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 tusks had a street value of more than Sh8 million, officials said In Summary: Despite a ban on the international trade in ivory, African elephants are still being poached in large numbers; As part of efforts to stop the crime, Kenya has started using high-tech surveillance equipment including drones to track poaching gangs. Two men including a Tanzanian national were arrested while transporting 81.7 kilograms of elephant tusks in Mukaa area, Makueni County.
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KEN_2023_05_Tanzanian among 2 arrested with 81 kilos of elephant tusks in Makueni_The Star.pdf | 366.1 KB |
The latest reports from national governments and agencies reveal (so far) that approximately 548 rhinos were poached in Africa last year. Overall, the total is a slight increase compared to 2021, when 539 rhinos were poached. This is a significant change from 2013 - 2017, when more than 1,000 rhinos were killed each year, yet it’s still dangerously high. On average, one rhino is still poached every 16 hours. Most of the rhinos poached last year were killed in Namibia and South Africa. In both countries, poachers have shifted their focus to new places.
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AFR_2023_03_548 rhinos poached in 2022_Save the Rhino.pdf | 350.64 KB |
Rhino poaching is driven by the demand for rhino horn in Asian countries. In Summary: They were arrested in September last year with a firearm and ammunition at a game farm with the aim of slaughtering rhinos to extract their horns for commercial purposes. This is the second time that a hunter of a protected species has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
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MOZ_2022_11_Mozambicans jailed for 30 years for rhino hunting_The Star.pdf | 425.34 KB |
Namibia is experiencing a surge in poaching, with the number of poached rhinoceros rising to 48 this year, Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said Wednesday. In a statement, Muyunda said of the poached rhinoceros, 32 were black rhinoceros and 16 were white rhinoceros.
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NAM_Rhinoceros poaching surges in Namibia_The Star.pdf | 348.34 KB |
DCI detectives based at the Serious Crimes Unit on Tuesday arrested three suspects in Kinango, Kwale County, after being found in possession of a male pangolin.
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NIG_2022_08_DCI arrests 3 suspects found in possession of pangolin in Kwale_The Star.pdf | 505.61 KB |
Kwale police have arrested two men who were illegally in possession of a pangolin. The two were nabbed at Malomani area in Samburu sub-county.
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KEN_2022_06_Kwale police arrest two illegal pangolin hunters_The Star.pdf | 645.82 KB |
Since the beginning of 2022, more than 100 rhinos have been poached in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province. This staggering toll compares to 102 rhinos poached in the Province during the whole of 2021, and 93 in the whole of 2020. Unless this trend is urgently reversed, 2022 could end with a new KZN poaching record, going beyond the horrific 222 rhino poaching deaths recorded in 2017. The recent increase in poaching in KZN is likely due to several factors. First, there has been a devastating decline in the number of rhinos in the Kruger National Park.
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SA_2022_06_What is going on in KwaZulu_Natal_South Africa_Savetherhino.pdf | 410.4 KB |
The charge sheet says the tusks weighed three kilograms, worth Sh300,000.
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KEN_2022_02_Man in court for trying to sell Sh300 000 tusks to cops_The Star.pdf | 779.39 KB |
Two suspected poachers were on Thursday arrested in Korinda junction in Busia county. Police acted on a tip-off from members of the public and nabbed the two men, 60-year-old Mohamed Abbas and a 70-year-old Paul Wafula Njoka. The suspects were using a motorbike with registration number KMEV721N in their operation. The police recovered the haul after conducting a search. They took them as exhibits together with the motorbike. The two suspects were taken to Busia Police station as they wait to be arraigned to answer to charges.
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KEN_2022_01_Two suspected poachers arrested_14 pieces of ivory recovered_The Star.pdf | 469.51 KB |
Kenya Wildlife Service wardens in Laikipia on Wednesday evening arrested four suspected poachers and recovered four pieces of elephant ivories weighing 76 kilogrammes.
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KEN_2021_10_Four suspected poachers arrested with 76kg ivory_The Star.pdf | 395.1 KB |
At least five white rhinos were killed and dehorned on different occasions in November, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks in Botswana confirmed Thursday.
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BOT_2020-12_Five white rhinos killed by poachers in November in Botswana_The Star.pdf | 79.96 KB |
As we now know, Botswana is home to a third of Africa's declining elephant population. But, over the last two months, 350 elephant carcasses have been spotted in the Okavango Delta since the start of May. It is a serious worry that over 350 elephants have died with no clear reason and indeed a conservation disaster.
The world looks at this mysterious deaths and needs to know the real cause of the mass loss of elephants, and what should be done to stop this unnatural disaster, one thing the deaths are unrelated to drought.
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BOT_2020-07_The stronghold for Africass elephants is under certain threat_The Star.pdf | 246.64 KB |
Guyanese finches are almost always smuggled in hair curlers from Guyana to New York, while pig-nosed turtles are trafficked in high amounts, declared as a marine species, and flown from a regional Indonesian airport to Jakarta before flying to China. The greatest variation in wildlife trafficking in air transport doesn’t necessarily occur between regions but between the species or wildlife products trafficked, the specific methods used with the routes taken by wildlife traffickers heavily dependent on wildlife type, says the Runway to Extinction report:…