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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Rhino Dehorning Debate Intensifies as Poaching Continues in Hluhluwe/iMfolozi Game Reserve. In the midst of an escalating rhino poaching crisis at the Hluhluwe/iMfolozi (HiP) game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, a contentious debate has arisen over whether dehorning rhinos is an effective strategy to protect them. While some argue that dehorning could deter poachers, others express concerns about its effectiveness and potential consequences. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, responsible for overseeing the park, has voiced reluctance regarding the dehorning approach.
A Gqeberha man was arrested for suspected abalone poaching in the early hours of January 11, after vigilant Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Metro (NMBM) Police officers spotted a suspicious vehicle, a red Toyota Condor, which was leaking water from the rear end. The man was found travelling with eight bags of de-shelled abalone at around 3.45am in the Summerstrand and Humewood area.
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SA_2023_01_Gqeberha man arrested for possession of 1 620 units of protected abalone_IOL.pdf | 338.94 KB |
A 39-year-old man is expected to appear before the Calcutta Magistrate's Court in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, today after he was arrested by the Nelspruit Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation, the White River K9 Unit and Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Authority.
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SA_2022_12_Suspected poacher nabbed with two elephant tusks_IOL.pdf | 125.91 KB |
A man has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for rhino poaching by a court in Mpumalanga. This comes against the backdrop of another court in the area sentencing a man to 17 years for rhino poaching. The Skukuza Regional Court sentenced Sipho Titus Khosa on Friday to 34 years in jail.
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SA_2022_11_Rhino poacher sentenced to 34 years in jail_IOL.pdf | 172.66 KB |
Strides made with hefty sentences and fines for criminals endangering game rangers and animals. When Jimmy Mashopane of Winterveld, north of Pretoria, was arrested for shooting, killing and mutilating nine white rhino in a Free State game reserve, taking 14 horns estimated at more than R500,000, veteran prosecutor Antoinette Ferreira threw the book at him. That one of the rhino was a month away from giving birth "only enhances one's sense of abomination", judge Phillip Loubser said.
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SA_2022_09_Courts fire shots across the bows of poaching syndicates_Business Live.pdf | 485.82 KB |
Last week, the People's Court of Hanoi, Vietnam, sentenced three women and one man to a collective 18 years imprisonment for the illegal transportation and trade of 984kg of pangolin scales, one of the largest cases of wildlife trading investigated in Vietnam's history.
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SA_2022_07_LOOK_ Smugglers jailed for trading nearly one tonne of pangolin scales_IOL.pdf | 1.27 MB |
A survey conducted by conservation encouragement charity, Tusk and Natural State, found that African rangers see no sign of relief. Poaching is actually escalating as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact Africa’s communities and wildlife. The survey questioned 60 field organizations across 19 countries in Africa.
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AFRIKA_2021_08_African rangers fight poaching under plight of COVID_19 pandemic_eturbonews.pdf | 1.37 MB |
SADC countries have individually decided not to get involved in the non-commercial international trade in rhino horn. This questionable decision has happened despite approval for such trade by the UN international wild trade-regulating agency, CITES, and despite the help, it would give to wildlife conservation, the jobs it would create, and the socio-economic benefits it would bring to Southern Africa. Why? The reluctance to trade rhino horn in any way possible seems strange in the face of the economic devastation, particularly to rural areas, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
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NAM_2020-10_Opinion_Why SADC_countries still oppose rhino horn trade_New Era.pdf | 328.27 KB |
SADC countries have individually decided not to get involved in the non-commercial international trade in rhino horn. This questionable decision has happened despite approval for such trade by the UN international wild trade-regulating agency, CITES, and despite the help it would give to wildlife conservation, the jobs it would create, and the socio-economic benefits it would bring to Southern Africa.
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Bulawayo24News_2020-10_Why SADC countries still oppose rhino horn trade_Bulawayo24 News.pdf | 316.76 KB |