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Environmentalists in Namibia have accused local wildlife officials of hiding the real extent of rhino poaching in the Etosha National Park, which holds the highest concentration of black rhinos in the world. The Ministry of Environment recently acknowledged that rhino killings at the park quadrupled during the first quarter of 2024. Namibian police apprehended two suspects Sunday for the killing of an adult female black rhino and a medium-sized male calf black rhino at the park's waterhole earlier that day.

Seven suspects aged between 17 and 47 were arrested for poaching and being in possession of wildlife and weapons. According to a provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, some wildlife species, mostly more than 20 antelope, two hunting rifles, some bush knives, some ammunition and a light delivery vehicle were all confiscated from the Mauchsburg Plantation in Pilgrim’s Rest this morning, Monday December 4, at about 03:00.

The FF Plus called for intensified efforts to curb poaching of wild animals in the Manyeleti Game Reserve, while the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency said the situation had been stabilised after a hectic December of dog poaching and snaring.

An alleged rhino poacher, who has been on the run from authorities since 2019, was rearrested in KaBokweni.

A ranger's job is never done. Even in the midst of the floods the Kruger National Park is currently experiencing, some rangers detained one of their own hiding two other individuals with poaching equipment in their possession.

Shiuhau Chen, a Chinese national, was found guilty on three counts of illegally dealing in rhino horns and contravening the Immigration Act in the Kempton Park Regional Court on Friday January 20.

The Kruger National Park (KNP) expects a decline in rhino poaching incidents due to heavy sentences imposed on five poachers in November. The acting managing executive of the KNP, Dr Danny Govender, commended the Skukuza Regional Court for imposing lengthy jail terms in recent cases and said it shows they are making good progress in fighting rhino poaching.

On-duty field rangers working at the Tshokwane Section of the park spotted two sets of footprints at Sundwini and followed up the trail using tracking dogs. Mohlala said the two men were arrested and found in possession of a high-calibre hunting rifle with a silencer, four rounds of live ammunition, an axe, backpacks and food. "Through an investigation it was discovered that the two are from Mozambique and did not
have valid documentation to be in South Africa." He said they pleaded guilty during their first day in court, and hence were sentenced…

Increased spot checks of vehicles inside the park will check for park offences such as possession of contraband and verification of identities and booking receipts of occupants inside the vehicles. Technologies being implemented include vehicle number plate recognition, remote vehicle monitoring, radar surveillance and night flying with specialised infrared cameras.

SANParks says the proliferation of wire snares in the Lowveld is linked to criminal networks.

A man has been arrested in Hazyview for being in possession of a Pangolin, following a tip-off from a local community member. On Tuesday September 27, a private game reserve near Hazyview received the tip-off that a white Bantam bakkie was driving around town looking for a buyer for the Pangolin which is the world's most trafficked animal species.

A total of 82 rhinos have been poached in the Kruger National Park between January and June this year.

Three men who had allegedly poached the four rhinos and were able to dehorn three of them, appeared in the Bushbuckridge Magistrate's Court on Monday July 4.

Three alleged poachers were arrested in the Kruger National Park after allegedly killing four rhinos on Friday July 1.

It is suspected that setting snares in the Lowveld has increased by 20% from last season while the Kruger National Park has had an increase of 50%.

A 47-year-old man was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment on Friday for illegal poaching. Sam Khoza (47) was apprehended in the Kruger National Park on November 11, 2020, when a shoot-out between field rangers in the park, Khoza and his two accomplices ensued. A statement by a provincial police spokesperson, Brig Selvy Mohlala, said two of the suspects evaded arrest, but Khoza, who sustained some injuries during the shooting, was captured. He was found in possession of a rifle, some ammunition as well as a silencer.

The reopening of the Skukuza Regional Court is producing positive results, with a 100% conviction rate for rhino poachers over the past two years. The court had been closed by the Mpumalanga Regional Court president Naomi Engelbrecht in August 2019, who wanted it to be moved to Mhala Court about 100 kilometres from Skukuza. However, this decision was overruled and the court was reopened again in April 2021.

Sibusiso Mahlaule (29), George Manyise (30) and Rodrigues Ngobeni (34) did not escape the might of the law and were sentenced by the Skukuza Regional Court for poaching on Friday March 11. The three were caught by field rangers in Kruger National Park on April 18, 2021. It was reported that the rangers, working at Pretoriuskop, had discovered some tracks that brought the presence of intruders to their attention.

Mpumalanga's AB Steyn and Limpopo's Dawie Groenewald appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate's Court on February 23 and 24. The pair's previous appearance was on December 10 last year when the case was postponed for the fourth time. Some issues were raised by each of their legal representatives yesterday including that the state was dragging its feet in the case, that the state should be held responsible for the teams' travel costs because of the delays, and that documents were not presented in the way they were supposed to be.

The court case against the alleged poaching kingpin, Joseph "Big Joe" Nyalungu, has been postponed until February 14, 2022, when his trial will expectedly begin in the Skukuza Regional Court. According to Monica Nyuswa, the spokesperson or the National Prosecuting Authority, the trial was postponed because the court’s recording equipment was out of order. Nyalungu would have appeared with his South African co-accused on Tuesday September 21, while the accused from Mozambique were expected to appear on Thursday September 23.

AB Steyn and Dawie Groenewald appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate's Court again on September 17 after they had been arrested in Mbombela on July 20. The pair was arrested for the alleged possession of 19 rhino horns on July 20, and after appearing in court on July 23 for the first time, they were released on bail of R50 000 each. Following their appearance today (September 17) the case was again postponed to December 10 for further investigation.

SANParks and security partners in the Greater Kruger Region are jointly implementing a range of interventions as part of an integrated wildlife management approach to counter the effects of wildlife crime, in particular rhino poaching.

The men were arrested on Wednesday afternoon for the illegal possession of 19 rhino horns.

The two men who were arrested for the illegal possession and selling of rhino horns on Wednesday, appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Thursday afternoon. They are Schalk Abraham Steyn (48), better known to Lowvelders as AB, and Limpopo game farmer, Dawid Groenewald (52).

Cameroonian police say they have for the first time during the pandemic seized parts of an estimated 2,000 pangolins poached in Cameroon and neighboring Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Police say travel restrictions had slowed trafficking of the endangered anteater to Asia, where its meat is considered a delicacy and the scales are used in traditional medicine. At least 12 bags of Pangolin scales and leopard skin are in a police warehouse at Nlonkak, a neighborhood in Cameroon's capital, Yaounde.

Gunshots ensued when a private walking safari concession came across suspected poachers in the Kruger National Park. SANParks announced today that a suspected poacher was fatally wounded in a contact situation with guides of a private walking safari concession in the Kruger National Park (KNP). The incident took place in the early hours of Friday July 2. The guides were on a walk with one guest when they came across a group of three suspected poachers.

Kenya's Wildlife Service says that for the first time in 21 years, not a single rhinoceros was poached in the country's national parks in 2020. To maintain the progress, it is conducting the first ever wildlife census and placing mobile container housing in parks for rangers.

During their investigation of the Bruwer case, the Hawks found that Elliot Sindane (69), Elvis Mlimi (50) and Mabuthi Khoza (35) were implicated on charges of illegal hunting, illegal possession of firearms and illegal rhino horn dealings over a decade ago.

Botswana, confronting an unprecedented rise in poaching, has refuted reports by former President Ian Khama that at least 120 rhinoceroses have been killed in the last 18 months. Instead, the government says, wildlife crimes have dropped by 70 percent since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Joseph "Big Joe" Nyalungu, an alleged poaching kingpin, has in the past 10 years racked up numerous charges against him, none for which he has been found guilty or received jail time. His latest court appearance, along with his co-accused, was in the Nelspruit Regional Court. The charges over the years include murder, kidnapping, theft of seven white rhino horns from the Kruger National Park (KNP), using a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, fraud, obstruction of justice, possession of unlicensed firearms and being in possession of stolen property.

The three Kruger National Park employees who were arrested for possession of rhino horns were granted bail in the Bushbuckridge Magistrate's Court last Thursday.

Three Kruger National Park staff members who were arrested for the possession of rhino horns earlier this month are due to appear in the Bushbuckridge Magistrate's Court for bail application today.

Botswana's National Assembly has rejected a call to rearm its game rangers that was driven by a surge in rhinoceros poaching in recent years. Guns were taken away from the rangers in 201, but an opposition party lawmaker had moved a motion to rearm the wildlife officers.

Botswana has decided to re-arm its wildlife rangers as the southern African country battles increased cases of poaching. In the last six months, at least 17 poachers have been killed in gunfire exchanges with the army. The government had disarmed wildlife rangers in 2018, saying that under the law, only the military was allowed the use of firearms during anti-poaching patrols. With the country losing 56 rhinoceros to poachers in the last two years, the government is reconsidering that approach. Wildlife and Tourism …

Kruger National Park, South Africa - Officials at South African National Parks say cooperation with neighboring Mozambique has been a key factor in reducing rhinoceros poaching in the famous Kruger National Park. Kruger is home to the world's largest wild rhino population, and has proven a tempting target for poachers who for years jumped the park’s borders.