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.
Caught with a mother pangolin and its child in his home village near Nata on 19 November 2022, 33-year-old Othusitse Baile will forgo his freedom for the next four years.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
BOT_2023_11_Pangolin Pain_The Voice Botswana.pdf | 287.34 KB |
Two Zimbabwean men have been remanded in custody after they were found in possession of a live pangolin.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
BOT_2023_08_Duo nabbed in possession of a pangolin_The Voice.pdf | 274.54 KB |
The prisoner, Wang Hui (47), escaped in the Brakwater area north of Windhoek, where he was part of a team of inmates doing work outside the prison, around 11h00 on Monday, the Namibian Correctional Service's head of directorate central staff, Michael Mulisa, says. Wang Hui is serving a 15-year prison term for attempting to smuggle 14 rhino horns and a leopard skin out of Namibia in March 2014.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2022_10_Rhino horn smuggler on the run after escape_The Namibian.pdf | 542.11 KB |
About 20 rhinos have been poached at the Etosha National Park so far this year, with five carcasses discovered between June and August. This was announced in a statement yesterday by Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism spokesperson Romeo Muyunda. Muyunda said 12 black rhinos were poached on custodianship farms and 16 white rhinos were poached on private farms across the country. A total of 32 poached rhinos were black, while 16 were white.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_20 rhinos poached at Etosha this year_The Namibian.pdf | 343.42 KB |
Durban - A 45-year-old man convicted of rhino poaching was sentenced to 28 years in prison by the Empangeni Regional Court.
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?
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_04_It is too late to save South Africas rhinos_Fair Planet.pdf | 334.73 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.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
BOT_2021_12_Political rivalries flare in Botswana and animals pay the price_FairPlanet.pdf | 451.12 KB |
A sense of remorse and a convincing mitigation statement have saved a convicted ivory dealer from a lengthy jail term as he got off lightly with a reduced sentence. Poul Garirayi would have been condemned to a mandatory 10-year maximum jail term and a hefty fine for the elephant tusks valued at P10 233.22 that he was found in possession of.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
BOT_2021_11_Illegal Ivory Dealer Jailed For Two Years_The Voice Botswana.pdf | 432.33 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.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
AFRICA_2021-10_Continued African Rhino loses alarm conservationists_ FairPlanet.pdf | 75.19 KB |
A man caught with a single elephant tusk during an unexpected run-in with the police in the bush two years ago will learn his fate next Thursday. Although he tried to hide the offending item beneath his jacket during his unplanned encounter with the cops, the big bulge gave Gaosego Emang Seipato away. The 35-year-old met his downfall on 3 May 2019, when he was rumbled by a police patrol who were actually on the lookout for illegal gold miners in the bushes between Matshelagabedi and BDF training centre on the outskirts of Francistown.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
BOT_2021_09_Busted In The Bush_TheVoiceBw.pdf | 496.73 KB |
A big-hearted boyfriend who managed to get his lover off the hook after the pair were caught with two elephant tusks has been taken to task over the matter and jailed for two years. Zimbabwean native, Brian Ndlovu admitted to being in possession of the ivory, claiming he had been given the tusks by another man with the instruction to sell them. He was busted when police received a tip-off of a man trying to sell tusks at Tonota lands. Swooping into action on 22 January, the cops pounced to find Ndlovu in the presence of his girlfriend and home-girl, Mary Sibanda.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
BOT_2021_09_Big-Hearted Boyfriend Jailed In Elephant Tusk Takedown_TheVoiceBw.pdf | 458.21 KB |
KwaZulu-Natal wildlife is "under attack" by illegal hunters across the province says Blessed Gwala, the IFP spokesperson for community safety and liaison. Last week the carcasses of four dehorned rhinos were found in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2020-12_KZN wildlife under siege from illegal hunters_IOL.pdf | 104.59 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.