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Namibian Wildlife Crimes article archive

This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:

  • provide easy public access to published information and statistics
  • enable easy stakeholder access to articles
  • provide a comprehensive archive of wildlife crime reporting in Namibia

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.

Explore your search results using the filter checkboxes, or amend your search or start a new search.

Displaying results 1 - 19 of 19
Friday, 3 November 2023
Soodyal N 2023. Man nabbed for selling elephant tusk in Durban.

In Durban, a team comprising the Hawks and KZN Economic Infrastructure Task Team caught a man selling an elephant tusk. The 62-year-old was arrested in Greenwood Park. Police say the horn, which weighed some four-and-a-half-kilos, is estimated to be worth R2 million

Wednesday, 10 May 2023
2023. Tanzanian among 2 arrested with 81 kilos of elephant tusks in Makueni.

The tusks had a street value of more than Sh8 million, officials said In Summary: Despite a ban on the international trade in ivory, African elephants are still being poached in large numbers; As part of efforts to stop the crime, Kenya has started using high-tech surveillance equipment including drones to track poaching gangs. Two men including a Tanzanian national were arrested while transporting 81.7 kilograms of elephant tusks in Mukaa area, Makueni County.

Wednesday, 16 November 2022
2022. Mozambicans jailed for 30 years for rhino hunting.

Rhino poaching is driven by the demand for rhino horn in Asian countries. In Summary: They were arrested in September last year with a firearm and ammunition at a game farm with the aim of slaughtering rhinos to extract their horns for commercial purposes. This is the second time that a hunter of a protected species has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Thursday, 1 September 2022
Nhongo K 2022. Rhinoceros poaching surges in Namibia.

Namibia is experiencing a surge in poaching, with the number of poached rhinoceros rising to 48 this year, Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said Wednesday. In a statement, Muyunda said of the poached rhinoceros, 32 were black rhinoceros and 16 were white rhinoceros.

Tuesday, 23 August 2022
Mwende S 2022. DCI arrests 3 suspects found in possession of pangolin in Kwale.

DCI detectives based at the Serious Crimes Unit on Tuesday arrested three suspects in Kinango, Kwale County, after being found in possession of a male pangolin.

Monday, 27 June 2022
2022. Kwale police arrest two illegal pangolin hunters.

Kwale police have arrested two men who were illegally in possession of a pangolin. The two were nabbed at Malomani area in Samburu sub-county.

Monday, 13 June 2022
Malinga G 2022. Five nabbed as Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife steps up fight against poaching.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife says the improved and random deployment of field ranges, police officers and K9 units have made life difficult for poachers. Three suspected poachers were arrested last week before they could kill a rhino inside the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park in northern KZN. This brings the number of alleged poachers caught inside the park this year to five.

Wednesday, 16 February 2022
Masika C 2022. Man in court for trying to sell Sh300,000 tusks to cops.

The charge sheet says the tusks weighed three kilograms, worth Sh300,000.

Friday, 28 January 2022
Wangui P 2022. Two suspected poachers arrested, 14 pieces of ivory recovered.

Two suspected poachers were on Thursday arrested in Korinda junction in Busia county. Police acted on a tip-off from members of the public and nabbed the two men, 60-year-old Mohamed Abbas and a 70-year-old Paul Wafula Njoka. The suspects were using a motorbike with registration number KMEV721N in their operation. The police recovered the haul after conducting a search. They took them as exhibits together with the motorbike. The two suspects were taken to Busia Police station as they wait to be arraigned to answer to charges.

Saturday, 9 October 2021
Waithaka E 2021. Four suspected poachers arrested with 76kg ivory.

Kenya Wildlife Service wardens in Laikipia on Wednesday evening arrested four suspected poachers and recovered four pieces of elephant ivories weighing 76 kilogrammes.

Saturday, 12 December 2020
2020. Five white rhinos killed by poachers in November in Botswana.

At least five white rhinos were killed and dehorned on different occasions in November, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks in Botswana confirmed Thursday.

Friday, 4 September 2020
Chingwere M 2020. Two suspected poachers killed in raid.

Two armed poachers were shot dead at Chirisa Game Park in Gokwe over the weekend in a gun combat with Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) rangers. ZimParks is now using drones to patrol its vast estate, and so far this year, 800 poachers have been detected and more than 600 arrested by follow-up patrols.

Tuesday, 25 August 2020
Maponga G 2020. Poachers poison park lions.

Three carcasses of lions were recently recovered in the wildlife-rich Gonarezhou National Park, south-east of the Lowveld amid fears that poachers from Mozambique were using cyanide to poison animals.

Monday, 17 August 2020
2020. Drones improve sniffing out poachers.

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has started using drones to detect poachers as part of improved and technology-based conservation strategies.

Monday, 3 August 2020
2020. Poachers kill two rhinos.

Two black rhinoceroses, whose carcasses were recently found by game scouts in Bubye Valley Conservancy, have been killed by poachers, police have confirmed.

Friday, 3 July 2020
Diaz C 2020. The stronghold for Africa’s elephants is under certain threat.

As we now know, Botswana is home to a third of Africa's declining elephant population. But, over the last two months, 350 elephant carcasses have been spotted in the Okavango Delta since the start of May. It is a serious worry that over 350 elephants have died with no clear reason and indeed a conservation disaster.
The world looks at this mysterious deaths and needs to know the real cause of the mass loss of elephants, and what should be done to stop this unnatural disaster, one thing the deaths are unrelated to drought.

Friday, 12 June 2020
2020. Zimbabwe - fruit laced with cyanide found at Victoria Falls.

Forestry Commission officials in Victoria Falls last week recovered oranges, cucumbers and amarula fruits in a plastic bag laced with cyanide poison. It is suspected that some poachers left them hanging on a tree in a bid to kill elephants in the forest. National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident.

Wednesday, 27 May 2020
Ngcobo N 2020. KZN poaching drops since virus lockdown.

KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife says they have seen a decrease in poaching since the start of the national lockdown. But the conservation body says they remain on high alert as poachers continue to operate in the province. Last week, a suspect was arrested in Mtubatuba, North of KZN for the illegal possession and sale of elephant ivory in the KwaMsane Township.

Wednesday, 13 May 2020
Harvey L, King L 2020. Dogs trained to protect wildlife have saved 45 rhinos from poachers in South Africa.

The dogs, who vary from a beagle to bloodhound, began training from birth before working at 18 months-old at the Southern African Wildlife College in Greater Kruger National Park.

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