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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Cape Town - Poaching continues to decimate the rhino population with 451 rhinos poached in South Africa last year, 327 of them from government reserves and 124 from private property.
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SA_2022_03_Rhino poaching_the trade and the convictions_IOL.pdf | 382.22 KB |
Pretoria - Sixty dogs have been dispatched across the Kruger National Park to help curb poaching. The almost 2 million-hectare park has a major problem with poachers targeting rhinos, lions and elephants.
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SA_2022_03_Sixty dogs dispatched across Kruger National Park to help curb poaching_IOL.pdf | 397.74 KB |
Pretoria - The Tembisa Regional Court has convicted and sentenced 49-year-old Ping Wu to five years direct imprisonment for money laundering. Spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, said in April 2019, the Hawks serious organised crime investigation team based in Middelburg registered an undercover investigation into allegations of illegal trade in rhino horn. "The scope of the project was to address a syndicate in Gauteng who were illegally dealing in rhino horns," said Sekgotodi.
A carcass of a white rhinoceros shot dead by poachers has been discovered in Bikita, Masvingo province, as wildlife poaching escalates in the country. The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) national spokesperson, assistant commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the discovery of the endangered animal's carcass made last Sunday.
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ZIM_2022_02_Poachers kill endangered white rhino_NewZimbabwe.pdf | 545.62 KB |
Pretoria - A 48-year-old woman was arrested on Thursday in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, after she was found in possession of 29 rhino horns with an estimated street value of R6 million.
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SA_2022_02_Woman arrested in Bedfordview with 29 rhino horns worth R6m_IOL.pdf | 305.7 KB |
Pretoria - The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said transparency and regular communication about the status of rhino and rhino poaching is vital to track the impact of efforts made to conserve rhinos and reduce the impacts of the illegal wildlife trade. WWF was responding to the release of the rhino poaching numbers for 2021 by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) on Tuesday. The DFFE said as many as 451 rhino were poached in South Africa last year - 327 within government reserves and 124 on private property.
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SA_2022_02_WWF responds to South African rhino poaching figures_IOL.pdf | 239.01 KB |
Durban - The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) Minister Barbara Creecy has revealed that a total of 451 rhinos were poached in South Africa last year. Creecy said 327 rhinos were poached within government reserves and 124 were poached on private property.
A court in Mozambique has sentenced the leader of a poaching gang to 30 years in prison on Wednesday. The man was convicted of the crimes of poaching, illegal possession of weapons and association to commit offences, the ministry said in a statement, noting that he had also been sentenced to pay a fine of 1 percent of minimum wage for 28 years, news website Club of Mozambique wrote. The accused was arrested on May 3, 2021, "when he was returning from an attempt to hunt rhinoceros for the second time illegally", authorities said.
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MOZ_2022_01_Mozambique court sentences poaching boss to 30 years_IOL.pdf | 311.71 KB |
Cape Town - Four suspects were arrested by police for the poaching of five rhinos at a private game reserve. Police spokesperson Wesley Twiggs said the four arrested suspects were expected to appear in Ceres Magistrate’s Court after they have been charged. Five rhinos were attacked by poachers at Inverdoorn Private Game Reserve just outside Cape Town last week. Four of the rhinos were killed while the fifth rhino survived a gunshot to the face.
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SA_2021_12_Four suspects to appear in Ceres court for the poaching of five Inverdoorn rhinos_IOL.pdf | 569.08 KB |
The Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana has revealed that over the past 10 years, rhino horns weighing 865kg were seized during Sars Customs border operations between 2014 and 2021. Countries where rhino horns have been trafficked to include Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Dubai, Turkey and Nigeria.
The department of forestry, fisheries and the environment has welcomed the hefty sentences handed down by a North West court to three rhino poachers on Wednesday. The Mogwase regional court handed down sentences of 85 years each to Mozambican nationals Arlindo Muhlanga, Adam Hlongwane and Gamula Chauke. The men were arrested in 2018 after the poaching and dehorning of three white rhino cows in the Pilanesberg Game Reserve.
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SA_2021_10_Department welcomes hefty sentences imposed on three rhino poachers_Times Live.pdf | 370.12 KB |
Pretoria - An official from the North West department of economic development, environment, conservation and tourism (Dedect) has been arrested in connection with illegal rhino horn trade, the national department of forestry, fisheries and the environment has confirmed. The official and the owner of a security company were arrested yesterday in relation to alleged contraventions of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, the rhino norms and standards and contravention of permit conditions.
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.
Pretoria - A 53-year-old warrant officer within the South African Police Service (SAPS) was on Friday appearing in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court, with a female accomplice, on charges of alleged involvement in illegal dealings of rhino horns.
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SA_2021_09_Cop and court official nabbed for attempting to smuggle 32 rhino horns to Malaysia_IOL.pdf | 347.08 KB |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
Zimbabwe has realised a spike in wildlife poaching as the wildlife management authority has redirected efforts towards combating the spread of Covid-19 during the current lockdown period, a top lobby has said.
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ZIM_2020-05_Spike In Wildlife Poaching As Poachers Take Advantage Of Lockdown Laxities_NewZimbabwe.pdf | 481.91 KB |
A rhino poacher was sentenced to an effective 24 years imprisonment after he was convicted of 10 counts of rhino poaching, ve counts of theft, two counts of illegal possession of ammunition, illegal possession of rearm, possession of a prohibited rearm, cruelty to animals and money laundering by Free State High Court sitting in Virginia.
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SA_2020-02_Gauteng poacher gets 24 years for killing nine rhinos South Africa_Rhino Review.pdf | 902.58 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 |