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Seven suspects aged between 17 and 47 were arrested for poaching and being in possession of wildlife and weapons. According to a provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, some wildlife species, mostly more than 20 antelope, two hunting rifles, some bush knives, some ammunition and a light delivery vehicle were all confiscated from the Mauchsburg Plantation in Pilgrim’s Rest this morning, Monday December 4, at about 03:00.

The FF Plus called for intensified efforts to curb poaching of wild animals in the Manyeleti Game Reserve, while the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency said the situation had been stabilised after a hectic December of dog poaching and snaring.

An alleged rhino poacher, who has been on the run from authorities since 2019, was rearrested in KaBokweni.

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.

A ranger's job is never done. Even in the midst of the floods the Kruger National Park is currently experiencing, some rangers detained one of their own hiding two other individuals with poaching equipment in their possession.

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.

Shiuhau Chen, a Chinese national, was found guilty on three counts of illegally dealing in rhino horns and contravening the Immigration Act in the Kempton Park Regional Court on Friday January 20.

The Kruger National Park (KNP) expects a decline in rhino poaching incidents due to heavy sentences imposed on five poachers in November. The acting managing executive of the KNP, Dr Danny Govender, commended the Skukuza Regional Court for imposing lengthy jail terms in recent cases and said it shows they are making good progress in fighting rhino poaching.

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.

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.

On-duty field rangers working at the Tshokwane Section of the park spotted two sets of footprints at Sundwini and followed up the trail using tracking dogs. Mohlala said the two men were arrested and found in possession of a high-calibre hunting rifle with a silencer, four rounds of live ammunition, an axe, backpacks and food. "Through an investigation it was discovered that the two are from Mozambique and did not
have valid documentation to be in South Africa." He said they pleaded guilty during their first day in court, and hence were sentenced…

Increased spot checks of vehicles inside the park will check for park offences such as possession of contraband and verification of identities and booking receipts of occupants inside the vehicles. Technologies being implemented include vehicle number plate recognition, remote vehicle monitoring, radar surveillance and night flying with specialised infrared cameras.

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.

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.

SANParks says the proliferation of wire snares in the Lowveld is linked to criminal networks.

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.

A man has been arrested in Hazyview for being in possession of a Pangolin, following a tip-off from a local community member. On Tuesday September 27, a private game reserve near Hazyview received the tip-off that a white Bantam bakkie was driving around town looking for a buyer for the Pangolin which is the world's most trafficked animal species.

A total of 82 rhinos have been poached in the Kruger National Park between January and June this year.

Three men who had allegedly poached the four rhinos and were able to dehorn three of them, appeared in the Bushbuckridge Magistrate's Court on Monday July 4.

Three alleged poachers were arrested in the Kruger National Park after allegedly killing four rhinos on Friday July 1.

It is suspected that setting snares in the Lowveld has increased by 20% from last season while the Kruger National Park has had an increase of 50%.

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.

A 47-year-old man was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment on Friday for illegal poaching. Sam Khoza (47) was apprehended in the Kruger National Park on November 11, 2020, when a shoot-out between field rangers in the park, Khoza and his two accomplices ensued. A statement by a provincial police spokesperson, Brig Selvy Mohlala, said two of the suspects evaded arrest, but Khoza, who sustained some injuries during the shooting, was captured. He was found in possession of a rifle, some ammunition as well as a silencer.

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.

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.

The reopening of the Skukuza Regional Court is producing positive results, with a 100% conviction rate for rhino poachers over the past two years. The court had been closed by the Mpumalanga Regional Court president Naomi Engelbrecht in August 2019, who wanted it to be moved to Mhala Court about 100 kilometres from Skukuza. However, this decision was overruled and the court was reopened again in April 2021.

Sibusiso Mahlaule (29), George Manyise (30) and Rodrigues Ngobeni (34) did not escape the might of the law and were sentenced by the Skukuza Regional Court for poaching on Friday March 11. The three were caught by field rangers in Kruger National Park on April 18, 2021. It was reported that the rangers, working at Pretoriuskop, had discovered some tracks that brought the presence of intruders to their attention.

Mpumalanga's AB Steyn and Limpopo's Dawie Groenewald appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate's Court on February 23 and 24. The pair's previous appearance was on December 10 last year when the case was postponed for the fourth time. Some issues were raised by each of their legal representatives yesterday including that the state was dragging its feet in the case, that the state should be held responsible for the teams' travel costs because of the delays, and that documents were not presented in the way they were supposed to be.

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.

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.

The court case against the alleged poaching kingpin, Joseph "Big Joe" Nyalungu, has been postponed until February 14, 2022, when his trial will expectedly begin in the Skukuza Regional Court. According to Monica Nyuswa, the spokesperson or the National Prosecuting Authority, the trial was postponed because the court’s recording equipment was out of order. Nyalungu would have appeared with his South African co-accused on Tuesday September 21, while the accused from Mozambique were expected to appear on Thursday September 23.

AB Steyn and Dawie Groenewald appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate's Court again on September 17 after they had been arrested in Mbombela on July 20. The pair was arrested for the alleged possession of 19 rhino horns on July 20, and after appearing in court on July 23 for the first time, they were released on bail of R50 000 each. Following their appearance today (September 17) the case was again postponed to December 10 for further investigation.

SANParks and security partners in the Greater Kruger Region are jointly implementing a range of interventions as part of an integrated wildlife management approach to counter the effects of wildlife crime, in particular rhino poaching.

The men were arrested on Wednesday afternoon for the illegal possession of 19 rhino horns.

The Quissama National Park, in Luanda province, has been the preferred area for the practice of poaching of various species there, informed, on Wednesday, the coordinator of the Project to Combat the Illegal Trade of Wildlife and Human Conflict and Wildlife in Angola.

The two men who were arrested for the illegal possession and selling of rhino horns on Wednesday, appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Thursday afternoon. They are Schalk Abraham Steyn (48), better known to Lowvelders as AB, and Limpopo game farmer, Dawid Groenewald (52).

Gunshots ensued when a private walking safari concession came across suspected poachers in the Kruger National Park. SANParks announced today that a suspected poacher was fatally wounded in a contact situation with guides of a private walking safari concession in the Kruger National Park (KNP). The incident took place in the early hours of Friday July 2. The guides were on a walk with one guest when they came across a group of three suspected poachers.

During their investigation of the Bruwer case, the Hawks found that Elliot Sindane (69), Elvis Mlimi (50) and Mabuthi Khoza (35) were implicated on charges of illegal hunting, illegal possession of firearms and illegal rhino horn dealings over a decade ago.

Joseph "Big Joe" Nyalungu, an alleged poaching kingpin, has in the past 10 years racked up numerous charges against him, none for which he has been found guilty or received jail time. His latest court appearance, along with his co-accused, was in the Nelspruit Regional Court. The charges over the years include murder, kidnapping, theft of seven white rhino horns from the Kruger National Park (KNP), using a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, fraud, obstruction of justice, possession of unlicensed firearms and being in possession of stolen property.

The three Kruger National Park employees who were arrested for possession of rhino horns were granted bail in the Bushbuckridge Magistrate's Court last Thursday.

Three Kruger National Park staff members who were arrested for the possession of rhino horns earlier this month are due to appear in the Bushbuckridge Magistrate's Court for bail application today.

We are working with conservation charity Space for Giants to protect wildlife at risk from poachers due to the conservation funding crisis caused by Covid-19. Help is desperately needed to support wildlife rangers, local communities and law enforcement personnel to prevent wildlife crime.

Interactive software that 'reads' and analyzes footprints left by black rhinoceroses can be used to monitor the movements of the animals in the wild, giving conservationists a new way to keep watch on the endangered species and help keep it safe from poachers, according to a new study.

In all, 11 nationals, including firearm suppliers, poachers and game vendors, were arrested last week in Luengue-Luiana National Park, Cuando Cubango province.