Search results

A man was denied bail on a charge of possession of six elephant tusks yesterday in the Katima Mulilo Magistrate's Court.

An elderly Chinese man who admitted that he had illegal wildlife products, including a rhinoceros horn, and a firearm in his possession at the start of last year was sentenced to pay fines totalling N$156 000 by the Windhoek Regional Court this week.

The bail application hearing of a man accused of being involved in the killing of a black rhino on a game reserve near Otjiwarongo last month, ended in a deadlock in court on Friday. The 30-year-old Eeno Anguwo was arrested at Omuthiya on 15 April after he was connected to a syndicate of poachers who allegedly shot and killed the rhino bull valued at N$800 000.

A chance encounter over 35 years ago changed the lives of two women after realising that they share the same passion for wildlife conservation.

There are worrying signs that Namibia's legendary wild game numbers may be plummeting.

Four Chinese men, who were originally handed 14-year sentences for wildlife crimes, including rhino horn  smuggling, had the shock of their lives when their appeal ended with the High Court also convicting and sentencing them for money laundering.

An iron fist should be used against people who commit crimes against endangered wildlife in Namibia, a judge commented in an appeal judgement handed down in the Windhoek High Court on Friday.

The bail application of businessman Petrus Shihepo Shimuningeni who was arrested in February this year for alleged rhino poaching, was turned down in the Outjo Magistrate's Court on Wednesday. Shimuningeni and his four co-accused, aged 25, 26, 27 and 32, appeared before Magistrate Peingondjabi Shipo who denied bail because it is not in the public interest or the interest of the administration of justice for bail to be granted.

A bail application hearing for a 35-year-old businessman linked to poached black and white rhinos at a private game farm near Etosha National Park in the Kunene Region is underway in the Outjo Magistrate's Court.

A suspected rhino poacher was trampled to death by an elephant and his body devoured by lions in South Africa's Kruger National Park, officials said Monday. South African rangers have recovered the skull of the man in the vast Kruger sanctuary, which has born the brunt of much of the country's poaching  crisis. According to a park spokesman, rangers were alerted after the victim's alleged accomplices told his family that he had been crushed to death by an elephant.

Namibia was commended for its efforts to address the challenges trafficking in wild fauna and flora pose to the country's natural resources and its social and economic development.

Six suspected poachers were arrested in Zambezi region after they were found in possession of four elephant tusks, two elephant tails and one zebra skin yesterday.

A protected black rhino in the Erongo Mountain Rhino Sanctuary nearly lost a foot after it was caught in a snare set by poachers recently.

Countries that make up the Kavango-Zambezi Trans-frontier Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA) need to provide for specialist prosecutors that have knowledge about all wildlife crime-related legislation and the appropriate prosecution of offenders. This was the view of deputy environment minister Bernadette Jagger at the KAZA-TFCA Regional Judiciary and Prosecutors Workshop that is taking place in Windhoek. 

Environment minister Pohamba Shifeta says some of the 120 suspects arrested last year for wildlife crimes were repeat offenders who were out on bail for similar crimes. “It is discouraging when a suspect is arrested for a crime today and the next day commits the same crime again. We do not want to tell justice what to do, but a repeat offender should not be let out on bail,” Shifeta said yesterday.

A resident of the Kunene region whose attempt to poach a rhinoceros in Etosha National Park ended in the death of his partner in crime and his own arrest, was sentenced to an effective fine of N$34 000 or eight years' imprisonment on Friday.

About 45 members of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Africa rhino specialist group yesterday met at Okahandja to discuss ways to curb rhino poaching.

A Windhoek oncologist has been granted N$50 000 bail by the Windhoek Magistrate's Court after he was arrested at the weekend for the illegal possession of three elephant tusks.

The story of Namibia's rhino poaching is a tale often told in black and white. There are villains, there are victims and there are the activists loudly lamenting our rhinos' imminent extinction.

Two suspected poachers were arrested on Friday in the Zambezi region for being in possession of zebra meat without a permit.

The Chinese national who was arrested last month at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg after being caught with 18 rhino horns in his luggage has been denied bail. Ye Zhiwei, 28, appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrate''s Court in South Africa on Tuesday on a charge of dealing in rhino horn under the Endangered Spices Act. South African Hawks spokesperson Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu confirmed to Namibian Sun that Ye was denied bail and that his case was postponed to 17 January for disclosure of evidence and for further investigation.

South African police raided an illegal Vietnamese lion and tiger bone syndicate operating in the North West at the weekend, after at least 40 lions were reportedly killed at a lion farm near Klerksdorp. According to Hawks spokesperson captain Tlangelani Rikhotso, six foreigners and two South African men were nabbed in the multi-disciplinary operation conducted by members of the Potchefstroom Crime Intelligence unit, the Hawks and the Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp flying squads units.

A new project was launched last week that will assist Namibia in its efforts to fight wildlife crime. The International Consortium on Combatting Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit was launched by environment minister Pohamba Shifeta last week at a workshop organised by the Anti-Corruption Commission. The project provides the technical resources to assist governments in conducting a comprehensive analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of a country's response to wildlife crime.

If rhino owners are not allowed to harvest and legally sell horns, poachers will kill every last rhino in Namibia. This is according to environment minister Pohamba Shifeta, who was speaking last week at a meeting where the poaching situation in the country was discussed. Shifeta said the price of a rhino horn has skyrocketed and is currently about N$900 000 per kilogram. "It is going up every day." He said if rhino range countries could sell rhino horns, the price will go down because the demand would still be there.

The Blue Rhino Taskforce has had phenomenal success in tracking down poaching syndicates in the four months of its existence.

A dehorned carcass of a rhino suspected to have been shot by poachers in the Hardap region was found on Saturday.

The Namibia Chamber of Environment has made a call for the legalisation of trade in rhino horn. Calls to legalise rhino horn trade in Namibia are growing louder in an effort to save the species from annihilation, particularly after China partly lifted its already weakly implemented 25-year ban on the use of rhino horn and tiger bones in traditional medicines. In a letter to members and affiliates last week, Namibia Chamber of Environment (NCE) CEO Chris Brown warned that the demand for animal products such as rhino horn, ivory, pangolin scales, tiger and lion bones will…

The High Court has granted permission to four Chinese nationals to appeal against their 14-year prison sentences for trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns and a leopard skin out of Namibia. The permission was granted on Tuesday when Li Zhibing, 53, Li Xiaoliang, 30, Pu Xuexin, 49, and Wang Hui, 40, appeared before Deputy Judge President Hosea Angula. The four men were arrested between March and May 2014 in what has been termed Namibia’s largest rhino-horn-smuggling case. The men were each sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment by Windhoek Magistrate Alexis Diergaardt at…

The human rights organisation says citizens are unsafe in police custody. Human rights organisation NamRights says it is becoming increasingly alarmed by widespread allegations of torture and other cruel treatment of ordinary citizens by the Namibian police and other law-enforcement agencies. The executive director of NamRights, Phil Ya Nangoloh, says the organisation has reasonable cause to believe that there is evidence that citizens in general are no longer safe in police custody.

Namibia's environment minister Pohamba Shifeta has urged for a review on the blanket ban on the trade of wildlife products, including rhino horns and ivory, in order to better curb the poaching epidemic threatening the survival of high-value species. Speaking at the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London last week, Shifeta told delegates Namibia believes that "banning any trade in products will not necessarily achieve the outcome of stopping the demand and illegal trade. This has not been successful with alcohol, drugs and indeed, rhino horn, pangolin scales and ivory…

Katima Mulilio - Three people were arrested for poaching at Masokotwani in the Zambezi region on Tuesday morning. The three men, two Namibians and one Zambian, were found in possession of three reed bucks and three duikers around 03h00.

The World Rhino Day was first celebrated by WWF South Africa in 2010. Since then the world has followed suit to spread awareness of the need to save the five species of rhino. Namibia celebrated the day on 22 September at Khorixas with deputy environment minister Bernadette Jagger officiating.

While about 1 200 rhinos in Namibia are now in private care, the country is still experiencing high levels of poaching, with 29 rhinos poached this year already.

The environment ministry's new anti-poaching dog unit has already recorded several successes, which includes apprehending a poacher in the Etosha National Park. This happened during the dogs' first operation, just 16 days after their handlers started training with them.

The Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) last week held a training workshop on wildlife crime for 16 representatives of the legal fraternity, police officers and park wardens from the environment ministry.

The environment ministry last week inaugurated the dog unit that will be used for wildlife protection and law-enforcement.

Police are clamping down on poachers, with two police busts leading to the arrest of an alleged poaching gang found in possession of rhino horns and another man attempting to smuggle ten elephant tusks. Police at the Divundu police checkpoint arrested two men driving a white BMW in the early hours of Thursday morning after they were found in possession of three rhino horns. They were identified as Liebelo Erick Manja (31) and Aldrian Masule Musisanyani (41), and both were charged with possession of controlled wildlife products.

The minister of environment and tourism, Pohamba Shifeta, this week hosted a public discussion about rhino and elephant poaching at Ongwediva. It was highlighted that perpetrators of such crimes are part of Namibian society and are sometimes hidden by members of the community. The discussion was part of an information-sharing session by the ministry at the Ongwediva Trade Fair in the Oshana Region.

Rhino poaching in the northwest of Namibia has declined by 80% since it peaked in 2013. This is according to the CEO of Save the Rhino Trust (SRT), Namibia Simson Uri-Khob, who said that even though rhinos are still under threat, the organisation has been making great strides in protecting them in the northwest of the country. "Our tracking teams are dedicated and our intelligence unit is relentless in its pursuit of information that can be used to safeguard our rhinos, while our donors are supportive, which makes the statistics we have to share with you possible."

Well-heeled businessmen are allegedly driving the trade in poached rhino horn in Namibia, using marginal communities as foot soldiers, an amaBhungane/The Namibian investigation has revealed. The role of local entrepreneurs in the horn trade has not previously been highlighted. The popular perception in Namibia is that Chinese nationals are the kingpins in charge of the trade.

The environment ministry's anti-poaching unit has been in limbo for four years, awaiting budget allocations for appointments. Ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda confirmed yesterday there have been no new recruitments to the unit since retired police commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa was officially appointed as its head on 1 August last year. At that stage Kashihakumwa and seven other members were appointed to the vital unit. Muyunda said due financial constraints the ministry has been unable to recruit anyone else to the unit, which will eventually consist of…

One of three suspects, who were denied bail by the Oshakati Magistrate's Court after allegedly being found in possession of two rhino horns, is appealing the decision in the Oshakati High Court. Petrus Mashuna (35) from Iitapa village in Omusati is hoping to reverse the decision by Magistrate Makapa Castro Simasiku to deny him bail.

The illegal hunting of bush meat, or game meat, has long distressed wildlife conservationists. It has persisted in sub-Saharan Africa, attracting international attention and debate. Enforcement by authorities and community-based initiatives have been tried as anti-poaching approaches, but with mixed results. Overall, wildlife populations have continued to plummet. Why has poaching refused to go away? The answer, as suggested by poachers themselves, is simple: Because poaching pays.

A Chinese non-governmental organisation, China House, has taken the initiative to launch a campaign that enhances wildlife conservation amongst the Chinese community. Zoe Huang, director of research and development at China House, said the campaign started on 23 April, and will focus on educating Chinese nationals about wildlife conservation and the consequences of poaching.

A 33-year-old man made his first appearance in the Karibib Magistrate's Court yesterday after he was found in possession of oryx meat believed to have been poached.

Police in the Zambezi region are calling on community members who have a missing relative to come and identify the body of a suspected poacher who was killed during a chase over the weekend in the Bwabwata National Park. Zambezi regional police commissioner Karel Theron yesterday said the man was killed during a shoot-out between the police, members of the anti-poaching unit, and suspected poachers on Saturday.

Africa's rhino population figures are at a critical all-time low. In 2015, Cites reported that only about 19 000 - 21 000 white rhinos and 5  000 - 5 500 black rhinos remain in Africa. Namibia and South Africa have the largest rhino populations, with a total of approximately 2 760 rhinos in Namibia, and 20 300 rhinos in South Africa. Smaller rhino populations can be found in Kenya, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

A Chinese resident of Namibia who was charged with the illegal possession of two rhino horns early last year is off the hook - for now at least - after the charge against him was withdrawn in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court last week.

Karibib District Watch members arrested four suspects on Wednesday night for poaching an oryx in the Wilhelmstal area. An incident report from the Karibib District Watch stated that at around 21h00, gunshots were heard on a farm in the area, suggesting the presence of poachers. Three teams of the watch group's members were immediately dispatched, with the Karibib, Omaruru and Okahandja police called to assist, together with the Omaruru District Watch.