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.
A man was arrested alongside a foreigner, in the possession of elephant tusks weighing 18.7kg worth more than US$3 000. In a statement, police said Passivel Togara (47) and his accomplice were arrested by detectives who posed as buyers of the elephant tusks on 29 November 2023 in Katakura area, Rushinga.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2023_12_Foreigner and local man arrested in possession of 18 kg elephant tusks_The Chronicle.pdf | 113.09 KB |
Two men were arrested in possession of two elephant tusks and five pangolin scales at Magunje Growth Point.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2023-11_Two arrested in possession of elephant tusks and pangolin scales_The Chronicle.pdf | 497.1 KB |
Cameroon ranked seventh out of 29 African nations in terms of being a source or transit point for illegal wildlife trafficking (IWT) during the decade spanning from 2009 to 2019, according to a new report. This is despite the measures taken by the law enforcement to curb the menace as increased involvement from the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF), CITES authorities and various other stakeholders, according to the report titled Analysis of Wildlife Court Cases in Cameroon: Jan 2010-Dec 2022. The most frequently…
The recent sentencing of three wildlife poachers has been hailed as a success in the anti-poaching efforts of the Greytown community. Farmers, SAPS and security companies working together to curb poaching in the Greytown area have welcomed the sentences handed down to three men aged between 27 and 42 years old, who were found guilty of illegal hunting by the Greytown Magistrate's Court. The three men were each sentenced to eight months' imprisonment or a R2 000 fine.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2023_10_Sentencing of three wildlife poachers hailed as a success_The Witness.pdf | 406.05 KB |
A man was arrested for the possession of 22 kilograms of ivory, valued at approximately US$3 740.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2023_10_Man arrested for possession of 22 kg of ivory_The Chronicle.pdf | 181.12 KB |
Five men were arrested for poaching at Humani Ranch which led to the recovery of 15 kg of Impala meat and a live Pangolin. In a statement, police said: "The suspects are Peter Tendi (38), Innocent Manyezu (31), Michael Bishou (23), Hlanganayi Sithole (61)." The suspects were arrested on Monday following a tip-off. On 18/09/23, Police in Chipinge acted on received information and arrested Peter Tendi (38), Innocent Manyezu (31), Michael Bishou (23), Harunaishe Shuro (43), and Johnson Hlanganayi Sithole (61) in connection with poaching at Humani Ranch…
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2023_09_Five arrested for poaching_The Chronicle_Breaking news.pdf | 210.22 KB |
A man was caught red handed skinning an Impala at Zambezi National Park in Victoria Falls and was arrested with 11 wire snares and carcases.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2023_07_Man caught skinning Impala_The Chronicle.pdf | 205.53 KB |
Three Victoria falls men have been arrested for poaching. They were found with 10,5 kilogrammes of kudu meat.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2023_07_Trio arrested for poaching_The Chronicle.pdf | 207.32 KB |
Two men in Victoria Falls, Matabeleland North province have been arrested after police found them with a pair of elephant tusks on Thursday.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2023_05_Pair nabbed with elephant tusks_The Chronicle.pdf | 144.1 KB |
Police have arrested two Hwange men for unlawful possession of ivory. In a statement on twitter police wrote: "On 30/03/23, Police in Hwange acted on a tip-off and arrested Cephas Charumbira (40) and Dickson Munkombwa (45) for a case of unlawful possession of raw unmarked ivory without a permit. Detectives recovered four pieces of elephantivory measuring approximately 2x75cm, 1x15cm, and 1x10cm from the suspects."
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2023_03_Two arrested for ivory possession_The Chronicle.pdf | 239.47 KB |
Two Bulawayo men have been arrested for allegedly possessing ivory with a market value of over US$2 000.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2023_03_Two arrested for possession of ivory_The Chronicle.pdf | 185.22 KB |
The Kruger National Park rhino population has again decreased from 2 809 at the end of 2020 to 2 458 rhinos at present.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_09_DA concerned over decline in rhino numbers at Kruger National Park_The Witness.pdf | 435.81 KB |
Court in Kampala has convicted two men who were arrested last year in connection with poisoning six lions in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Kanungu District.
A Gokwe man has been nabbed after he was found in possession of an elephant tusk following a tip off by members of the public.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2022_08_Man arrested after being found in possession of elephant tusk_The Chronicle.pdf | 329.23 KB |
Rhino poachers are heartless and kill every rhino they see - young or old, with of without a horn - just to get rid of them from the reserve and to "try and make their job easier", should they come back. This is according to Ezemvelo Wildlife spokesperson Musa Mntambo. This week, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Barbara Creecy said that KwaZulu-Natal recorded a loss of 133 rhinos in the first half of the year - which is more than triple the 33 rhino killed in the first six months of 2021.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_08_KZNs rhino population is being decimated by highly organised poachers_Witness.pdf | 528.01 KB |
Almost 260 rhino were poached for their hornsin South Africa in the firstsix months of this year.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_08_Our Viewpoint _ Rhino poaching_Witness.pdf | 433.55 KB |
A zebra and its foal have been found dead, caught in the grip of a snare in the Bisley Nature Reserve.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_07_Snare kills mother zebra and foal at Bisley Nature Reserve_TheWitness.pdf | 474.99 KB |
Three people were arrested for alleged poaching inside the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park in the northern KwaZulu-Natal. This was confirmed by the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife on Sunday, which said the trio were arrested before they could kill a rhino. The first man was arrested on June 6 and two others were caught two days later. These arrest bring the number of alleged poachers caught inside the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park this year to five. "The Park has been under siege since the beginning of 2022.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_06_Three alleged poachers arrested in Hluhluwe_KZN_The Witness.pdf | 504.9 KB |
Magma Security and Investigations said while their officers were patrolling in the Karkloof area, a suspicious vehicle was observed on a client’s property just after 2am, on Sunday morning. It said that upon stopping the vehicle, the officers found six occupants with six dogs. "They had poached and killed two warthogs and six porcupines. Knives were found in their possession. Suspects were handed over to Howick SAPS," said Magma Magma Security and Investigations.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_05_Six alleged poachers arrested in a Howick Farm in KZN_The WitnessSA.pdf | 387.43 KB |
Two elephants are suspected to have been killed by poisoning by poachers after they were found dead in the Sentinel Safaris area which is part of Zimbabwe’s component of the Greater Mapungubwe Trans-frontier Conservation Area (GMTCA). The mega-park is made up of communal lands and national parks from Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2022_05_Two Zimbabwe elephants poisoned by poachers_The Chronicle.pdf | 583.4 KB |
Community participation is key to reducing wildlife crimes amid concerns that the country is losing revenue as a result of poaching. Poachers kill elephants for their tusks and rhinos for their horns. The official value of ivory is US$250 per kilogramme yet poachers can sell it for as little as US$50 per kilogramme.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2022_04_Zim losing forex to poaching_The Chronicle.pdf | 380.12 KB |
Poaching activities around Hwange National Park went down last year, thanks to the involvement of local communities in anti-poaching campaigns. Poaching remains one of the main threats to the survival of painted dogs found in the area. Covid-19 induced lockdowns worsened the situation over the past two years.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_Anti_poaching campaigns pay off in Hwange_The Chronicle.pdf | 485.66 KB |
A man has been arrested for unlawful possession of ivory after he was found with two elephant tusks. Police confirmed the arrest which occurred in Victoria Falls on February 21.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2022_02_Man arrested after being found with elephant tusks_The Chronicle.pdf | 486.59 KB |
A single transnational criminal network may be poaching elephants across southern and eastern Africa, a new study has claimed. The criminals may be trying to shift base to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from east Africa, warned the report published February 14, 2022, in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. Such criminal networks may be seeking to use porous borders of the DRC as well as the weak rule of law there to their advantage, the study said.
Three Bulawayo men were on Tuesday arrested after police found them in possession of a lion skin which they had stashed inside a bag.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2022_02_Three men arrested for possession of lion skin_The Chronicle.pdf | 873.37 KB |
The South African National Parks (SANParks) warned people on Saturday about a video circulating on social media depicting a "severely injured White Rhino cow", saying it was "distressing to watch". In a statement, SANParks said that its rhino dehorning team made the gruesome discovery of a badly mutilated female rhino in the South of the Kruger National Park (KNP) on Thursday. "According to the SANParks Veterinarian and the Section Ranger who attended to the rhino, it appeared as if the animal had been shot a few days prior to being found.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021_12_SANParks warns of video of distressed rhino cow_shot and hacked by poachers_The Witness.pdf | 637.31 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.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2021_10_Suspended sentences for wire snare poachers_The Chronicle.pdf | 1.92 MB |
Four suspected poachers have been arrested after being found in possession of elephant tusks worth nearly US$3 000.
Two men from Bulawayo appeared in court for possessing about 16kg of ivory without a licence.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2021_07_Two men found in possession of Ivory_The Chronicle.pdf | 366.48 KB |
Two men from Madumabisa outside Hwange town have been sentenced to nine years in jail after they were caught in a bush in Matetsi with a live pangolin.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2021_07_Two men jailed nine years each for poaching pangolin_The Chronicle.pdf | 376.24 KB |
An anti-poaching scout in Victoria Falls and his friend have been arrested for selling Kudu meat after finding the animal's carcass in a bush.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2021_05_ Anti_poaching scout nabbed selling Kudu meat_The Chronicle.pdf | 779.97 KB |
A Victoria Falls City Council driver who hit a warthog while driving a municipal vehicle, skinned it and took the meat home for consumption has been arrested for poaching.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2021_04_Vic Falls City Council driver arrested for poaching_The Chronicle.pdf | 389.03 KB |
A 23-year-old villager from Sikabela on the outskirts of Victoria Falls town has been arrested after being found with two elephant tusks. Police and ZimParks rangers trapped Fredrick Ndlovu after getting a tip-off that he was selling the ivory at Lupinyu Business Centre near the Victoria Falls Airport.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2021_03_Villager arrested over elephant tusks_The Chronicle.pdf | 858.7 KB |
South African National Parks (SANParks) has welcomed sentences imposed for rhino poaching related crimes in two separate cases that have been finalised in Mpumalanga.The trials were concluded in the Mhala regional court in February and March. In one matter three people who were arrested in August 2018 were convicted of rhino poaching related charges including possession of two sets of rhino horns, a high calibre hunting rifle, ammunition and trespassing in a national park with the intention of committing crime as well as the illegal hunting of an endangered animal.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021_03_SANParks welcomes sentences for rhino poaching related crimes_The Witness.pdf | 435.56 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.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
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.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2020-09_Two Binga villagers arrested for trying to sell pangolin_The Chronicle.pdf | 616.79 KB |
Four elephants were found dead, three of them without tusks in Woodlands Farm resettlement area on Monday.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2020-03_Four elephants poisoned_tusks removed_The Chronicle.pdf | 504.07 KB |
Three suspected rhino poachers who allegedly strayed into Bubye Conservancy in Mazunga area in Beitbridge district, where they intended to poison wildlife were on Thursday denied bail by the High Court.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2020-03_Three suspected rhino poachers found with pesticide denied bail_The Chronicle.pdf | 284.18 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.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2021_07_Father and son arrested for poaching_The Chronicle.pdf | 229.79 KB |