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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Traditional leaders in Kariba district have condemned wildlife poaching in the area, adding that the crime was detrimental to the development of tourism in the district. Kariba's tourism is anchored on wildlife, hence the need for conservation, but despite a significant drop in elephant poaching, the practice was rampant among other smaller animals.
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ZIM_2023_11_Traditional leaders condemn poaching_NewsDay.pdf | 200.18 KB |
Zimbabwe has partnered four other states in the Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) in an agreement which will see them joining forces to combat wildlife crime. The four states that will work with Zimbabwe to defend their borders against wildlife threats are Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia.
African governments have been urged to jointly fight wildlife trafficking by coming up with legislation and policies that curb the vice. Leading international wildlife conservation body, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) on Tuesday told journalists attending a wildlife reporting training programme in Harare that laws should be crafted to impose stiffer sentences on wildlife poachers and traffickers. The participants were from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana and Kenya.
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ZIM_2021_11_Africa urged to fight wildlife trafficking_NewsDay Zimbabwe.pdf | 360.21 KB |
Poaching has been the greatest threat to wildlife and might cause its extinction in different African countries including Zimbabwe, a wildlife expert has said. Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe president Emmanuel Fundira yesterday said, while game meat production can contribute to economic growth in the country, there was need to curb poaching activities. In a survey conducted in eastern Madagascar, it was revealed that 95% of those interviewed said they had eaten at least one protected species.
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ZIM_2021_10_Poaching a threat to Africas wildlife_NewsDay.pdf | 946.8 KB |
Two Victoria Falls men, one of them a neighbourhood watch committee (NWC) member, have been fined $6 000 each for trapping animals with wire snares.
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ZIM_2021_10_Suspended sentences for wire snare poachers_The Chronicle.pdf | 1.92 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 |
Two villagers from Binga who were caught trying to sell a live pangolin in Zambia have been sentenced to a mandatory five years in jail each in the neighbouring country.
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ZIM_2020-10_Pangolin peddling villagers arrested_The Chronicle.pdf | 314.08 KB |
Two villagers from Binga who were caught trying to sell a live pangolin in Zambia have been sentenced to a mandatory five years in jail each in the neighbouring country. Ephrain Mugande (35) and Simple Mugande (32) both of Manjolo Village under Chief Sikalenge illegally hunted the pangolin in Chizarira National Park on the boundary of Binga and Gokwe before crossing the Zambezi River with it to Sinazongwe town in Zambia with the intention to sell it.
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ZIM_2020-09_Two Binga villagers arrested for trying to sell pangolin_The Chronicle.pdf | 616.79 KB |
Two villagers from Binga have been arrested in Zambia after they were found in possession of a live pangolin they allegedly intended to sell in the neighbouring country.
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ZIM_2020-08_2 Binga folks arrested for possessing live pangolin_The Chronicle.pdf | 377.37 KB |
A 53-year-old villager from Dete in Matabeleland North has appeared in court for unlawful possession of four elephant tusks.
A 53-year-old villager from Dete in Matabeleland North has appeared in court for unlawful possession of four elephant tusks. Similo Vundla of Mambanje village under Chief Nekatambe was arrested by an anti-poaching team in March.
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ZIM_2020-07_Illegal elephant tusks_Journal of African Elephants.pdf | 398.68 KB |
Football Club player Craven Banda has been arrested after he was allegedly found with eight raw elephant tusks.
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ZIM_2020-05_Footie star arrested over elephant tusks_Chronicle.pdf | 379.15 KB |
Four elephants were found dead, three of them without tusks in Woodlands Farm resettlement area on Monday.
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ZIM_2020-03_Four elephants poisoned_tusks removed_The Chronicle.pdf | 504.07 KB |
The human rights organisation says citizens are unsafe in police custody. Human rights organisation NamRights says it is becoming increasingly alarmed by widespread allegations of torture and other cruel treatment of ordinary citizens by the Namibian police and other law-enforcement agencies. The executive director of NamRights, Phil Ya Nangoloh, says the organisation has reasonable cause to believe that there is evidence that citizens in general are no longer safe in police custody.
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NAM_2018-10_Alleged police brutality alarming_Namibian Sun.pdf | 84.28 KB |
Suspected rhino and elephant poachers have gone missing in Etosha National Park after an alleged shootout with the anti-poaching unit of the Namibian police.
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NAM_2016-12_Three missing in Etosha_Namibian Sun.pdf | 100.22 KB |
The head of the Namibian Police, Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga, said he would dismiss with contempt any claim that the government does not have a real commitment to root out the poaching of Namibia’s wildlife. “Cabinet has allocated a lot of resources to combat and eradicate poaching. It is a costly exercise. This is an indication of how serious government is,” he stressed. Ndeitunga said it is clear that the poaching of rhinos and elephants in Namibian national parks is a well-orchestrated and well-funded transnational organised crime.
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NAM_2015-12_Poaching smells like an inside job_Namibian Sun.pdf | 131.84 KB |
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the Namibian Police have requested evidence from Namibia Media Holdings (NMH) as well as the executive director of Namrights, Phil ya Nangoloh, to substantiate allegations of political leaders’ involvement in rhino and elephant poaching. At a joint press briefing on Wednesday, Minister Pohamba Shifeta and police chief Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga requested ya Nangoloh to submit the said evidence before the end of December.
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NAM_2015-12_Ya Nangoloh dared to give evidence_Namibian Sun.pdf | 63.71 KB |
While there is no conclusive evidence of illegal poaching, members of the Tsiseb constituency in the Erongo Region say wildlife in the area is being decimated by unscrupulous elements.
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NAM_2013-02_Illegal wildlife poaching at Tsiseb conservancy_The Namibian.pdf | 244.35 KB |
A Hwange man and his son have been arrested for poaching after they were allegedly caught trapping animals and birds at the edge of Hwange National Park. Smart Shoko (48) and Ferdinand Shoko (26) both of Number F98 Madumabisa were found in possession of four impala carcasses, a baboon carcass and 79 fowl birds when they were ambushed by an anti-poaching unit in Bumbusi area outside Hwange town on Tuesday.
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ZIM_2021_07_Father and son arrested for poaching_The Chronicle.pdf | 229.79 KB |