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Three alleged pangolin poachers were bust red-handed and arrested when they tried to sell an animal to a "potential client" at a Shell garage on the N1 in Midrand on Friday. Olivia was the seventh pangolin rescued this year from poachers.

A gruesome discovery by a group of tourists on a night-drive in Kruger National Park earlier this month has raised questions about how a rhino died. The tourists spotted a man emerging from bushes holding a horn dripping with blood, chopped from a critically-endangered Black rhino carcass, just 15m away. He and another man, dressed in what appeared to be a uniform, have subsequently been confirmed by SANParks to be employed by the park.

South African National Parks (SANParks) has welcomed the finalization of two long running rhino poaching trials by the Skukuza Regional Court. One rhino poacher was sentenced on 14 May whilst three, including a former SANParks employee, were sentenced on 17 May respectively. Nito Mathebula was arrested in Tshokwane Section in January 2019 while hunting in the Park illegally. Two of his accomplices managed to evade arrest. He was found guilty of trespassing in a National Park, breaking the Immigration Act and the killing of a rhino.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has deployed to the Overstrand region of the Western Cape to combat poaching and related crime in conjunction with local law enforcement and other roleplayers. The SANDF said Joint Tactical Headquarters Western Cape launched Operation Corona in the Overstrand on 6 May together with the Maritime Reaction Squadron, local law enforcement and Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries. The main goal is to stop the poaching of marine resources and enforce maritime security.

South African National Parks (SANParks) has announced another operation that led to the arrest of three suspected poachers on Wednesday 21 April in the Crocodile Bridge Section of the Kruger National Park (KNP). A high calibre hunting rifle, ammunition and poaching equipment were seized during the successful operation.

The 18-pieces haul, destined for Malaysia, was found concealed in traditional clothing. The Hawks have conscated a shipment of rhino horns worth more than R53 million at OR Tambo International Airpot on Thursday, destined for Malaysia. This after the customs unit of the South African Revenue Service (Sars) at the airport bust the rhino horn after the detector dog unit selected a suspicious shipment declared as "HP Cartridges Developers", according to the statement from Sars.

A 36-year-old man appeared at the Kempton Park Regional Court on Monday, 18 January, after being arrested for illegal dealing in rhino horns. Kelvin Chigwede - who was arrested on Saturday - was charged for illegal dealing in rhino horns and contravention of the National Environmental Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) according to Hawks’ spokesperson Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu.

The Chinsali subordinate court has sentenced a 51-year-old poacher to seven years imprisonment with hard labour for unlawful possession of 9.5 kilogrammes (kg) of ivory.

Three SA National Parks (SANParks) employees, among them two security guards, have been arrested in possession of fresh rhino horns outside the gates of the Kruger National Park. SANParks said the third person arrested is in technical services.

Considering the amount of effort and funds that go into arresting a suspected poacher, and seeing court proceedings through, cases such as this take a signicant toll on the people involved in seeking justice.

The Chama Subordinate Court has sentenced a poacher to seven years imprisonment for illegal possession of elephant ivory weighing 10 kilograms. Lovemore Nkhowani, 60, a former wildlife police officer, turned into a notorious elephant poacher nicknamed Mbanje, was charged with one count of Unlawful Possession of Prescribed Trophy, that is elephant ivory, contrary to section 130(1) of the Zambia wildlife Act No. 14 of 2015.

The arrests were carried out by the Malmesbury Stock Theft Unit, Vredendal Crime Intelligence and members of the Cape Nature Reserve.

Police say a tip-off led to the arrest of the suspect who was allegedly trying to sell the pangolin in the Musina CBD.

The Department of National Parks and Wildlife has arrested a 39 year old Kapiri Mposhi man for being in possession of 12 pieces of elephant Ivory tusks worth over K100, 000. Department of National Parks and Wildlife Central Region Warden Patrick Sakanga has confirmed the arrest to ZANIS yesterday.