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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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.
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NAM_2023_05_Elephant killed_tusks removed_New Era.pdf | 262.14 KB |
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.
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NAM_2023_01_Suspects arrested with elephant tusks and pangolin skins_New Era.pdf | 414.87 KB |
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.
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NAM_2022_11_Poaching remains unabated_New Era.pdf | 266.55 KB |
Prosecutor general Martha Imalwa has responded to articles published in the New Era and The Namibian about the trial of a Chinese businessman, Hou Xue Cheng, and his Namibian co-accused Hamutenja Hamutenya, whose cases were struck from the court roll recently. The reason the charges on dealing in controlled wildlife products were dismissed was that neither the witnesses nor the docket was before the court. According to the PG, the information contained in the articles was incorrect.
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NAM_2022_09_PG explains missing dockets case_New Era.pdf | 366.5 KB |
Regional Court Magistrate Leopoldt Hangalo yesterday struck the case of a Chinese businessman, Hou Xue Cheng and his Namibian co-accused Hamutenja Hamutenya on a count of dealing in controlled wildlife products, from the court roll. The reason was that no docket nor witnesses were before the court. The magistrate said the matter has been coming from 2014, and the State failed to get their affairs in order for it to start. He cancelled the bail of N$100 000 for Cheng and N$5 000 for Hamutenya, and ordered it to be refunded to the depositors.
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NAM_2022_09_Chinese nationals docket disappears_New Era.pdf | 400.12 KB |
Ongwediva - A daring raid inside Namibia's most popular and well-protected national parks by poachers left a suspect and a police officer fighting for their lives. The attempt by poachers was foiled by police on Thursday around 04h40 and two suspected poachers were arrested. When the police approached, the would-be poachers opened fire on the security personnel resulting in the officers responding with more fire. A 19-old-year old suspected poacher and a 37-year-old police officer were injured during the exchange of fire.
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NAM_2022_06_Police_poacher injured in shootout_New Era.pdf | 373.05 KB |
Police this year arrested about 1 306 people for illegally dealing in precious minerals and elephant tusks, recovering millions of dollars' worth of contraband, a senior officer said on Saturday.
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ZIM_2021_12_Ivory and precious minerals seized_Africa Sustainable Conservation News.pdf | 127.75 KB |
In Côte d'Ivoire, an alleged trafficker operating in the illegal ivory trade was arrested on Friday, November 19, 2021 in the town of Treichville. The alleged trafficker, in possession of two ivory tusks was arrested when he was about to sell the goods in the cables of a jewelry store belonging to him.
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IVO_2021_11_Ivory trafficker caught in Treichville_Africa Sustainable Conservation News.pdf | 574.31 KB |
Kenya remains a leading spot for laundering proceeds of illegal wildlife trafficking, logging, and fishing in Africa, a report on illicit financial flow by Sentry shows. Dubbed 'Kenya Illicit Finance Risk and Assessment', the report says the country acts as a transshipment site for East Africa. According to the report, Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda, DRC, Zambia and South Sudan traffic their wildlife products via Kenya heading to Asian countries including China and Hong Kong via Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore.
Monrovia, Liberia - Two men have been arrested for killing two protected elephants in northern Liberia, the head of a national park said on Monday.
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LIB_2021-10_2 arrested for killing elephants_Africa Sustainable Conservation News.pdf | 519.59 KB |
Stakeholders of the Tsavo Landscape Multi-Agency Wildlife Security Hub in Taita Taveta have agreed to establish wildlife security hubs to tackle human-wildlife conflicts, illegal trafficking and poaching. The two state of the art centres will be located at Kenya Wildlife Services office in Voi and at the Kasigau wildlife corridor. Wildlife insecurity in Kenya is characterised by poaching, illicit trade, commercial poaching for bush meat and destruction of habitats.
Zimbabwe Republic Police in Hwange arrested Bokisi Augustine (33) at St Mary's Village for illegally possessing an elephant tusk weighing 11.79 kgs and valued at US$2000.
Alain Moukombou, Romuald Kassa, Gervais Bamdjogo and Ralph Ngayïkoukoudié, all Gabonese nationals, were arrested on 14 September to Mulundu in Ogooué-Lolo, in possession of six ivory tusks. Placed in custody to view the premises of the Judicial Police (PJ) Koula-moutou, suspected traffickers face up to 10 years in prison.
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GAB_2021_09_Four nationals caught with ivory_Africa Sustainable Conservation News.pdf | 882.1 KB |
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.
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NAM_2021_07_Nine rhinos poached in 2021_New Era Live.pdf | 408.64 KB |
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a Chinese national was apprehended at N’djili airport in Kinshasa in possession of ivory. As he was preparing to leave Congolese territory on a flight, a Chinese national named Huang was arrested after the discovery of a large quantity of ivory concealed in a milk box.
The Angolan police arrested seven poachers, including an inspector, in the Bicuar National Park, in Huíla province, who were mainly hunting elephants for the sale of ivory.
Five Mozambican citizens were detained by the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) in Tete city and Chitima, a village in Cahora-Bassa district, on Monday, having being found in possession of 11 elephant tusks, lions’ teeth, a leopard skin and a pangolin skeleton.
Two suspects have been arrested at the Meru National Park for being in possession of five elephant tusks weighing 28 kilos with a street value of Sh2.8 million.
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KEN_2021_04_Two arrested with tusks in Meru_Africa Sustainable Conservation News.pdf | 245.69 KB |
Kenya Wildlife Service has arrested a suspected poacher in possession of an elephant tusk at Elerai area in Tsavo West National Park. The tusk is suspected to be one of the two extracted from an elephant which was killed at Losoito in Tsavo West National Park, close to a month ago.
It is imperative that African countries as a continent recognise that we are faced with a similar issue, rhino poaching as a Wildlife crime. According to the non-profitable organization Save the Rhino Trust, Namibia holds almost a third of Africa's black rhino population, with a stronghold for the South Western black rhino subspecies. The ever-present threat of rhino poaching haunts the future of the black rhino in Namibia and this depends largely on our nation’s ability to protect this important rhino population.
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NAM_2021_04_Opinion_Wildlife crimes on a downtrend_New Era.pdf | 388.98 KB |
This week, an elephant trampled a suspected poacher to death in the Kruger Park after he ran in to a breeding herd trying to escape rangers. Another three suspected poachers have been arrested in the Kruger National Park (KNP), this time in the Crocodile Bridge section at the south end of the almost 20,000km² reserve.
A Kwale County government officer has been arrested by police officers after being found in illegal possession of 12 pieces of elephant tusks weighing 35 Kg in Matuga sub-county. The 53-year-old county employee, Josphat Mtoi Kuri, works as a clerical officer in Kinango Sub County was arrested inside a local guest house by a team of security officers drawn from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and Criminal Investigation Department Officers who have been trailing him for some days.
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KEN_2021_04_Kwale man arrested with 12 tusks_Africa Sustainable Conservation News.pdf | 1.59 MB |
Five people including three policemen have ended up in hot soup over possession of wildlife trophies including elephant ivory. According to Bashir Hangi, the Public Relations Manager at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), the suspects were arrested in two different incidences in Kampala and Kapelabyong in Teso sub region.
One suspected Zambian ivory poacher was arrested and four others escaped when they were ambushed by police in Namibia while trying to cross into wildlife-rich northern Botswana. The poachers were accosted by a Namibian border patrol unit on the Namibian side of the Linyanti River as they tried to cross into the Okavango Delta on Thursday night.
Namibia has registered a drop in rhino poaching from 52 cases in 2019 to 31 since the beginning of last year. In 2018, the country lost 81 rhinos due to poaching, 66 in 2016 and 97 in 2015. The 2020 figure is the lowest in the last five years. Addressing a media conference yesterday, environment minister Pohamba Shifeta said more resources have been allocated to fight poaching, and more stakeholders have come on board to support efforts to stop the gruesome practice.
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NAM_2021-02_Poaching cases down in 2020_New Era.pdf | 408.9 KB |
Two men were sentenced to five years imprisonment or a fine of Ksh. 1million each for being in possession of elephant tusks. A joint security team comprising of police and officers from Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) recovered the tusks weighing 28.5 kilograms. The tusks were found to be worth Ksh. 2.85 million.
Increased political buy-in for law enforcement and interdiction efforts at ports in East Africa have pushed wildlife smuggling westward to Nigeria. Between 1998 and 2014, the top two countries associated with ivory seizures were Tanzania and Kenya. Since 2014, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo have overtaken them. Corruption at the ports, the involvement of influential politicians, and rural poverty make Nigeria an aractive waypoint for smugglers.
At least 12 elephants have been killed in Tanzania in the past three months in what the country's national parks watchdog has described as a new wave of poaching.
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TAN_2020-12_12 elephants killed in Tanzania by poachers_Africa Sustainable Conservation News.pdf | 112.38 KB |
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.
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NAM_2020-11_K9 unit helps sniff out poacher_New Era.pdf | 504.52 KB |
Three Zimbabwean nationals were on Thursday remanded in custody after they were arrested by the the Hawks in Johannesburg while allegedly selling an elephant tusk.
A 53-year-old villager from Dete in Matabeleland North has appeared in court for unlawful possession of four elephant tusks.
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.
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NAM_2020-05_Fishing expedition stumbles on elephant tusks_NewEra.pdf | 295.92 KB |
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.
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NAM_2020-05_Elephant found dead in Kavango East_New Era Live.pdf | 842.1 KB |
The Namibia Police Force arrested and charged 16 suspects on charges of rhino or elephant poaching and conspiracy of elephant poaching last week. Police also confiscated five firearms, rounds of ammunitions and a motor vehicle. Among other items which were recovered during the anti-poaching operation are; varied wild life products such as four elephant tusks, a pangolin skin , two duiker carcasses, one waterbuck carcass and one warthog carcass.
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NAM_2020-03_Sixteen arrested for poaching_New Era.pdf | 193.82 KB |