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The police constable and a civilian had been arrested in Nairobi West and Eastleigh with the cargo on Sunday. They had tried to sell the trophies to Kenya Wildlife Service ocials who had posed as potential buyers.

Two men were on Tuesday arrested while trafficking 36 pieces of elephant tusks weighing 77 kilogrammes valued at Sh12 million in Maralal, Samburu county.

An environment and tourism official was arrested with three other men for illegally hunting a protected blue wildebeest in the Daan Viljoen game park, west of Windhoek. They were arrested on Tuesday at the roadblock, west of Windhoek, leading to the game park. The suspects, including the official in uniform, were nabbed with a whole carcass of the wildebeest in the boot of their sedan. Blue wildebeest are classified as protected and endangered species in Namibia. The official is said to be stationed at the park as an assistant game ranger for the environment ministry.

The environment and tourism ministry has said rhino poaching remains a serious concern with 87 rhinos poached in 2022, consisting of 61 black rhinos and 26 white rhinos. The ministry’s spokesperson, Romeo Muyunda, yesterday said the 2022 poaching cases include 15 rhinos poached on rhino custodianship farms, another 25 on white rhino private farms and a majority of 46 were killed in the Etosha National Park.

The environment and tourism ministry says even though it continues to record successes in its fight against wildlife crime, poaching of highly valued species remains a concern. Ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda over the weekend said 63 rhinos have been poached in the country this year alone. This includes 41 black rhinos and 22 white rhinos. This year’s poaching cases include 15 rhinos poached on custodianship farms, another 22 on private farms and 26 in the Etosha National Park.

A businessman whose case involving alleged wildlife crimes was struck off the court roll last week has been summoned to return to the Windhoek Regional Court on the same charges in November.

A Chinese businessman who has been facing charges of dealing in controlled wildlife products over the past eight years left the Windhoek Magistrate's Court as a free man yesterday, after his case was struck from the court roll. The state alleged that the five men illegally dealt in four elephant tusks in Windhoek on 11 June 2014.

The owners of two cars that were used to transport pangolin skins are set to lose their vehicles to the state, following an order given in the Windhoek High Court yesterday. In terms of an order given by judge Shafimana Ueitele, a Nissan NP200 bakkie and Nissan Tiida sedan seized by the police in the Grootfontein district four years ago have now been declared forfeited to the state.

Uitkoms - As the population of Farm Uitkoms grows, crimes and social ills such as poaching, stock theft and drug and alcohol abuse are skyrocketing. Farm Uitkoms, housing mainly marginalised Namibians some 160km north-east of Okahandja, is seen as the epitome of self-sustainability in terms of government resettlement efforts. In 2008, retired veteran politician Dr Libertina Amathila, who at the time held the portfolio of Deputy Prime Minister, vigorously spearheaded a campaign that saw the marginalised San community resettled at this farm.

Environment minister Pohamba Shifeta has redeployed retired police commander Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa to lead anti-poaching efforts in the Etosha National Park. The national park has been hard-hit by poachers in recent weeks, including the discovery of 11 rhino carcasses.

Namibia will soon make use of DNA analysis in forensic investigations into animal abuse and crimes such as illegal smuggling, poaching and the illegal trade in protected species. Using DNA analysis will make it possible to identify the species and geographical origin, such as the population of a forensic sample, and to also individualise the sample with high levels of probability. Police chief Sebastian Ndeitunga this week announced that the capacitation of the new National Forensic Science Institute of Namibia is at an advanced stage.

Police said the four were found in possession of 19 pieces of the jumbo tusks. The tusks have a street value of Sh10 million.

Namibia has lost nine rhinos to poaching in various national parks this year, according to the environment ministry. The statistics show three black, and six white rhinos were poached this year alone. The three black rhinos were killed in the Etosha National Park, while six rhinos were poached for their horns at private-owned white rhino reserves. Environment spokesperson Romeo Muyunda also issued national elephant poaching statistics per year from 2014 to 2021.

A Windhoek resident who admitted he possessed rhino horns in the city nearly five years ago suffered an expensive loss at the end of his trial in the Windhoek Regional Court on Friday, with a luxury vehicle which the police had seized from him declared forfeited to the state.

The 30-year prison term of a cattle poacher, who successfully challenged the constitutionality of the severe sentences which were prescribed for stock thieves in Namibia, has been reduced to 12 years by the Supreme Court.

Etosha - Although poaching of endangered species such as rhino and elephant have been reported to be minimal in the Etosha National Park, environment minister Pohamba Shifeta has called on law enforcement officials to do ballistic testing among communities adjacent to the park. Shifeta made the call Wednesday when he was briefed on the security situation cluster on antipoaching operation 'Yes Ongava' phase 18 in the Etosha National Park.

An evangelical preacher who has been in jail since May after being arrested over the possession of rhino horns and the poaching of a rhino in the Gobabis district on Friday denied guilt on a charge of bribery in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court.

An Angolan teacher facing charges over the theft of 33 rhino horns during a burglary at Outjo last year was correctly refused bail by a magistrate in May, a High Court judge has ruled.

A self-styled 'prophet' who has been in police custody for the past two months after being arrested on charges of rhino poaching and dealing in or possessing two rhino horns, is planning to apply for bail this week. Jackson Babi, who uses the title 'prophet' and is the founder of the House of Joy Ministries evangelical religious group in Windhoek, will launch a bail application in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court on Thursday, defence lawyer Kadhila Amoomo informed magistrate Linus Samunzala during a court appearance by Babi and a co-accused, Frizans Naululu Dumeni, on Friday…

Religious preacher Jackson Babi, who is facing criminal charges after rhino horns were allegedly discovered in his house in Windhoek, is claiming the police's search of his home and also his second arrest last week were unlawful.

A Windhoek-based preacher who was last week arrested after two rhino horns were allegedly found at his house is due to apply for bail in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court tomorrow.

Fishermen on a fishing expedition stumbled upon a bag containing four elephant tusks hidden in shallow waters between Ondangwa and Ongwediva over the long Africa Day weekend. A group of village boys between Opoto and Shipepe locations near Ongwediva were fishing in the water channel near the road when they made the elephant tusks discovery.

The ministry of environment has started an investigation after an elephant was found dead on a farm in the Kavango East region. According to ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda, the elephant was found dead in a crop field with its tusks intact at farm Nanava within the Linena constituency over the weekend. The elephant was reportedly found with a bullet wound above the right eye. The farm is approximately 90km southeast of Rundu. He said a follow up was done on Saturday by the ministry staff, the protected resources unit and the police special field force.

A business man based in northern Namibia who is charged over the poaching of two rhinos near Etosha National Park is facing an extended stay in jail, after his appeal against being denied bail failed in the Windhoek High Court last week.

An elderly Chinese man who admitted that he had illegal wildlife products, including a rhinoceros horn, and a firearm in his possession at the start of last year was sentenced to pay fines totalling N$156 000 by the Windhoek Regional Court this week.

A resident of the Kunene region whose attempt to poach a rhinoceros in Etosha National Park ended in the death of his partner in crime and his own arrest, was sentenced to an effective fine of N$34 000 or eight years' imprisonment on Friday.

A Chinese resident of Namibia who was charged with the illegal possession of two rhino horns early last year is off the hook - for now at least - after the charge against him was withdrawn in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court last week.

The charges against a Windhoek man who allegedly helped a Chinese national export abalone from Namibia two years ago were withdrawn in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court yesterday. With Chinese citizen Zhi Geng (38) absent from the court after he jumped bail last year, public prosecutor Tatelo Lusepani informed magistrate Gerrit van Pletzen yesterday that the state was provisionally withdrawing the charges against Geng's co-accused, Windhoek resident James Barron Wallace (49).

The N$300 000 that was paid to get a Chinese national bailed out of jail following his arrest on a charge of possession of rhino horns early this year was declared finally forfeited to the state yesterday.

A Chinese man who was arrested and charged after the police found two rhinoceros horns at a rented flat in Windhoek early this year is now a fugitive from justice, having failed to attend a scheduled court appearance last week. With the 29-year-old Chen Nan absent from the Windhoek Magistrate's Court, where he was supposed to appear for the first time since being granted bail in April, magistrate Vanessa Stanley on Wednesday issued a warrant for his arrest, provisionally cancelled his bail and provisionally declared his bail deposit of N$300 000 forfeited to…

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism has doubts whether a rhinoceros cow that was found dead at a game farm in the Otjiwarongo area on Monday was poached as initially thought.

A rhinoceros cow was found poached at a game farm south of Otjiwarongo on Monday. The white rhino cow, named Maria, was found dead with a gunshot wound to her neck, game farm owner WP Barnard told The Namibian yesterday.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the police have expressed doubts that a rhinoceros cow found dead at a game farm in the Otjiwarongo area on Monday was poached as initially thought.

Former Brave Warriors football team medic Gerson Kandjii and two other men arrested over the killing of two rhinoceroses at a farm in the Gobabis district shortly before Christmas are due to make a first appearance in the Gobabis Magistrate's Court early next week.

The arrest of a Chinese citizen who allegedly managed to smuggle 18 rhinoceros horns out of Namibia last week landed a member of the Namibian Police in the dock in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court in Katutura yesterday.

Four Chinese citizens sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment each in connection with an attempt to smuggle rhinoceros horns and a leopard skin out of Namibia in March 2014, will appeal against their conviction and sentences.

Four Chinese citizens convicted of having tried to smuggle 14 rhinoceros horns and a leopard skin out of Namibia in March 2014 were sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment each at the end of their trial today.

Namibia could lose its entire rhinoceros population in the next 10 years if the rate at which poachers have been killing these endangered animals in recent years continues unchecked. Poachers have killed 201 rhinos in Namibia since 2011, and their crimes have not only had an environmental impact, but also an economic one.

The discovery of a hoard of rhino horns and a leopard skin in two suitcases at Hosea Kutako International Airport in March 2014 led to the conviction of four Chinese citizens on two criminal charges in the Windhoek Regional Court on Friday.

Four Chinese citizens who were accused of having tried to smuggle a hoard of rhino horns and one leopard skin out of Namibia in March 2014 were found guilty on two charges in the Windhoek Regional Court today.

A Chinese citizen who tried to send a piece of rhino horn out of Namibia in a parcel was sentenced to pay fines totalling N$40 000 or serve a two-year prison term yesterday.

The delivery of the verdict in the trial of four Chinese citizens charged with having tried to smuggle a hoard of rhino horns out of Namibia in March 2014, has again been postponed by a month.

Two businessmen who spent a week in police custody after they were arrested in connection with an alleged attempt to sell four rhino horns, have been released on bail of N$50 000 each. Windhoek resident Tangi Sheefeni Amon Namwandi (32), who is also known as 'Mox', and Jairus Shaalukeni (32), who lives at Ongwediva, were granted bail when they made a second appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court in Katutura on a charge of possessing or dealing in rhino horns on Thursday last week.

Four Chinese citizens accused of having attempted to smuggle two suitcases filled with rhino horns and a leopard skin out of Namibia in March 2014, are due to hear the verdict in their trial next month.

The prosecutor general has bank accounts and six cars belonging to a Chinese citizen and a Namibian man facing charges of possessing and trying to export the shellfish abalone from Namibia in her sights.

The discovery of close to 100 kilogrammes of dried abalone and more than a kilogramme of rhino horn pieces in Windhoek this week landed a Chinese citizen and a Namibian man in the dock in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court yesterday.

The trial of four Chinese citizens accused of having tried to smuggle two suitcases containing rhino horns out of Namibia in March last year is scheduled to continue in the Windhoek Regional Court next month.

The killing of rhinoceroses in the supposed safety of Etosha National Park is continuing, despite intensified efforts to clamp down on poaching in Namibia. The carcasses of another two black rhinos that had been killed for their horns were found in the south-western part of Etosha National Park early last week, a police spokesperson, chief inspector Kauna Shikwambi, confirmed on Friday. Shikwambi said both carcasses were found in the area between the Otjovasando air strip and Renostervlei in the far western part of Etosha. The horns of both animals had been removed.

The four Chinese men accused of having tried to smuggle a hoard of rhino horns out of Namibia in March last year is due to continue in the Windhoek Regional Court in September.

One of the Chinese men accused of trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns out of Namibia in March last year admitted yesterday that he knew he was carrying controlled wildlife products in two suitcases which he was planning to take to China.