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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Windhoek, March 04-Namibia boasts a healthy population of wildlife species, and its conservation efforts are held in high regard globally. However, recent poaching statistics reveal a troubling trend, with the country losing a total of 631 rhinos over the past decade. According to Romeo Muyunda, spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, Namibia recorded 97 rhino poachings in 2015, 66 in 2016, 55 in 2017, 84 in 2018, 61 in 2019, 48 in 2020, 53 in 2021, 92 in 2022, 67 in 2023, and 8 in 2024 to date.
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NAM_2024_03_Rhino_poaching still a major concern for Namibian Government_Namibia Daily News.pdf | 452.17 KB |
Namibian authorities seized 24 elephant tusks in an intelligence-led operation by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism (MEFT) and security officials targeting a Zambian syndicate involved in transnational elephant poaching in Botswana through the Zambezi region.
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NAM_2023_11_24 elephant tusks seized in undercover operation in Namibia_Namibia Daily News.pdf | 182.38 KB |
Namibia's anti-poaching and crime prevention initiatives managed to apprehend 75 suspects in 106 cases related to rhinoceros poaching in Namibia during 2022, according to a report released Friday. The year 2022 saw the most rhinoceros poached in the country since 2015 when the first major poaching wave in independent Namibia peaked, the National Report on Wildlife Protection and Law Enforcement in Namibia revealed. The report is based on data compiled via the Integrated Database of Wildlife Crime in Namibia, as well as related firsthand information and observations by…
Namibia will step up efforts against wildlife crime in the country during this year’s festive season, an official said Saturday. Romeo Muyunda, spokesperson of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT), said Namibia has observed that in the past poachers took advantage of the festive season to undertake criminal activities of poaching rhinos, pangolins, elephants, and other species. Muyunda said even though Namibia continues to record successes in the fight against wildlife crime, poaching of high valued species remains a concern. "In 2022 to date,…
Rhino poachers in Namibia have shifted focus from national parks to custodianship and private farms with both black and white rhinos being the target, an official said. Namibia's Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism (MEFT) has recorded 33 rhinos poached since the start of the year, of which 24 were black rhinos and nine were white rhinos, said MEFT spokesperson Romeo Muyunda in a statement.
A report by the South African government reveals a worrisome increase in the number of rhinos poached in 2021, as the decline attributed to the COVID restrictions is now being threatened with reversal. But is it too late to turn the tide?
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SA_2022_04_It is too late to save South Africas rhinos_Fair Planet.pdf | 334.73 KB |
The continued refusal by the government of Botswana to allow game rangers to carry firearms, coupled with the country's secrecy on poaching statistics and other wildlife data, is baffling conservationists. On 25 September, as Botswana marked a belated World Rhino Day, former president Ian Khama - a renowned wildlife conservationist - took to his Facebook page to share his thoughts.
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BOT_2021_12_Political rivalries flare in Botswana and animals pay the price_FairPlanet.pdf | 451.12 KB |
A 24 percent decline in the number of white rhinos over the past decade has caused wildlife conservationists to panic over the future of the endangered pachyderms on the African continent. Despite concerted efforts made by most African states to protect their rhinoceros populations, an International Rhino Foundation (IRF) report has revealed that rhino numbers continue to drop due to poaching.
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AFRICA_2021-10_Continued African Rhino loses alarm conservationists_ FairPlanet.pdf | 75.19 KB |
Six months into COVID-19 lockdown and with most southern African nations not having social safety nets for their citizens, there has been an uptick in wildlife poaching across the region.