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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Kruger National Park, the world's greatest refuge for rhinos, is losing them to poaching faster than they're being born. The park's last rhino may already be alive. It's time to declare an emergency.
Rhino poachers entering Kruger National Park are increasingly being run down by packs of unleashed hunting hounds in full cry, followed by a chopper tracking their hi-tech GPS collars. As the baying pack approaches, the poacher has no idea the dogs are trained to not attack. They won't bite him (there are legal implications), but if he tries to harm the dogs, rangers will fire from the chopper. The poachers know this and no dog has yet
been lost to a poacher’s bullet.
The Balule Nature Reserve (BNR) reports that it has recorded not a single rhino killing in the past two years. The reserve is situated on the Olifants River, between Hoedspruit and Phalaborwa. It shares an unfenced border with the Greater Kruger, and forms part of the Associated Private Nature Reserves bordering the Park. Ryan says their worst period was between 2014 and 2018 when they lost 37 rhino in total to poaching. In 2017 alone, 17 animals were killed.
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SA_2022_10_Private reserves stop poachers but it takes R200 000 per rhino per year_CapeTalk.pdf | 549.16 KB |
South Africa has experienced an increase in rhino poaching following a lull during the Covid-19 lockdown. Earlier this month, the country's Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment reported that 259 rhinos had been poached during the first half of 2022. This is a four percent increase in the number of animals killed during the same period last year. Rhino poaching incidents appear to be moving away from South Africa's national parks and into private wildlife conservancies where roughly 40 percent of the country's rhinos are found.
The Kruger National Park has a major rhino-poaching crisis, but that's just one of many mounting problems - and it's extremely worrying.
Two men have been arrested in Jansenville with 39 black bags of perlemoen worth about R432,000 and an illegal firearm in their possession.
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SA_2021_08_Two suspects caught with 39 black bags of perlemoen_Heraldlive.pdf | 159.2 KB |
A high-speed chase by the Gqeberha flying squad and a private anti-poaching unit resulted in the arrest of six people for the illegal possession of perlemoen on Tuesday morning.
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SA_2021_06_Six arrested and perlemoen worth R1.4m seized_HeraldLive.pdf | 441.12 KB |
Wild animals are back. Kangaroos bounding through the streets of Melbourne, elephant herds passing through Indian villages, jackals in Johannesburg, leopards in Mumbai, wild boar in Bergamo and Verreaux eagles catching thermals above a silent Cape Town. And of course, inevitable cartoons of humans in surgical masks staring forlornly at animals playing on the sidewalk. Is lockdown good news for creatures - or for poachers?
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SA_2020-05_How the Coronavirus changes poaching strategies_Daily Maverick.pdf | 457.64 KB |