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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South Africa's most exclusive enclave of private nature reserves reveals their hidden security nerve centre - and shows what they've done to thwart horn poachers for nearly a record year.
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SA_2023_12_Turning the tide We have lost just one rhino in 350 days_Sabi Sand_Daily Maverick.pdf | 734.07 KB |
As two collectors walk down the South Korean nursery's humid aisles, they spot a magnificent specimen. Having collected South African succulents for over two decades, their greenhouse showcases many plants growing in what looks like their natural Succulent Karoo habitat. But they have never seen this species before, and judging from its size, the plant looks decades old. The nursery owner tells them the succulent is a new mother plant used for cultivation and is not for sale. But if they wanted an equally large plant, he could connect them to his broker.
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SA_2023_11_SA battling to protect precious succulents from blooming illegal trade_Daily Maverick.pdf | 315.91 KB |
Snaring has surged 200% in the Kruger National Park, also causing lion extinctions elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.
There are worrying signs that the illegal trade is becoming more organised, with professionals and government officials involved.
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SA_2023_10_Can South Africa contain pangolin trafficking_Daily Maverick.pdf | 565.91 KB |
A void left by illegal horn income may now be driving neighbouring communities to snare and shoot species such as African buffalo in the park's southwest sector. Despite the lowveld’s searing heat, thorny canopy and tough terrain, Kruger's staff and honorary rangers say they are fighting back - on foot.
Since 2020, snaring has tripled in the crown jewels of South Africa's Big Five reserves. This suggests economic hardship, although it is not the sole factor to blame. Responding to questions by the Democratic Alliance’s Hannah Winkler on the park’s snaring trends, Environment Minister Barbara Creecy reported the removal of thousands of snares: In 2020, 2,407 snares were removed; In 2021, 4,454 snares were removed; In 2022, 7,270 snares were removed.
Joining famed conservationists Jane Goodall and Carl Jones at the 12th Oppenheimer Research Conference, a former SANParks conservation boss warns that - thanks to a lack of funds and government interference - most provincial game reserves face collapse, but suggests solutions might be found among not-forprofits, the private sector and surrounding communities.
A new investigative report on SA's lion farming industry comes to a damning conclusion: 'This new intelligence gathered by brave sources confirms what was previously suspected - these well-established, legal operations are plugged secretly into unethical practices and an illicit international trade network.'
The head of the North West Parks and Tourism Board has told Parliament that the thieves who stole 51 rhino horns from its guarded facility in June must have had intimate knowledge of its security system.
Fifteen years after South Africa was hit by an unprecedented wave of rhino-horn poaching, the slaughter rate remains relentless - with one rhino shot almost every day in KwaZulu-Natal, the historic heartland of global rhino conservation. More than 60% of the rhinos killed in South Africa so far in 2023 drew their last breaths in KwaZulu-Natal as poachers continue to shift more of their deadly firepower and axes to the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, one of the world’s last strongholds of wild rhino conservation. Latest poaching …
South African National Parks has confirmed that lions have been targeted in a poisoning campaign in the northern Kruger Park by poachers seeking the animals’ body parts, presumably for the muti trade. The numbers are not huge, but in the wake of the rhino poaching onslaught, the targeting of another charismatic species in the iconic park will set off alarm bells among conservationists.
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SA_2023_07_Kruger lions being poisoned by poachers for body parts_says SANParks_Daily Maverick.pdf | 436.49 KB |
The Wildlife Justice Commission has published details of a rhino horn trafficking case that includes the use of frozen seafood and 'mishandled baggage', as well as the failure of authorities not to publicly report their seizure of the horn.
The Hawks have arrested a second suspect allegedly linked to the stockpile hit at the North West Parks Board headquarters in Mafikeng last week. According to a Daily Maverick source, the suspect was apprehended in a planned operation near Brits at about 9pm on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning the arrest was confirmed by a senior SAPS officer who did not want to be identified.
Conservationists are raising serious questions about crime scene protocols - and the sense in stockpiling rhino horn - after a report claimed the police took eight hours to respond to a burglary at the North West Parks Board on Monday. In what is being described as a well-planned heist executed with military precision, thieves broke into the Heritage House headquarters of the North West Parks Board in the early hours of Monday and stole 51 rhino horns worth millions of rands on the Asian black market.
The recent sentencing of six Zimbabweans - members of the so-called Chitiyo Rhino Poaching Gang - to prison terms ranging from 16 to 20 years suggests that authorities are slowly but steadily making inroads in tackling the poaching scourge.
Angola's Criminal Investigation Service (SIC) in Bengo Province bordering the capital city Luanda, detained two poachers for killing an elephant in the municipality of Pango Aluquém. The detention took place this Monday due to complaints from people who saw the accused consuming and selling meat from the great mammal. The two, José Sebastião and Malambo Castro, aged 28 and 30, respectively, countered the accusations by saying that they found the animal already dead and that they only enjoyed the meat and ivory in the company of other people from their community.
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ANG_2023_03_Angolan authorities arrest two suspected suspected elephant poachers_Independent.pdf | 325.5 KB |
Vietnamese authorities on Monday seized seven tonnes of ivory smuggled from Angola, the largest seizure of wildlife products in years, the government said.
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ANG_2023_03_Vietnam seizes 7 tonnes ivory in largest wildlife smuggling case in years_Daily Maverick.pdf | 339.96 KB |
For decades the area surrounding the serene and picturesque Jozini Dam and Pongola Nature Reserve has been a tourist mecca, drawing well-heeled local and international visitors keen on seeing nature at its best, including cruises to watch elephants grazing and to spot rare species. Luxury lodges and hundreds of workers depend on the viability of the local tourist attractions and a constant stream of high-spending visitors.
Botswana's government has presented to the ongoing CITES CoP-19 in Panama a detailed document on the country's efforts to contain rhino poaching which increased at least 100 fold between 2018 and 2020. The country recorded two rhino poaching incidents in the five years between 2012 and 2017 with zero incidents reported in 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2017.
The Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife conservation agency has, up till now, opted to not dehorn its rhinos to protect them from poachers. But that could change soon, following another year of relentless killings in which the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park emerged as the current rhino poaching hotspot, globally. The latest poaching figures released by national Environment Minister Barbara Creecy show that 244 rhinos were killed by horn poachers in KwaZulu-Natal in 2022 - the vast majority of them in the HIP.
An appeal court has increased the prison sentence of a rhino poacher from 11 to 15 years.
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SA_2023_01_Rhino poacher slapped with additional four years in prison by appeal court_Daily Maverick.pdf | 439.74 KB |
Private and communal lands now conserve at least 50% of Africa's rhinos, according to a newly published paper in journal 'Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment', highlighting the need for 'adaptive policies' to build on this success. These trends have policy implications as debates rage about rhino-horn trade and trophy hunting.
Kruger National Park, the world's greatest refuge for rhinos, is losing them to poaching faster than they're being born. The park's last rhino may already be alive. It's time to declare an emergency.
Zimbabwe's rhino population remains among the bright sparks on the African continent after it increased by 14 percent from a total 887 in 2017 to now stand at 1,033. The statistics were compiled by Rhino Specialist Groups of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and trade monitoring organisation TRAFFIC, ahead of the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP19) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Panama this month.
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ZIM_2022_11_Zimbabwe rhino population up while rest of Africa sees decline_Independent.pdf | 289.8 KB |
A Mozambican court has sentenced a poacher to a 30-year sentence, the second such maximum term handed down this year and evidence of a crackdown by the country's judicial and conservation authorities against the illegal wildlife trade.
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MOZ_2022_11_Second 30_year sentence for rhino poaching in Mozambique_Independent.pdf | 377.51 KB |
Rhino poachers entering Kruger National Park are increasingly being run down by packs of unleashed hunting hounds in full cry, followed by a chopper tracking their hi-tech GPS collars. As the baying pack approaches, the poacher has no idea the dogs are trained to not attack. They won't bite him (there are legal implications), but if he tries to harm the dogs, rangers will fire from the chopper. The poachers know this and no dog has yet
been lost to a poacher’s bullet.
Botswana' Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) has confirmed the recent arrest of a man found in possession of a live pangolin in the capital Gaborone. The department says the incident was reported to them by the Botswana Police, raising concern about the continued poaching of pangolins.
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BOT_2022_11_Botswana man arrested for possession of live pangolin_Independent.pdf | 277.61 KB |
No elephant has been killed by poachers in five years in the Gorongosa National Park, located in the central Mozambican province of Sofala. This information was provided on October 20, 2022 in Maputo by the head of the Department of Conservation in the National Park, Ângelo Levi, during a debate on the theme The Challenges of Conservation of Animal and Forest Life, promoted by Nedbank Mozambique, as part of the commemorations of World Animal Day.
A Ugandan court has handed a life sentence to a man caught with nearly 10 kg of elephant ivory, the country's highest punishment ever for wildlife violations, authorities said on Friday.
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UGA_2022_10_Uganda court hands life sentence to man caught with elephant ivory_Daily Maverick.pdf | 455.3 KB |
Poaching syndicates are recruiting vulnerable villagers in Zimbabwe's animal corridors to kill animals such as elephants for their ivory, and to find markets, even on the streets, it has emerged. Police in areas such as Hwange, Kamativi and Victoria Falls in Matabeleland North have in recent months arrested people found trying to sell pieces of ivory on the streets. Conservationists say most of the locals arrested are people that were exploited by cunning syndicates, including some run by Zambian nationals, and they often lacked knowledge about wildlife crimes.
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ZIM_2022_10_Poaching syndicates are trapping vulnerable villagers in Zimbabwe_Independent.pdf | 583.17 KB |
Liberian Moazu Kromah - known as "Kampala Man" - led one of the most active wildlife-trafficking syndicates on the African continent before his arrest in the Ugandan capital in February 2017. Just more than five years later, in March 2022, more than 11,000km away from the city in which he based his operation and from which his alias derives, Kromah quietly entered into a plea bargain with the Southern District of New York (SDNY), which is known for tackling high-profile organised crime and corruption cases.
As several stories have revealed across different platforms of late, most pertinently in the long delayed release of the Rhino Report in Daily Maverick of 31 May, poaching in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park has boomed. There is little argument among conservation bodies about the numbers - some 95 rhinos have been poached in the park so far this year. It drew to mind an interview I recorded with former Environmental Affairs Minister, Edna Molewa, in about 2013 for a multimedia eBook I was producing called, iRhino.
A spike in seizures of elephant ivory from people emboldened enough to be trying to sell it openly in markets, from their houses, and even at a fuel station, has raised concerns among conservationists about a return of poaching. Police reported the six villagers were arrested on May 3 and 4, 2022, while trying to sell elephant tusks in the mining town of Hwange, in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North province. On May 1, 57-year-old Collin Tapfumaneyi Chizengeni was more audacious: arrested while trying to sell 21 pieces of ivory from his house in Gutu.
Endangered African painted dogs are at the risk of local extinction due to poachers hunting other wildlife at Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park. The painted dogs are victims of rampant poaching by local and international syndicates hunting for wildlife such as buffaloes and elephants. Although poachers have no interest in painted dogs themselves, they become victims of snares or poisoned water sources meant for other game. The destruction of their habitants is also cited as one of the reasons why the painted dogs face extinction. "It’s not about the painted dogs only.
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ZIM_2022_05_Poachers kill endangered painted dogs in Zimbabwes Hwange National Park_Independent.pdf | 486.29 KB |
While forensic science has proven highly successful in helping catch perpetrators of human crimes - with a single cell now being enough for forensic sleuths to form a DNA profile - its potential in animal-related crimes remains largely untapped. The Wildlife Forensic Academy (WFA) is a first-of-its-kind forensic training facility. It was launched on 13 May at Buffelsfontein Nature Reserve on the West Coast and will be another weapon in the fight against wildlife crime.
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SA_2022_05_New weapon in fight against wildlife crime launched in Western Cape_Daily Maverick.pdf | 527.26 KB |
Two of South Africa's most notorious rhino poachers, the Van Deventer brothers, have been convicted and sentenced in a Limpopo court after pleading guilty to a long list of charges that link them to a trail of poached rhino carcasses discovered over the 2016/17 New Year weekend.
Poverty around protected parks is not the main reason rhino poaching thrives, argues researcher Ian Glenn.
Moving rhinos from South Africa to Botswana's Okavango Delta without properly involving local people meant key chances to protect the animals from poaching were missed, scientists and community leaders have said. As the Delta reels from a surge in rhino poaching, which has killed close to 100 of the animals in the last three years, the authorities have taken the unusual step of evacuating all remaining both black and white rhinos from the region.
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BOT_2022_04_Botswanas imported rhino poaching crisis_Independent.pdf | 637.21 KB |
Just as the barbarity of war in Ukraine or the global climate crisis gradually lose their shock value, the unrelenting massacre of South Africa’s rhino has all but drifted from public view. Behind the scenes, however, at least 75 rhinos have been butchered for their horns in KwaZulu-Natal in the opening months of 2022.
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SA_2022_04_Rhino bloodbath in KZN as poachers gun down 75 animals this year_DailyMaverick.pdf | 1.04 MB |
It has taken suspected succulent smugglers just a few years to yank out of the ground more than 1.5 million rare plants with a cumulative age of more than 44,000 years. And illegal trade in wild flora and fauna continues to rocket, authorities say.
The Year of the Tiger is not a good one for the creatures themselves, a global animal welfare report states. It also finds South Africa to be at the heart of the big cat crisis.
An endangered pangolin has been taken hostage by a group of rebels in the the Democratic Republic of Congo who sent a ransom request to conservationists for the animal’s release. It sparks fears that the kidnap could lead to a trend in using wildlife as bargaining power, the activists negotiating with the kidnappers are attempting to rescue the pangolin without payment. "This is something new and alarming," Adams Cassinga, founder of Conserv Congo, said after "proof of life" photographs of the prized animal were sent to community conservationists.
The Kruger National Park has a major rhino-poaching crisis, but that's just one of many mounting problems - and it's extremely worrying.
Anti-poaching groups have blamed socio-economic problems for the rise in poaching and snaring in various protected areas such as game reserves. Speaking after a recent sweep of snares at Tala Collection Game Reserve, located between Easton and Camperdown in KwaZulu-Natal, Lawrence Reed, founder of Rave Rhino and Wildlife Project on Sunday, 16 January, said they had seen an increase in the number of snares being discovered at the game reserve.
Cycads, an ancient group of plants dating from the time of the dinosaurs, are threatened globally by extinction. The plants are also coveted by collectors, especially rarer specimens. In South Africa, a hotspot of cycad diversity, this demand has given rise to a harmful illicit market that has placed dozens of species at risk. Thousands of cycads have been dug up from the wild, with poachers using a legal cycad market to launder their harvests.
European Union-backed conservation project has trained a new frontline to fight to protect nature across five African nations.
Poaching intensified over the past three years following the 2018 decision by the government to disarm the anti-poaching unit under the DWNP. The 100+ rhinos poached since the disarmament represents a 100+ percent increase in poaching incidents when compared to the previous three years when Botswana lost one rhino per annum in the preceding 2015, 2016, and 2017 when the unit had firearms. There were at least 12 rhinos poached in 2018, 29 rhinos in 2019, and over 50 poached by the end of 2020.
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BOT_2021_11_Botswana struggles with rising cases of rhino poaching_Independent Co.pdf | 716.01 KB |
Police who arrested two men carrying a rhino horn on a highway near Witbank allegedly demanded a R30,000 bribe to release them.
In a Daily Maverick webinar on Wednesday, Dr Luthando Dziba, the new CEO of South African National Parks, said there may be fewer than 3,000 rhinos in the Kruger Park for the first time - despite the park authority spending millions on rhino protection.