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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The Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism has noticed a concerning uptick in arrests associated with pangolin trafficking between 1 September and 30 November, prompting a mixture of relief and deep concern among authorities. Romeo Muyunda, the ministerial spokesperson, conveyed in a statement that while the rise in apprehensions signifies progress in combating the illicit trade, it also signifies a troubling escalation in crimes linked to pangolins.
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NAM_2023_12_Surge in pangolin trafficking worrisome_Namibian Economist.pdf | 204.69 KB |
The country's anti-poaching and crime prevention initiatives managed to arrest 75 suspects in 106 cases related to rhino poaching in Namibia in 2022, a report released last week noted. The year 2022 saw the most rhinos 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 released report is based on data compiled via the Integrated Database of Wildlife Crime in Namibia, as well as related firsthand information and observations by…
The 2022 poaching statistics show a loss of 210 rhino on state properties and 49 in privately owned parks. As indicated, hardest hit during this period is KwaZulu-Natal which recorded a loss of 133 rhino. This is more than triple the 33 rhino killed in the first six months of 2021.
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SA_2022_09_The war against rhino poachers intensified_Krugerdorp News.pdf | 482.75 KB |
A well-known rhino pair were poached at the Bothongo Rhino and Lion Nature reserve early Wednesday morning. A rhino cow and her calf needlessly lost their lives when they were poached in the Bothongo Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve in the Cradle of Humankind in the early hours of Wednesday, September 15.
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SA_2021_09_Rhino cow and her calf killed by poachers_Krugersdorp News.pdf | 410.96 KB |
Two men recently received a seven-year prison sentence each after they were found guilty on charges of trying to sell an injured pangolin.
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SA_2021_04_Two imprisoned for attempting to sell injured pangolin_Krugersdorp News.pdf | 1.09 MB |
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.
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ZIM_2020-09_Two suspected poachers killed in raid_The Herald.pdf | 344.55 KB |
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.
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ZIM_2020-08_Poachers poison park lions_The Herald.pdf | 382.18 KB |
The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has started using drones to detect poachers as part of improved and technology-based conservation strategies.
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ZIM_2020-08_Drones improve sniffing out poachers_The Herald.pdf | 288.17 KB |
Two black rhinoceroses, whose carcasses were recently found by game scouts in Bubye Valley Conservancy, have been killed by poachers, police have confirmed.
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ZIM_2020-08_Poachers kill two rhinos_The Herald.pdf | 238.45 KB |
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.