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Namibian Wildlife Crimes article archive

This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:

  • provide easy public access to published information and statistics
  • enable easy stakeholder access to articles
  • provide a comprehensive archive of wildlife crime reporting in Namibia

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.

Displaying results 1 - 16 of 16
Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Vatileni E 2024. Special environmental courts yield N$4,9 million .

Namibia's special environmental court operations have resulted in fines worth N$4,9 million in one year. These special courts were conducted at Katima Mulilo, Rundu, Okahao, Outapi and in Windhoek for 42 days between April 2022 and March 2023. Prosecutor general Martha Imalwa revealed this at the official opening of the Environmental Crimes Court at Otjiwarongo on Monday. "We see the total of cases amounted to 162 on the court rolls from April 2022 to March 2023.

Sunday, 25 August 2024
Vatileni E 2024. 400 timber planks confiscated in Kavango West.

Approximately 400 timber planks were confiscated in the Kavango West region this month. This is according to Kavango West police regional commander Julia Sakuwa-Neo, speaking at a media briefing at Nkurenkuru yesterday. "During August, close to 400 timber planks were intercepted and confiscated after establishing that no permits or authorisation was granted," Sakuwa-Neo said. The timber was confiscated during police operations conducted in a span of one week, she added.

Monday, 8 July 2024
Mashamba RJ, Vatileni E, Markowitz J 2024. Anti-poaching units fingered in wildlife poaching.

Members of anti-poaching units are sometimes involved in poaching or trafficking themselves, a latest report shows. This is according to a protection and law-enforcement report released by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism last week. Moreover, the report says 83 people have been arrested in connection with poaching and conspiring to poach rhinos and committing other wildlife crimes last year. It states that 39 people were arrested after pre-emptive investigations in 2023, while follow-up investigations related to rhino poaching have led to 44 arrests.

Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Oguntona K 2023. Seven suspected poachers arrested in Oyo.

Protection of the rich, floral, fauna and archaeological resources of the Old Oyo National Park would be continually pursued in order to make it a masterpiece among other national parks in the country. It is against this backdrop that illegal activities of hunting, fishing, mining and cattle grazing identified as a menace, are currently being tackled headlong by the park authorities. The Conservator of Park, CP, Old Oyo National Park, Mr. Teslim Adeniyi - Kareem made this known while parading seven suspects recently arrested for various poaching activities in the park.

Thursday, 16 February 2023
Vatileni E 2023. Reward offered for arrest of rhino poachers.

A group of private game farmers, Help our Rhino Now Namibia (HoRN.nam), is offering a reward of N$100 000 for information leading to the arrest of poachers who shot a rhino at a farm near Windhoek. HoRN.nam said in a media statement on Wednesday that rhino poaching has escalated in Namibia over the past 18 months. The organisation says this poses a real and critical threat to the well-being and future survival of Namibian rhino populations.

Monday, 28 November 2022
Vatileni E 2022. 63 rhinos poached so far this year.

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism says 63 rhinos have been poached since January this year.

Thursday, 24 November 2022
Vatileni E 2022. Seven arrested for wildlife crime in one week.

Six people were arrested for rhino poaching, and one suspect for being in possession of a pangolin skin, states the report.

Wednesday, 5 October 2022
Vatileni E 2022. Rhino poaching cases on the rise.

The minister of environment, forestry and tourism, Pohamba Shifeta, says 36 people have been arrested for rhino-related cases this year alone. Shifeta was speaking at the handover of 10 vehicles, park management and law enforcement equipment funded by the Integrated National Park Management II (NamParks V and Covid-19 Fund) and Integrated Wildlife Protection projects in Windhoek on Wednesday. According to Shifeta, it is of great concern that 55 rhinos have been poached to date this year. "This is compared to 44 rhinos poached in 2021.

Tuesday, 13 September 2022
Vatileni E 2022. Heavy sentence as preacher admits rhino poaching.

The preacher and admitted rhinoceros poacher Jackson Babi is facing a prison term of at least 10 years, which would increase to 27 years if he does not pay fines also imposed on him, after pleading guilty on 11 criminal charges in the Gobabis Regional Court.

Thursday, 16 June 2022
Vatileni E 2022. Two arrested for suspected rhino poaching.

Two male suspects were arrested on Thursday in connection with the poaching of 11 rhinos in Etosha National Park. This was confirmed by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism spokesperson, Romeo Muyunda. "They were arrested yesterday and, at this stage, no further information can be given as investigations are still premature," Muyunda said. Earlier this week, the ministry issued a statement saying the carcasses were discovered during ongoing operations in Etosha National Park. The carcasses are suspected to be three weeks and older, according to the report.

Monday, 13 December 2021
Vatileni E 2021. Man arrested over elephant tusks.

A 71-year-old man was arrested after allegedly being found in possession of four elephant tusks on Thursday. According to the police, the man was arrested at Nonidas River Plots at Swakopmund.

Wednesday, 20 October 2021
Sithole S 2021. Mbire poachers jailed 20 years.

Two Mbire poachers were yesterday sentenced to a combined 20-year jail term by Guruve magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa over possession of 34,12kg of elephant tusks.

Saturday, 14 August 2021
Sithole S 2021. Poachers axe ZimParks rangers.

Three Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) officials are battling for life at a hospital in Harare after they were recently severely assaulted by suspected poachers in Mushumbi, Mashonaland Central province.

Thursday, 22 July 2021
Sithole S 2021. Jealous man plants ivory in ex-wife's toilet.

A plot by a jealous Guruve man to get his ex-wife and her boyfriend imprisoned by planting ivory on her hit a snag after he was arrested for possession of ivory.

Monday, 27 July 2020
Paulino C 2020. Dismantled poaching net and gun snipers.

In all, 11 nationals, including firearm suppliers, poachers and game vendors, were arrested last week in Luengue-Luiana National Park, Cuando Cubango province.

Vatileni E 2021. Nine men arrested for wildlife crime in one week.

Nine men were arrested within six days in connection with the possession of the carcasses of wild animals, live pangolins, and a python skin.

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