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.
Explore your search results using the filter checkboxes, or amend your search or start a new search.
Two men are expected to appear in the Vryheid magistrate's court after they were arrested with two rhino horns and a rie hidden in their car's engine compartment. KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Lt-Col Nqobile Gwala said ofcers acted on information about the suspects and spotted their vehicle on the R34 travelling towards Vryheid and a high-speed chase ensued.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2024_19_Police arrest two men with rhino horns after high_speed car chase_Timeslive.pdf | 414.61 KB |
A high-speed chase forced three suspects to abandon their vehicle, rhino horn, communications tower battery, silencer, firearm and ammunition while evading arrest. They were intercepted by Volksrust, Mpumalanga, police conducting a stop and search operation at 10pm in Mandela Drive on Monday, police said.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2023_10_Rhino horn traffickers foiled_TimesLive.pdf | 233.67 KB |
A poacher from Mozambique has been convicted and sentenced to 22 years in prison for killing two rhinos in the Kruger National Park.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2023_07_Poacher sentenced to 22 years in prison for killing two rhinos_TimesLive.pdf | 223.52 KB |
Satellite-tagged vultures uncover two suspected poisoning incidents near Kafue National Park. Conservation groups alongside Africa Parks and Zambia's Department of National Parks and Wildlife have been using a myriad of tools to protect Kafue's wildlife, including deploying some 40 anti-poaching patrol teams. One of the more innovative approaches is tagging white-backed and hooded vultures with satellite trackers to quickly alert wildlife managers of poached or poisoned carcasses.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZAM_2023_06_Vulture surveillance system alerts Zambian park to poachers_TimesLive.pdf | 242 KB |
A 33-year-old man has been jailed for five years after being caught transporting rhino horns to Johannesburg on June 22 last year.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2023_02_Man jailed for five years for possession of rhino horns_TimesLive.pdf | 229.63 KB |
The number of endangered rhinos poached in Namibia reached an all-time high last year after 87 animals were killed compared to 45 in 2021, official government data showed on Monday. The ministry of environment, forestry and tourism spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said poachers killed 61 black and 26 white rhinos mainly in Namibia's largest park, Etosha, where 46 rhinos were found dead.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2023_01_Namibia rhino poaching surged 93 percent in 2022_Times Live.pdf | 228.55 KB |
In August 2019, the rangers were doing their daily routine in Stolznek section using a helicopter when the accused were spotted. They were found in possession of a firearm, ammunition and hunting weapons and were arrested. In aggravation of sentence, prosecutor Lot Mgiba handed in a ballistics report which revealed the firearm that was found in his possession was meant to poach rhinos. Though Sithlangu was sentenced to 14 years for these offences, the court ordered that the terms run concurrently, resulting in an effective 11-year jail term.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_11_Poacher arrested in Kruger Park sentenced to 11 years_TimesLive.pdf | 245.49 KB |
Four men have appeared in court after allegedly being found in possession of two rhino horn and a rifle silencer in Sannieshof, North West, on Tuesday night.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_10_Four in court for possession of rhino horn and rifle silencer_TimesLive.pdf | 311.15 KB |
The public has been cautioned not to approach the seven men who escaped through an open window from a Makhanda (Grahamstown) prison during the early hours on Tuesday as they are considered to be dangerous. The department of correctional services and the police are hunting for the seven inmates, all in prison for serious offences, including rhino poaching, murder and robbery.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_10_Seven escape from Makhanda prison through open window_TimesLive.pdf | 518.66 KB |
The US has imposed sanctions against a Malaysian group, accusing it of engaging in "the cruel trafficking of endangered and threatened wildlife and the products of brutal poaching". The Treasury department said on Friday it has designated Malaysian national Teo Boon Ching, the Teo Boon Ching wildlife trafficking transnational criminal organisation and Malaysian company Sunrise Greenland. Teo Boon Ching specialises in the transportation of rhino horn, ivory and pangolins from Africa. It uses routes through Malaysia and Laos to reach customers in Vietnam and China, the department…
Law enforcement agencies globally must address rhino horn trafficking as transnational organised crime, with an increased focus on the higher-level actors in the supply chain. This was the main message that emerged from a joint webinar hosted by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) SA and the Wildlife Justice Commission to mark World Rhino Day on Thursday. Malaysian customs officials say they have seized a stash of rare animal parts worth $18 million thought to have come from Africa, including elephant tusks, rhino horns and pangolin scales.
As the world celebrates Rhino Day on Thursday, anti-poaching organisation Saving the World has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to acknowledge allegations of bribery against suspended KwaZulu-Natal regional court president Eric Nzimande. World Rhino Day seeks to create awareness of and find new ways to stop poaching, and keep the endangered species from extinction.
A tourist who heard gunshots in the Kruger National Park helped rangers arrest three suspected poachers after they allegedly killed and dehorned rhinos.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_07_Tourist helps nab alleged rhino poachers in the Kruger National Park_TimesLive.pdf | 421.17 KB |
Three men convicted on 12 charges related to rhino poaching have been sentenced to a combined 63 years in prison.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_05_Court hands down combined 63_year sentence to three rhino poachers_TimesLive.pdf | 377.02 KB |
A South African woman leaving the country for Dubai was nabbed this week with 12 rhino horns in her luggage at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, according to the SA Revenue Service (Sars).
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_04_SA woman bound for Dubai nabbed with a dozen rhino horns at OR Tambo_TimesLive.pdf | 399.4 KB |
Two poachers caught with a high-powered rifle and poaching equipment close to the carcasses of two rhinos have each been sentenced to 23 years in jail. The Mozambicans were arrested in the Satara section of the Kruger National Park in May 2019 by rangers.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_02_Mozambican rhino poachers in Kruger National Park hit with hefty jail terms_TimesLive.pdf | 371.31 KB |
A former KwaZulu-Natal cop has been convicted and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for a 2018 incident in which he was found in possession of an unlicensed firearm and rhino horns.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_02_Former KZN cop gets 10 years for rhino poaching_TimesLive.pdf | 632.21 KB |
Two suspected rhino poachers were arrested on a farm in Vierfontein in the Free State on Thursday, provincial police said.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021_08_Suspected rhino poachers arrested in the Free State_TimesLive.pdf | 441.7 KB |
They were bust with about R500,000 worth of rhino horn. The regional court in Gqeberha sentenced Jonathan Jeremy Perring, 37, Keanon Terblanche, 28, and Christo Shaun Swartz, 30, on Thursday.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021_07_Trio slapped with three_year jail sentences for rhino horn theft_Times Lives.pdf | 478.8 KB |
SA National Parks (SANParks) on Friday welcomed the 23-year prison sentence handed to a rhino poacher by the Skukuza regional court prosecuting team. Alsony Alberto Valoyi, an illegal immigrant from Mozambique, pleaded guilty to six charges related to rhino poaching after being arrested inside the Kruger National Park (KNP) in November 2016.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021_06_Kruger National Park rhino poacher gets 23_year sentence_Times Live.pdf | 378.91 KB |
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, funded and supported by conservation NGO Wildlife ACT, dehorned the white rhino population in Spioenkop Nature Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal over three days, making it one of the biggest rhino dehorning operations in the province. On Wednesday, Wildlife ACT, a registered non-profit organisation established to save Africa's iconic and endangered species from extinction, explained that dehorning of rhino populations was adopted as an effective tool in the fight to save the species from increasing poaching threats.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021_04_White rhino population at KZN nature reserve dehorned_Times Live.pdf | 529.73 KB |
Benoni K9 officers have foiled an illegal sale of a rhino horn. Two suspects aged 38 and 39 were arrested. They were trying to sell the horn along the roadside on Lionel Street, Benoni, east of Johannesburg. Police seized the horn, valued at R80,000, as well as the Mercedes-Benz vehicle they were using.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021_03_Roadside bust Duo caught selling rhino horn in Benoni_Times Live.pdf | 242.09 KB |
The Hawks have arrested two men after they were found in possession of rhino horn and suspected stolen property in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021_02_Two men bust with rhino horn in Eastern Cape restaurant_Times Live.pdf | 447.4 KB |
Rhino horns weighing more than 70kg were discovered in chicken food mixture in a warehouse in Kempton Park in December. The Hawks arrested a 36-year-old man in Gauteng at the weekend for being a suspected rhino horn dealer.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2021_01_Police arrest suspected rhino horn dealer in Gauteng_Times Live.pdf | 372.67 KB |
Caracals living in Noordhoek wetlands are under siege from all sides, facing considerable threats to their survival. This nocturnal and elusive wild cat native to Africa has become a prime target for ruthless poachers who capture them for bushmeat or sell their body parts on the illegal wildlife black market. Caracals also face increased habitat loss and lack of habitat connectivity.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2020-12_Caracals under seize from poachers infiltrating Noordhoek Wetlands_Network for Animals.pdf | 962.96 KB |
As international borders reopen, the government has warned game reserves around SA to prepare for a possible resurgence in rhino poaching. Because of this threat, hundreds of rhinos in game reserves in the North West have been dehorned to protect them from poachers. Dehorning involves tracking the animals and darting them before removing their horns while they are sedated. Tracking the rhinos requires two helicopters and teams of people on the ground.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2020-10_Dehorned is better than dead_rangers race to protect rhinos as borders reopen_Timeslive.pdf | 271.92 KB |
Sixteen suspects who were arrested will appear in the Hofmeyr magistrate's court on Tuesday to face a charge of illegal hunting. The 16 suspects, who range between the ages of 23 and 48 years, were arrested on Sunday for illegal hunting on the farm Gruisheuwel, in the Hofmeyr district.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2020-05_Sixteen to appear in court for hunting springbok with dogs and knives_TimesLIVE.pdf | 475.91 KB |