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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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 |
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 |
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 |
Forty SANParks employees found guilty of being involved in rhino poaching have been dismissed, Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has revealed. She was responding to a Parliamentary question on whether any SANParks staff were involved in the poaching of rhino for their horns. "SANParks staff members have been involved in rhino poaching since 2009. In dealing with rhino poaching-related offences, SANParks runs a parallel process alongside the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)," said Creecy.
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SA_2021_03_40 SANParks employees sacked over rhino poaching_IOL.pdf | 822.26 KB |
Namibia has registered a drop in rhino poaching from 52 cases in 2019 to 31 since the beginning of last year. In 2018, the country lost 81 rhinos due to poaching, 66 in 2016 and 97 in 2015. The 2020 figure is the lowest in the last five years. Addressing a media conference yesterday, environment minister Pohamba Shifeta said more resources have been allocated to fight poaching, and more stakeholders have come on board to support efforts to stop the gruesome practice.
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NAM_2021-02_Poaching cases down in 2020_New Era.pdf | 408.9 KB |
Environment minister Pohamba Shifeta yesterday said the Chinese government's ban on trade in ivory will only make the black market for rhino horns and elephant tusks more lucrative.
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NAM_2018-01_Ivory ban will boost illegal trade_Shifeta_The Namibian.pdf | 379.37 KB |
Another two Chinese nationals caught in possession of rhino horns last Thursday will appear in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court today.
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NAM_2017-01_Two more Chinese in court over rhino horns_The Namibian.pdf | 353.82 KB |
Environment and tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta is concerned about the increasing poaching and illegal trafficking of wildlife products. He told visiting Interpol secretary general Jurgen Stock in Windhoek on Tuesday that Namibia could use more help and support from the international community to end the poaching and trafficking of wildlife products.
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NAM_2016-03_Poaching an international concern_The Namibian.pdf | 982.12 KB |
Depity fisheries minister Chief Samuel Ankama says the only way to combat poaching is by apprehending the end-users, who keep the market alive.
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NAM_2016-03_Arrest buyers of poached products_The Namibian.pdf | 208.97 KB |
Over 72 elephants were poached in the Caprivi Region last year alone while six cases have been reported so far this year.
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NAM_2013-07_Elephant poaching a concern_The Namibian.pdf | 202.39 KB |