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.
Johannesburg - Two alleged rhino poachers, a police officer and a Chinese interpreter, who appeared in the Palm View Magistrate's Court, have been released on bail of between R5 000 and R20 000.
Durban - Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy said the department was using integrated approaches to address the increase in rhino poaching and horn trafficking. That was revealed in a parliamentary question from the IFP’s environmental affairs, forestry and fisheries spokesperson, Narend Singh. A total of 249 rhinos were poached for their horn in South Africa from January to the end of June this year and although the number was higher compared to last year, where 166 rhinos were killed, it was less than the 318 rhinos that were poached in 2019.
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SA_2021_09_How South Africa is tackling rhino poaching and rhino horn trafficking_IOL.pdf | 310.43 KB |
A group of self-proclaimed reformed poachers in the districts of Rukungiri, Mitooma and Kanungu have cried out to government demanding income-generating projects. Members constituting the group are from areas neighbouring Queen Elizabeth National Game Park in Bwambara Sub- County, Rukungiri District, Kiyanga Sub-County, Mitooma District and Kanungu District. They say "life is becoming harder unlike when they used to poach."
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UGA_2021_08_Reformed poachers cry out for help_allAfrica_com.pdf | 87.3 KB |
The Nigeria Customs Service (NSC) recently announced the seizure of huge wildlife products including elephant tusks and other endangered species. And in Lagos, among some wealthy people, no party is complete without a display and barbecue of some protected animals, as seen in some trending videos on social media. It should worry the authorities that our country is fast becoming a huge jungle.
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NIG_2021_08_ Combating Crime Against Wild Life_allAfrica_com.pdf | 126.51 KB |
The Court of Appeal has upheld the 30-year imprisonment sentence imposed on poacher, Ng'waja Serengeta, for unlawful possession of three pieces of elephant tusks valued at 15,000 US dollars (about 34.8m/-), which are government trophies.
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TAN_2021_08_Court Upholds 30-Year Jail Term Imposed On Poacher_allAfrica.com_.pdf | 135.71 KB |
Officials in Nigeria - a hub for illegal wildlife trafficking - have seized a record amount of pangolin scales and claws and elephant tusks as the government attempts to combat the trade, the head of customs said on Wednesday. The seizure, worth 22 billion naira ($54 million and over R770 million), included 17,137 kg of pangolin scales, 44 kg of elephant tusks and 60 kg in pangolin claws, Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali, comptroller-general of customs, said in a statement.
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NIG_2021_08_Nigeria seizes record R770 million in pangolin parts_elephant tusks_IOL.pdf | 528.17 KB |
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi announced on Saturday that, for the third consecutive year, no elephants have been poached in the Niassa National Reserve in the far north of the country, or in the Gorongosa National Park in the central province of Sofala.
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MOZ_2021_08_No Elephant Poaching Recorded in Niassa Reserve_allAfrica_com.pdf | 82.65 KB |
"Meanwhile, on July 25, 2021 at Chatseka area, Mutawatawa, Murewa, police also arrested Joseph Kabunze (67), Perfect Kabunze (29), Chatseka Mapuranga (39) and Makwanya Kahwiti (29) for unlawful possession of ivory." The arrest led to the recovery of 4 pieces of elephant tusks weighing 12,5kg valued at US$2 635.
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ZIM_2021_07_Zimbabwe_ Seven Armed Robbers_Poachers Arrested_allAfrica.pdf | 130.36 KB |
Cape Town - Police in the Eastern Cape have arrested a 38-year-old suspect and confiscated abalone with an approximate street value of R3.7 million.
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SA_2021_07_Eastern Cape suspect busted with abalone worth over R3_7 million_IOL.pdf | 989.86 KB |
A court in Garsen, Tana River County has sentenced three men to 15 years in prison each for poaching. In the ruling made on Thursday, the court also imposed a fine of Sh3 million for each of the men on three accounts. Sharif Ngala (39), Kingi Charo (25) and Baraka Thoya (20) pleaded guilty to poaching 140 dik-diks, three teramuks and porcupine meat before senior principal magistrate Paul Rotich.
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KEN_2021_07_Tana River Court Hands 15_Year Sentence to Dik_Dik Poachers_allAfricacom.pdf | 103.08 KB |
Police are urging residents in coastal cities or towns to assist in protecting endangered marine life. This comes after positive information from a member of the public led to the arrest of two men for illegal possession of abalone valued R28 000-00 in St Francis Bay today. On Wednesday, 07 July 2021 at about 06:40, it is alleged that a resident alerted a private security company about suspicious people, who were busy loading bags into a navy Toyota Avanza at Shark Point in St Francis Bay. A private security company dispatched a patrol vehicle.
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SA_2021_07_Two Arrested for Alleged Abalone Poaching in St Francis Bay_allAfricacom.pdf | 96.39 KB |
A Voi court has sentenced three people found guilty of poaching 187 dikdiks in Tsavo East National Park to 16 years in prison each. In the ruling made on Monday, the court also imposed a fine of Sh2.2 million. Kaviha Charo, Katana Unda and Bugo Suluhu will serve their jail terms at Manyani Maximum Security Prison in Voi, Taita Taveta County.
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KEN_2021_07_Three Jailed 16 Years Each for Poaching of 187 Dikdiks_allAfricacom.pdf | 136.33 KB |
Cape Town - A 45-year-old man is expected to appear in the Goodwood magistrate's court on Wednesday after he was found in possession of abalone worth over R1.7 million in Cape Town’s northern suburb of Edgemead.
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SA_2021_06_Suspect arrested in Edgemead with over R1_7m worth of abalone to appear in court_IOL.pdf | 215.03 KB |
Three suspected poachers arrested with 187 dik-diks in Tsavo East were on Monday charged at the Voi Law Court.
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KEN_2021_06_Three Suspected Poachers Plead Guilty Over Dik Dik Game Meat Seizure_allAfrica_com.pdf | 133.4 KB |
The killing of two elephants in Kalacha this week has once again shone the spotlight on rampant poaching in Marsabit County, which is threatening to wipe out wildlife in the region. Authorities recovered two rifles and four rounds of ammunition in a security operation following the incident. County Police Commander Martin Kibet said a bullet obtained from one of the carcasses would be subjected to ballistic testing. The two elephants were killed when they strayed from Marsabit Forest via Hurri Hills into Kalacha. A third elephant was rescued by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)…
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KEN_2021_06_Stop Killing the Elephants_ Worry As Rampant Poaching Threatens Wildlife_allAfrica_com.pdf | 140.21 KB |
Currently going for about $3,300 (about R46 000) per pound, the global trade in ivory is worth about $23 billion annually, a reality made plain by the gruesome photos of butchered elephants that have become almost commonplace. In recent years, massive seizures of ivory seemed to signal a headlong rush toward extermination. In response, the EU this year proposed a near total ban on the trade of ivory anywhere in the bloc.
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SA_2021_06_Closing ivory loopholes to save Africas greatest mammal_IOL.pdf | 70.13 KB |
Durban - Rhino horns worth in excess of R230 million intercepted at the OR Tambo International Airport between July last year and February this year were being kept at a secure location, said Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) Barbara Creecy. She was responding to written parliamentary questions submitted by the DA’s David Bryant. He had asked about the whereabouts of the rhino horns and whether they had been destroyed.
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SA_2021_06_Seized trafficked rhino horns under lock and key_IOL.pdf | 392.21 KB |
New evidence supplied by the US government links two Kenyans implicated in Sh570 million ivory smuggling to notorious Liberian poacher and ivory trafficker Moazu Kromar. Documents filed in a Mombasa court claim Kenyan businessman Abdulrahman Mahmoud Sheikh alias Said Juma Said and his son Sheikh Mahmoud Abdulrahman received instructions from Mr Kromar to facilitate ivory smuggling. The Liberian poacher was extradited to the US in 2019, where he is facing ivory-trafficking charges. Mr Mahmoud, his son and six other Kenyans are facing ivory smuggling charges in Mombasa.
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KEN_2021_05_Nine Kenyan Suspects Linked to Notorious Liberian Ivory Smuggler_allAfrica_com.pdf | 112.74 KB |
Cape Town - The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries has joined the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in welcoming the sentencing of a 49-year-old man for the illegal possession and transportation of abalone valued at R2.4 million. Moegamat Amien Fakier was sentenced to a fine of R50 000 or two years' imprisonment when he appeared in the Khayelitsha Priority Court on Thursday last week.
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SA_2021_05_Abalone poacher fined R50 000 for R2_4 million haul_IOL.pdf | 983.63 KB |
Cape Town - CapeNature says it has noted a worrying spike in the theft of indigenous plants in the province. It said it has begun to notice that crimes relating to the theft of endangered indigenous plants in the province had begun to steadily increase, even under strict Covid-19 restrictions. CapeNature spokesperson Petro van Rhyn said while there were several reasons why the illegal trade had picked up recently, the most notable reasons pointed to the huge demand by plant collectors to own the naturally occurring plants, native to South Africa and…
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SA_2021_05_Collectors drive a spike in theft of indigenous plants in the Western Cape_IOL.pdf | 153.37 KB |
A Zimbabwean national and a Chinese national were arrested on Monday after they were busted by the Hawks' with 70 boxes dried abalone worth R9.9 million.
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SA_2021_05_Two foreigners arrested after Hawks bust them with abalone worth R9.9m_IOL.pdf | 1.4 MB |
Kasane - Rhino poaching in Botswana is getting worse, and the government is not helping matters in any way due to its split attitude on the crisis. On the one hand, the government of President Mokgweetsi Masisi - in power since 2018 - acknowledges the seriousness of the crisis but, when it suits it, the administration ambivalently denies any calamity and neglects taking decisive action.
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BOT_2021_05_Southern Africa_ Botswana Rhino Poaching Worsens As Government Dithers_allAfrica_com.pdf | 252.64 KB |
Durban - Three suspected poachers were arrested near the Crocodile Bridge Section of the Kruger National Park (KNP).
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SA_2021_04_Poachers nabbed_elephant tusks recovered in Kruger National Park operation_IOL.pdf | 640.33 KB |
Forty SANParks employees found guilty of being involved in rhino poaching have been dismissed, Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has revealed. She was responding to a Parliamentary question on whether any SANParks staff were involved in the poaching of rhino for their horns. "SANParks staff members have been involved in rhino poaching since 2009. In dealing with rhino poaching-related offences, SANParks runs a parallel process alongside the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)," said Creecy.
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SA_2021_03_40 SANParks employees sacked over rhino poaching_IOL.pdf | 822.26 KB |
Kruger National Park section rangers have expressed concern at the courts taking too long to convict alleged rhino poachers arrested in the facility, despite evidence. Speaking to the Pretoria News, Karen Keet, the head ranger at the Phalaborwa gate, and Andrew Desmet, who heads the Letaba section within the Kruger National Park, said they often arrested poachers. However, they never get convicted because of laxity within the judiciary system. The two claimed the system seldom took the matter seriously.
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SA_2021_03_Kruger National Park rangers say courts not taking rhino poaching seriously_IOL.pdf | 113.62 KB |
Six alleged pangolin traffickers aged between 30 and 43, were arrested by the Hawks on Wednesday in Kyalami, north of Johannesburg. The arrest came as a result of a collaborative effort between the Hawks' Wildlife Trafficking unit and NGO Pangolin Africa, an initiative of the University of Pretoria.
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SA_2021_03_Alleged pangolin traffickers arrested in Kyalami while looking for a buyer_IOL.pdf | 426.32 KB |
A 37-year-old man is expected to appear in the Krugersdorp Magistrates Court on Monday for illegal possession of lion bones worth approximately R2.3 million. The man was arrested after members of the Hawks' Serious Organised Crime Investigation in Germiston, Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) Dog unit, and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development conducted a sting operation last Friday in Krugersdorp.
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SA_2021_02_Man arrested for illegal possession of lion bones worth a staggering R2_3m_IOL.pdf | 111.81 KB |
An intelligence-driven operation by the Hawks has resulted in the arrest of six suspects caught with elephant tusks in Durban. Police said the suspects, aged between 27 and 40, face charges for contravening the National Environmental Management of the Biodiversity Act.
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SA_202_02_Six nabbed with elephant tusks in Durban_IOL.pdf | 72.86 KB |
Pretoria - More than a decade ago, Limpopo game farmer Dawie Groenewald and his co-accused were arrested on a multitude of rhino poaching-related charges, yet their criminal trial is yet to start - and a judge wants answers. Groenewald and his eight co-accused once again briefly appeared in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria this week, and their case was postponed to March 1.
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SA_2021-02_Judge demands answers over rhino poaching case delays_IOL.pdf | 543.76 KB |
Pretoria - Three men arrested by the police in Limpopo as they attempted to sell elephant tusks valued at R168 000 to undercover law enforcement officers were on Monday denied bail by the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court. Limpopo police provincial spokesperson Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said the trio were arrested on Friday at Savannah Mall and were allegedly in possession of elephant tusks.
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SA_2021_01_Bail denied for trio arrested for being in possession of elephant tusks_IOL.pdf | 169.65 KB |
KwaZulu-Natal wildlife is "under attack" by illegal hunters across the province says Blessed Gwala, the IFP spokesperson for community safety and liaison. Last week the carcasses of four dehorned rhinos were found in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.
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SA_2020-12_KZN wildlife under siege from illegal hunters_IOL.pdf | 104.59 KB |
The artificial intelligence (AI) cameras installed in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park failed to detect poachers after four dehorned rhinos were found last week. The carcasses were found on different days and appeared to have been killed a few days earlier.
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SA_2020-11_Poachers evade KZN park s high_tech security and kill four rhinos for their horns_IOL.pdf | 204.57 KB |
Kenya's black rhino population has doubled from less than 400 in 1985 to 794 by the end of 2019. Kenya is home to the last remaining two Northern White Rhinos in the world. "But, the Northern White Rhinos are endangered. There are only two existing in the world that are only found at the Ol Pejeta conservancy. We are making sure the white rhinos are saved and we produce more. We must protect these animals," said Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala during a webinar commemorating World Rhino Day last month.
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KEN_2020-11_ Rhino Numbers Go Up As Efforts to Fight Poaching Pay Off_allAfrica_com.pdf | 233.25 KB |
Two men were arrested in the CBD for allegedly trafficking and trying to sell a pangolin for approximately R350 000. Preliminary investigations revealed the pangolin was from Thabazimbi.
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SA_2020-10_Two arrested in Pretoria CBD for allegedly trying to sell pangolin for R350 000_IOL.pdf | 176.19 KB |
Springbok - Two men have been arrested after they were found in possession of an endangered plant species worth about R200 000 in Springbok in the Northern Cape in the early hours of Sunday morning, the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the province said.
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SA_2020_10_Two men arrested for dealing in endangered plants_IOL.pdf | 255.68 KB |
The stricter lockdown of the last few months led to an unexpected consequence - a major decline in rhino poaching. South Africa, home to more than 80% of African rhinos that still exist in the world, is a hotspot for rhino poaching. The number of rhinos killed for their horns has been slowly declining over recent years, but the pandemic and lockdown quelled poaching even more, according to a report from the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries.
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SA_2020-08_Lockdown sees decline in rhino poaching-IOL.pdf | 74.17 KB |
In just over a week, Ray Jansen and his team have recovered four trafficked pangolins - three of them pregnant - in sting operations from the illicit trade in various parts of South Africa. In total, 11 people were arrested by a team of dedicated and specialised law enforcement officers.The operations are a sign, says Jansen, of the African Pangolin Working Group, that pangolin poaching has resumed under Level 3 lockdown restrictions.
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SA_2020-08_Four pangolins rescued in a week from illegal trade_IOL.pdf | 456.93 KB |
The Chinese Academy of Engineering claims that the 'legal' wildlife industry is valued at $74 billion. South Africa is the largest exporter of live wild animals to Asia. At least 5 035 live wild animals were exported from South Africa to China between 2016 and 2019, according to The Breaking Point report published by the EMS Foundation and Ban Animal Trading (BAT).
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SA_2020-06_The Breaking Point_Could this report spell the end of SAs wildlife trade_IOL.pdf | 187.55 KB |
Conservationists' fears that poachers have been taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to roam and
hunt for endangered species have been confirmed after two recent sting operations by CapeNature and the SAPS stock theft unit led to arrests. Poachers were caught in illegal possession of an estimated 11000 endangered succulent plants destined for the illegal plant trade.
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SA_2020-05_Poachers in Cape Town taking advantage of Covid_19 lockdown_IOL.pdf | 75.3 KB |
Cape Town - An American citizen has been sentenced to two years in jail, suspended for five years, and further banned from the country for the illegal possession of indigenous plants. Kalman Kaminar was sentenced in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on two counts of illegal possession of succulent plants declared as protected.
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SA_2020_04_American nabbed with 354 plants by CapeNature sentenced_IOL.pdf | 133.14 KB |
South Africa, despite being considered a low-risk area for illegal logging, is grappling with a surge in environmental crimes, the Global Crime Index has shown. The country is not just a consumer of illegal timber and other flora products from neighbouring southern African countries, but is also a significant source country for wildlife crime, involving high-value species such as rhinos, lions, and elephants. Illegal trade of cycads is generating substantial profits, with some specimens fetching up to millions on the international market.
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SA_2023_09_South Africa grapples with escalating environmental crimes_Global Crime Index_OL.pdf | 307.32 KB |
A total of 33,386 poachers have been arrested in the past five years, thanks to the intensified anti-poaching campaign initiated by the National Anti-Poaching Task Force (NTAP). Mr Nduhiye noted that in the past five years the task force managed to intercept various trophies including 14,741 pieces of ivory tusks, 25 rhinoceros horns, 10 live pangolins and 962 tortoises.
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TAN_2021_06_More Than 33 380 Poachers Arrested in Past 5 Years_allAfrica_com.pdf | 103.41 KB |