhino horns_The Namibian.pdf | 188.66 KB |
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.
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NAM_2017-10_Rhino injures suspected poacher_The Namibian.pdf | 277.81 KB |
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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NAM_2017-08_Two men found with fresh rhino horns_The Namibian.pdf | 199.85 KB |