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It could have been the proverbial pot of gold. Instead, it became at best, an opportunity lost in the fight against transnational organized wildlife crime. On February 2, a Nairobi area court acquitted Hoang Thi Diu, a female of apparent Vietnamese/Chinese dual citizenship, of charges relating to the dealing and possession of 145 kilograms of ivory, rhino horn, lion's teeth, and claws. Objectively, and considering the evidence before the court, the verdict was not incorrect.

An adult male was on Friday arrested by the Namibian police after he was found to be transporting game meat (a hippopotamus carcass) at Katere village in the Ndiyona constituency, Kavango East region. The suspect is due to face charges of illegal transportation and possession of game meat.

Police in Zambezi region are investigating a case of hunting of specially protected game and theft of elephant tusks after a decomposed elephant was discovered. It is alleged that unknown suspect(s) poached and killed an elephant, and removed its tusks between 16 to 22 April 2023 near Dzudzo farming area in Dzoti conservancy of Zambezi region. "A decomposed carcass was recovered at Dzudzo area on Friday, 28 April 2023 and it seemed to have been killed two weeks back from the date of recovery. The elephant is valued at N$29 000," the police said no arrest has been made yet.

The Skukuza regional court on Thursday convicted and sentenced a man who had been arrested in the Kruger National Park on three separate occasions to an effective 32 years' imprisonment for poaching-related offences. Forster Lubisi, 43, was convicted of three counts of trespassing, two counts of possession of a prohibited firearm with a serial number obliterated, possession of ammunition, possession of a dangerous weapon, killing of a rhino and possession of an unlicensed firearm. He pleaded guilty to the crimes.

A suspect in a poaching case was gunned down by police officers on Saturday after three men allegedly hunted down a rhinoceros at farm Okarakua in the Windhoek district. One man, aged 27, was arrested, while a third suspect is still at large. Subsequently, a murder case was opened against the anti-poaching unit officers.

A sea, air and mountain (Seam) special operations ranger was injured by a suspected poacher who was resisting arrest at the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) in the early hours of Tuesday. About 11.30pm on Monday, the park's operations room staff received information about suspected poachers operating in the park’s marine protected area near Glencairn. "Seam operators responded and, with the assistance of the police, successfully stopped a vehicle suspected of being involved in the incident," South African National Parks said in a statement.

The Namibian Police in Mukwe constituency in the Kavango East region on Friday arrested a 31-year-old man after he was found in possession of controlled wildlife products - two elephant tusks. The suspect, who is now due for court, was arrested at buffalo checkpoint in the Mukwe constituency during a police special operation on Friday afternoon at around 19h00. The suspect will appear in the Rundu Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 16 January.

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.

Law enforcement agencies globally must address rhino horn trafficking as transnational organised crime, with an increased focus on the higher-level actors in the supply chain. This was the main message that emerged from a joint webinar hosted by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) SA and the Wildlife Justice Commission to mark World Rhino Day on Thursday. Malaysian customs officials say they have seized a stash of rare animal parts worth $18 million thought to have come from Africa, including elephant tusks, rhino horns and pangolin scales.

It was a mistake. Ten tons of ivory and 190 kilograms of rhino horn were sold over a seven-year period, according to the indictment. It was actually much more than that. Much, much more. Moazu Kromah, a Liberian national, had pled guilty in March to three charges relating to wildlife trafficking in Africa. In his letter pleading for leniency submitted to the Southern District of New York, he thanked the court for the opportunity to "give some information about myself and the circumstances that led me to make the mistakes which bring me before you."

Three Namibian male suspects aged 26, 30 and 33 are due in court after they were arrested on Saturday night in Kavango West for illegal possession of a live pangolin and two elephant tusks.

Forestry officials in Kavango West have seized about 4 000 planks from illegal timber harvesters at some recently allocated farms with no government leaseholds in the Katji-na-Katji area. A forestry patrol team discovered the illegal operation deep in the forest where planks and a timber cutting machine was confiscated. Two suspects were apprehended.

Rundu - The Kapinga Kamwalye Conservancy in the Mashare constituency of Kavango East is facing a crisis of illegal tree harvesting. At one crime scene, about 86 logs of illegally harvested Kiaat timber, scientifically known as Pterocarpus Angolensis, were found and 10 at another by conservancy members who were

The Kruger National Park has a major rhino-poaching crisis, but that's just one of many mounting problems - and it's extremely worrying.

The department of forestry, fisheries and the environment has welcomed the hefty sentences handed down by a North West court to three rhino poachers on Wednesday. The Mogwase regional court handed down sentences of 85 years each to Mozambican nationals Arlindo Muhlanga, Adam Hlongwane and Gamula Chauke. The men were arrested in 2018 after the poaching and dehorning of three white rhino cows in the Pilanesberg Game Reserve.

Rundu - A 30-year-old man, who was arrested through a police sting operation on Saturday at Zigizi village in Kavango West, was granted bail of N$3 000 for alleged possession and dealing in pangolin scales when he appeared in court yesterday.

The Rundu Magistrate's Court granted bail to two Namibian men arrested for possession of a spotted genet skin, four python skins and two mineral stones. The value of the confiscated items is yet to be determined. Jesaya Johannes Kasera (29) and Mathews Nkomba Kaveto (36) appeared before Rundu magistrate Hellen Olaiya on a charge of contravening the nature conservation ordinance, in particular possession of raw skin of protected game.

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?