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The Skukuza regional court on Monday sentenced Friday Ngobeni to 10 years' imprisonment for poaching-related offences from six years ago. The court convicted Ngobeni, 45, of trespassing, possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition, conspiracy to commit an offence, possession of a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm with the serial number obliterated. On November 29 2017, rangers were patrolling in the Kruger National Park in a helicopter at Stols Nek and spotted Ngobeni and his co-accused Mastel Ngobeni, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said…

A man arrested for allegedly being in possession of two elephant tusks at the Buffalo checkpoint in the Mukwe Constituency on Friday, made his first appearance in the Rundu Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Lihako Sishwama, 31, appeared before magistrate Selma Shiiga, who granted him bail of N$10,000. According to the charge sheet, Sishwama was arrested during a special police operation in the Mukwe Constituency. He faces a charge of dealing in and being in possession of controlled wildlife products. The charge sheet did not reveal the value of the two elephant tusks.

Ahmed is wanted in the U.S after he was charged in an indictment alongside Moazu Kromah, aka "Ayoub," Amara Cherif, aka "Bamba Issiaka," and Mansur Mohamed Surur, aka "Mansour," for participating in a conspiracy to traffic in Rhinoceros horns and Elephant ivory, both protected wildlife species, valued at more than 7 million dollars. This involved the illegal poaching of more than 35 rhinoceros and more than 100 elephants.

Last week's sting operation not only saved a young female Temminck's pangolin from the clutches of poachers, but her unborn pangopup too.

The Katima Mulilo Special Court has acquitted a man of killing a lion and trying to sell its teeth. Magistrate Barry Mufana has found that George Chaka admitted to killing a lion with a poisoned cow as bait, in fear he would be refused bail if he did not admit guilt. He found that the 47-year-old Chaka could be correct in saying that someone planted the lion's teeth in his pocket when they were arrested near a local fuel station.

When it comes to protecting our rhinos from poachers, there's not a one-size-fits-all solution. There are several ways that national parks, game reserves and organisations are fighting rhino poaching, from fitting rhinos with tracking devices, having anti-poaching units on the ground actively monitoring them, rhino dehorning, education drives, and more. And these do not happen in isolation either, as often a combination of methods are needed to successfully deter poachers. Naturally, all of these hero organisations doing the hard work protecting our rhinos need funds to operate…

Pangolin was the most trafficked high-value protected species according to the 2020 Annual Report on the Combatting of Wildlife Crime released last week. According to the report, only one pangolin of the 74 seized by the law enforcement agencies was alive while 129 of these nocturnal animals were poached in 2019. The report emphasised that law enforcement relating to pangolin poaching and trafficking represent a major challenge because the animals are largely collected opportunistically. However, transboundary intelligence collaboration has led to the…

The police at Otjiwarongo on Saturday arrested two male suspects after they were allegedly found in possession of a rhino horn without a permit at the Erindi game reserve. The weekend crime report of the Namibian Police Force said the men aged 33 and 60 were arrested during a police operation. The value of the rhino horn is still to be determined and the suspects were expected to appear in the Otjiwarongo Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism reports that 14 cases of illegal possession of wildlife products as well as convictions were made between 25 of January to 28 February. Of the 14 cases, eight were for the possession of live pangolins, skins, scales and bones, demonstrating that this nocturnal animal is under serious threat. In Opuwo Tjihepo Tjondo was found guilty on 15 February for possession of one pangolin skin and was ned N$60 000 of which N$3 000 is suspended or six months imprisonment, suspended for three months.

A 27-year-old man suspected to have been a poacher, died instantly in the early hours of Monday after he was allegedly shot in the chest on a game farm near Okakarara. The spokesperson of the Namibian Police Force in the Otjozondjupa Region, Inspector Maureen Mbeha on Monday said the deceased has been identied as Claudius Hameva from Okakarara.

Namibian law enforcement arrested 121 suspected poachers in three months inside the Etosha National Park with the help of the newly-established anti-poaching K9 unit, the police have said on Wednesday.

A Kuruman man was convicted for being in possession of R250,000 worth of pangolin scales and the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition by the Kuruman magistrate's court on Friday. John Henry Rautenbach, 25, was arrested by the Hawks’ serious organised crime investigation unit in August last year after the unit received information that an illegal firearm was being kept at an address in the Northern Cape.