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.
Explore your search results using the filter checkboxes, or amend your search or start a new search.
Three suspects were shot and fatally wounded in a shootout with police in the early hours of Wednesday, 31 January 2024. Police received intelligence that a group involved in serious crimes including murders committed in the Inanda area were hiding at the Lungelani Informal Settlement in La Mercy. A team comprising of various police disciplines including members of the Hawks descended on the location. Realising that they were surrounded, the suspects opened fire at the police and a shootout ensued.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2024_31_Three suspects fatally wounded in a shootout with police _SAPS.pdf | 101.56 KB |
The Wildlife Justice Commission said a threat assessment on the state of rhino horn trafficking in the past decade showed that much was needed to fight the trade via law enforcement, policymakers and conservation. The assessment found that over the last decade, six countries dominated the supply chain as source, transit and destination locations and that a third of rhino horns were smuggled unconcealed, suggesting a potential reliance on corruption to move shipments along the supply chain. They found that large amounts of harvested horns have been diverted from legal…
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_11_Corruption aids rhino horn smuggling_IOL.pdf | 294.55 KB |
Cape Town - Poaching continues to decimate the rhino population with 451 rhinos poached in South Africa last year, 327 of them from government reserves and 124 from private property.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_03_Rhino poaching_the trade and the convictions_IOL.pdf | 382.22 KB |
Cape Town - Two men who were caught with R9 million rand worth of abalone have been sentenced to a year behind bars while authorities have warned this is still a very serious crime being committed and is often linked to the drug trade.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021_10_Abalone smugglers sentenced while authorities say drugs are often linked to the trade_IOL.pdf | 323.48 KB |
Four people were arrested in the Kamanjab area after they were found with rhino horns.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2021_07_Four caught with rhino horns_The Namibian.pdf | 580.6 KB |
According to police crime coordinator deputy commissioner Moses Simaho, the suspects were arrested after they tried to sell the scales to undercover officers at Epalela on Tuesday at 09:30. The pangolin products as well as cannabis were allegedly smuggled into the country from Angola without a permit from competent authorities in that country. "The two suspects have been arrested for possession of and dealing with controlled wildlife and dealing in prohibited dependence-producing drugs. We seized a bag containing cannabis whose value has not yet been determined and 2,22 pangolin…
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2021_06_Two nabbed for possessing pangolin scales_The Namibian.pdf | 361.88 KB |
"In the last couple of weeks, we found in certain areas a marked increase in the number of snares and a zebra was just left to rot where it had died, caught up in the snare." "We need to ask people to walk regularly and look for the snares. Quite often, they will set the snares and then they don't return in time to see if the animal has been caught in the snare and the animal is just left to rot." The Msunduzi Municipality has also raised concern about the rise in poaching at the reserve in recent weeks.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021_06_Concern over rise in poaching at PMB nature reserve_ECR.pdf | 317.63 KB |
Members of Upington Highway patrol have arrested a male suspect in connection with possession of Endangered Species. Police got information about the suspect yesterday and it was operationalized. The suspect was found at a hiking spot in Upington hitch hiking to Olifantshoek. He was searched and pangolin skin was found in his luggage. It is valued at about R108 750.00, weighing 2,05 kg.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021-01_Man arrested for posession of pangolin skin_SAPS.pdf | 130.92 KB |
Northern Cape-The Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation has resulted in the arrest of a 48-year-old suspect for allegedly trading in a pangolin. The suspect who originates from Botswana was arrested on Tuesday after information surfaced that he intended selling a pangolin that is an endangered species. A sting operation resulted in the suspect being arrested after he was found in possession of the said pangolin.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2020-06_Services_SAPS.pdf | 134.41 KB |
KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife says they have seen a decrease in poaching since the start of the national lockdown. But the conservation body says they remain on high alert as poachers continue to operate in the province. Last week, a suspect was arrested in Mtubatuba, North of KZN for the illegal possession and sale of elephant ivory in the KwaMsane Township.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2020-05_KZN poaching drops since virus lockdown_EastCoastRadio.pdf | 2.59 MB |