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A Police operation code name 'Clarion' last week arrested 127 illegal immigrants from neighbouring Zambia who were suspected of engaging in the illegal harvesting of protected wood species in the Zambezi region.
Namibia Police (Nampol), Zambezi regional Commander, Andreas Shilelo told Confidente the immigrants were charged under the Illegal Immigrant Act and given forty-eight hours to leave the country and were subsequently deported. "Most of them we arrested, where not found harvesting timber but we took

Otamanzi constituency councilor, Johaness Iyambo has warned residents of his constituency to desist from hunting stray Game animals which has found way into their communal land as they search for water. This comes after a two-week open hunting season, for residents in the Otamanzi Constituency which borders the Etosha National Park to the East, where residents have been feasting on the stray animals.

A carcass of a white bull rhino was discovered on the October 20 at a private farm in the Windhoek district. It is believed the rhino was poached between the October 16 and 20. According to a police report, investigations were carried out at the scene of the crime to which, "bullet fragments from the animal indicate the animal was killed for its horn," the police report reads. In a similar report a case of hunting of specially protected game has been opened at the Seeis police station in the Windhoek district.

While Africa is seeing a drop in the rate of rhinoceros poaching, Namibian wildlife authorities say they are seeing a surge in rhino killings in the southern African nation. Conservationists say poachers seeking rhino horns for Asian markets are targeting Namibia’s commercial farms. Save the Rhino Trust CEO Simson Uri Khob said there are reports that syndicates of rhino poachers from South Africa are operating in Namibia. He said poaching cases are rising, especially in Etosha National Park and commercial farms. "It's a problem," Khob said.

According to the Combatting Wildlife Crime in Namibia Annual Report for 2020, rhino crimes accounted for most arrests during the past year, with 145 suspects having been detained. "A significant number of these were pre-emptive arrests, where suspects were caught before they could kill a rhino. This is not only a highly commendable law enforcement success, but also a very positive conservation outcome. Pre-emptive arrests have directly saved numerous rhinos and will allow the population to continue to multiply," the report stated.

Zambia is leading a push for African countries to obtain a CITES waiver that would allow them to legally export ivory stockpiles. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has an international ban on trade and sale of ivory and related products. Southern African countries have accrued huge stockpiles of ivory worth millions of dollars over the decades. The stockpiles mostly constitute ivory from elephants culled for conservation and ecological purposes.

Anti-poaching initiatives instituted by Zimbabwe are bearing fruits as the country recorded a 78 percent decline in rhino poaching incidents in the first six months of 2020 compared to same period last year. Statistics from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) show that four rhinos were poached from January to June 2020. The figure for January - June 2019 was 19.

Zambia is exploring the possibility of domestically selling its US$100 million ivory stockpile.

Namibia has recorded a drastic reduction in poaching in the past three years because of improved response mechanisms. Most of the success is attributed to the Environment and Tourism Ministry's efforts to upscale law enforcement components of conservation. Environment and Tourism Minister Pohamba Shifeta said anti-poaching canine units (the Ministry of Environment and Tourism Dog Unit) had been deployed to good effect. "The Dog Unit is part of our anti-poaching initiatives.

The Namibian Police arrested a deputy director in the Ministry of Lands at its Gobabis sub-regional office for her role in the alleged illegal hunting of an oryx valued at N$6 000. Mclesia Mbaisa (49) who heads the Division of Land Reform was arrested alongside her brother Marvin Mbaisa (36) and Rudolf Katjiuanjo (35) following the illegal hunting of the wild animal at Heath Bell resettlement farm in the Gobabis district.