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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Two businessmen and a farmer of Lusaka have been taken to court for illegal possession of a live pangolin, one of the most tracked mammal in the world, valued at over K23, 000. Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy, while their scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine as they are believed to treat a range of ailments from asthma to rheumatism and arthritis.
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ZAM_2024_30_Three found with a live pangolin_held_Mwebantu.pdf | 206.88 KB |
Joseph Nyalungu, popularly known as Big Joe, is accused of involvement in rhino poaching in Mpumalanga and Limpopo. The charges against him include possession of rhino horns, poaching, and money laundering.
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SA_2023_11_Bail application of alleged Limpopo rhino poaching kingpin postponed_SABC News.pdf | 332.53 KB |
The defence attorney in the case against a former police officer accused of being a rhino poaching kingpin has disputed that their client has 12 pending cases.
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SA_2023_10_Alleged rhino kingpins defence disputes charges against the accused_SABC News.pdf | 391.96 KB |
South Africa has lost 231 rhinos to poaching since the beginning of the year.
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SA_2023_09_231 rhinos lost to poaching in SA this year_ongoing concerns on World Rhino Day_SABC News.pdf | 208.12 KB |
As the globe observes World Rhino Day, South Africa has lost 231 rhinos to poaching since the beginning of the year.
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SA_2023_09_Researcher highlights continuous rhino onslaught in South Africa_SABC News.pdf | 135.58 KB |
As the international community marks World Rhino Day on Friday, South Africa and other parts of the African continent are still facing the challenge of rhino poaching. The International Rhino Foundation says poachers have shifted their focus from the larger rhino populations to smaller, and possibly more susceptible ones. In South Africa, poachers are focusing on smaller areas, like the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve, which has borne the brunt of South Africa’s rhino poaching deaths in the past year. While Namibia, home to the…
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SA_2023_09_Rhino poaching remains a challenge in SA and Africa_SABC News.pdf | 188.61 KB |
There are around 26 000 rhinos left in the world. 68% of those live in South Africa. By far the majority of them are Southern White Rhinos, which are particularly vulnerable to poaching, because most of them are found in the open Savannah of national parks, making them easy targets. There are four other remaining species of rhino. The Black Rhino, of which there are around 6000, is found in southern and east Africa. The other African species, the Northern White Rhino, is effectively extinct, as the two remaining are both female.
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SA_2023_09_Rhino Poaching_Will it ever end_SABC News.pdf | 199.08 KB |
In a bid to strengthen safety and curb poaching in the country's national parks, SANParks, has added a small surveillance aircraft to its anti-poaching arsenal at the Addo Elephant Park in the Eastern Cape. The aircraft was donated by mining giant Anglo American Platinum. The park says the small aircraft will be used to curb poaching and maintain biodiversity. A Senior Section Ranger at Addo Elephant National Park, Anban Padayachee, says hunting and abalone poaching is very rife in the park.
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SA_2023_09_SANParks adds small surveillance aircraft to its anti_poaching arsenal_SABC News.pdf | 201.12 KB |
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment says 231 rhinos have been killed thus far this year in South Africa. This figure is from 1 January to 30 June 2023.
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SA_2023_08_231 rhinos killed in South Africa since January_SABC News.pdf | 186.92 KB |
A third suspect has been arrested in Rustenburg, in the North West, for the theft of 51 rhino horns from the offices of the North West Parks and Tourism in Mahikeng last month. The SABC reported at the time that the alleged criminals evaded all security on the premises and took the keys to the safe, from which they stole the horns worth R9 million. Spokesperson for the Hawks in the province, Lieutenant Colonel Tinyiko Mathebula, says, "The suspect is due to appear in the Mahikeng Magistrates’ Court on Monday, where he will be facing a business burglary charge."
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SA_2023_07_Police arrest third suspect accused of stealing 51 rhino horns_SABC News_3.pdf | 349.38 KB |
The US Treasury Department and South Africa's National Treasury on Wednesday agreed to form a task force to combat illicit finance linked to the illegal wildlife trade, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. Speaking at the Dinokeng Game Reserve outside Pretoria, Yellen told South African officials that the new task force aims to boost information sharing between the two country's financial intelligence units and to strengthen controls to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
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SA_2023_01_Task force established to combat wildlife trafficking_SABC News_4.pdf | 174.98 KB |
Johannesburg - South African National Parks (SANParks) welcomed the hefty sentence handed to two Mozambican nationals convicted for rhino poaching by the Skukuza Regional Court. Lucky Shihlangu and Sergio Mathebula were found guilty and sentenced to 18 years imprisonment on Monday. The two were arrested in the Malelane section of the Kruger National Park in September after they were found in possession of a hunting rifle, an axe, and two rhino horns.
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SA_2023_01_ Sanparks hopes hefty sentence handed to KNP rhino poachers deters criminals_EWN.pdf | 250.36 KB |
Director of Intelligence at the Wildlife Justice Commission Sarah Stoner is calling for wildlife crime to be recognised as transnational crime and not simply as a conservation issue. According to Stoner, "Our analysis found that rhino horn is most often smuggled with no concealment at all so around 1/3 of horns that were seized in the last 10 years indicate there was no attempt to hide the contraband in the shipment.
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SA_2022_09_Calls for wildlife crime to be recognised as transnational crime_SABC News.pdf | 771.92 KB |
A total of 259 rhinos were poached for their horn in South Africa, over the first six months of 2022.
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SA_2022_08_259 rhinos poached in SA over the last 6 months_EWN.pdf | 296.67 KB |
Whenever there is an outbreak of a new infectious disease, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic, we are quick to identify the animal or species that hosted the virus. However, we pay little attention to the role people who deal in illegal wildlife products play in causing the "species jump" and spreading Zoonotic diseases. Poachers illegally hunt in national parks, game management areas and private game farms. As a result, they are always fearful of being spotted by someone or being caught by village scouts or wildlife police officers.
The Subordinate Court in Mumbwa has sentenced five men to five years imprisonment with hard labour after they pled guilty to illegal possession of 88kg of bushmeat poached from Blue Lagoon national park in Kafue District.
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ZAM_2022_01_Five Sentenced to Five Years for Bushmeat in Mumbwa_Mwebantu.pdf | 522.42 KB |
Four rhino have been killed at a game reserve just outside of Cape Town. Management at the Inverdoorn private game reserve said that an anti-poaching unit found the four rhino while on their regular patrols. One of the four was pregnant. A fifth rhino was wounded and is recovering.
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SA_2021_12_4 rhino killed in poaching incident at WC game reserve_EWN.pdf | 311.71 KB |
The Livingstone Subordinate Court has sentenced a Lusaka businessman of Garden-Chilulu compound to five years imprisonment with hard labour for unlawful possession of 196 kilograms of dried elephant meat. Ministry of Tourism Sakabilo Kalembwe has told #Mwebantu in a statement, that the businessman has also been sentenced to one year-six months imprisonment to run concurrently for escaping lawful custody in 2019 after being arrested for unlawful possession of 241 kgs of elephant ivory
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ZAM_2021_11_Businessman gets 5 years for unlawful possession of dried elephant meat_Mwebantu.pdf | 1.33 MB |
Some anti-poaching organizations are calling upon the justice system to strengthen punishment against those found guilty of rhino poaching and rhino horn trafficking. This comes after the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment recently released statistics indicating that rhino poaching incidents committed in the country within the first six months of the year have increased by 33% compared to last year, during the same period. Nature conservationists say the rhino is among the endangered species, not only in South Africa and the African continent but across the…
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SA_2021_08_Anti_poaching bodies call for stricter sentences for rhino poachers_SABC News.pdf | 1.58 MB |
Two suspects, aged 19 and 48, who were found allegedly in possession of 19 rhino horns, are expected to appear at the Nelspruit Magistrate’s court in Mpumalanga, on Thursday. The horns are estimated to have a value of R2.6 million.
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SA_2021_07_Two arrested with 19 rhino horns to appear in Mpumalanga court_SABC News.pdf | 1.09 MB |
Police spokesperson says police closely monitored the suspects' vehicle and followed them to a house in Malema village, were they found diving equipment and three bags with 320 abalone with the street value of R18 000. Six people have been arrested for allegedly being in possession of abalone at St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape. This follows a tip-off to the police about suspected poachers.
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SA_2021_05_Six arrested for possession of abalone in Eastern Cape_SABC News.pdf | 766.07 KB |
The German Federal Government has mobilized additional resources of €13 million to support the Namibian Government, through the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, in mitigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in the conservation and tourism sector.