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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 - 15 of 15
Friday, 25 August 2023
Mojela A 2023. Female pangolin and baby rescued from poachers in the Northern Cape.

A mission to rescue a pangolin confiscated in Kuruman in the Northern Cape led to a Limpopo foundation sponsoring a flight to the Northern Cape to have it treated at Provet Animal Hospital in Hoedspruit. Provet Animal Hospital said on Facebook that a female Temminck’s ground pangolin was confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade and upon assessment, the veterinarian in Kuruman discovered that she was clutching a newborn pup, a little male, still wrapped in the afterbirth.

Thursday, 13 July 2023
Mojela A 2023. Poaching kingpin Big Joe to Polokwane Correctional services.

This was during his second appearance in the Lenyenye Regional Court after he was arrested in May. Nyalungu’s defence team requested that he be transferred to a Polokwane correctional facility due to difficulty to obtain his chronic medication in Thohoyandou where he was in custody until then. The court agreed and Joseph has been moved to Polokwane. Nyalunga was arrested on Saturday, May 27 in Kampersrus after a car chase involving the police. He allegedly has a long history of poaching and was first arrested in 2011 after being on police’s radar for several months.

Wednesday, 5 July 2023
Mojela A 2023. Five alleged rhino poachers arrested in the Kruger Park.

It was successful day for multi-task team of detectives from the Endangered Species Unit, SANParks, Focused Conservation Solutions, Hoedspruit SAPS, and Hoedspruit Farm Watch when they made a breakthrough arresting five suspects for rhino poaching.

Wednesday, 13 May 2020
Harvey L, King L 2020. Dogs trained to protect wildlife have saved 45 rhinos from poachers in South Africa.

The dogs, who vary from a beagle to bloodhound, began training from birth before working at 18 months-old at the Southern African Wildlife College in Greater Kruger National Park.

Wednesday, 7 June 2017
Tjihenuna T 2017. Suspected poachers remanded in custody.

The four suspected poachers who were arrested on Saturday following a shoot-out with the police at Khorixas will remain in custody after the court denied them bail.

Tuesday, 28 March 2017
Tjihenuna T 2017. Suspected Nam rhino horns seized in China.

A man suspected of having travelled from Namibia was arrested at the Hong Kong International Airport on Friday in connection with 12 rhino horns found in express air parcels.

Thursday, 26 January 2017
Tjihenuna T 2017. Three arrested with 13 elephant tusks.

Three suspects were arrested on Tuesday evening at Tjova village in Kavango East after being found in possession of 13 elephant tusks by a joint police and ministry of environment patrol. Police spokesperson Kauna Shikwambi yesterday said police arrested a Namibian and two Angolans, aged 27, 42 and 50, respectively, during an intelligence-led investigation.

Friday, 6 January 2017
Tjihenuna T 2017. Man shot by police said he was not poaching.

He was tending to his employer's cattle and not poaching, the suspected poacher shot and wounded by police on Wednesday at a farm in the Outjo district said yesterday.

Thursday, 5 January 2017
Tjihenuna T 2017. Police shoot suspected poacher.

A suspected poacher was shot and wounded by police yesterday at Farm Harrisy near Etosha National Park, bringing the number of those injured to two since December last year. Three others were shot dead at Bwabwata National Park last week following the invocation of the Criminal Procedure Act where police are instructed to shoot poachers in self-defence.

Thursday, 15 December 2016
Tjihenuna T, Haidula T 2016. Shifeta says poaching not a crisis.

The poaching of rhinos and elephants in Namibia is not a crisis because only about 1,2% are poached per year, said environment minister Pohamba Shifeta.

Monday, 12 December 2016
Tjihenuna T 2016. Six arrested in Etosha.

Six people found carrying rifles in the Etosha National Park last week were arrested after a wounded rhino was found in the area.

Friday, 25 November 2016
Tjihenuna T 2016. Chinese national arrested with 18 rhino horns.

A Chinese man was arrested on Wednesday in South Africa when he was found with 18 rhino horns worth R6,6 million which are suspected to have been smuggled from Namibia.

Friday, 10 July 2015
Tjihenuna T 2015. Government condemns Botswana for shooting Namibians.

Government yesterday condemned the random shooting of Namibian citizens suspected of being poachers at the Botswana border, saying the authorities in that country are too quick to pull the trigger.

Tuesday, 16 June 2015
Tjihenuna T 2015. Rhino carcass discovered at Omatendeka Conservancy.

Yet another black rhino was poached in the Omatendeka Conservancy in Southern Kunene over the weekend, bringing the total number of poached rhinos in the country to 69 this year. The rhino is the fifth to be poached in the same area within a couple of months. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism confirmed yesterday that five people were arrested in connection with the incident after they were discovered with two rhino horns in their possession.

Wednesday, 3 June 2015
Tjihenuna T 2015. 103 rhinos poached in the last 10 years.

Ninety-five black rhinos and eight white rhinos have been poached in Namibia since 2005, the ministry of environment and tourism revealed yesterday. Minister of environment Pohamba Shifeta said this, when he revealed the outcome of tests conducted on the latest rhino and elephant carcasses discovered since 2014. 
Shifeta said over the last 10 years, 294 black rhinos died of natural causes, while 95 others were poached and seven others were killed for trophy hunting.

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