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Tawanda Kakora of Nyamaropa Village in Mt Darwin will spend the next nine years in jail afer he was arrested while trying to sell a live pangolin. Kakora (34) of Nyamaradzo Village under Chief Nembire was sentenced to a mandatory nine-year jail term afer being convicted on charges of possession or selling a live pangolin. In passing sentence, Bindura magistrate Mrs Nomgugu Sibanda said there were no special circumstances warranting the court to be lenient. The prosecutor, Mr Carson Kundiona proved that on September 30, detectives from…

Three poachers were caught red-handed with a hunting rifle fitted with a silencer and ammunition in the Kruger National Park (KNP). According to KNP spokesperson Isaac Phaahla, the arrests were made in the Stolznek Section on Tuesday. In the first six months of 2023 a total of 231 rhinos were killed in South Africa at an average of just under 1.3 rhinos per day.

The courts have intensified the fight to combat breaches of wildlife laws with the Harare Magistrates Court dedicating Court 5 to deal with such issues, acting Deputy Prosecutor General Mr Michael Reza said yesterday. He told the Zimbabwe Animal Law conference in Harare yesterday that since the beginning of the year, nine cases have been completed while 12 new cases have been recorded. From January 2020 to date, 45 cases involving breaches of the parks and wildlife law have been prosecuted at the Harare Magistrates Court, and Mr …

Six suspected poachers have been arrested in separate incidents in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls with the police recovering four ivory tusks and 10,5kg of kudu meat. The arrest comes afer the police declared war on poaching syndicates countrywide. In a statement, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the arrests.

A suspect has been arrested after being found with two endangered pangolins inside his home in Kuruman in the Northern Cape.

Two suspected poachers believed to be part of a syndicate involved in wildlife crimes have been arrested in Chiredzi and police recovered pangolin scales, lion teeth and hyena teeth.

Lion bones are used to replace tiger bones in fortified tiger wine and Traditional Chinese Medicines. Lion bones are also carved into jewellery. South Africa's legal trade of lion bones to Asia has opened up a fast growing illegal trade of the animal carcass. On Friday, a 43 year old man was arrested for the illegal possession of lion bones destined for Asia.

A 32-year-old poacher, Freedom Siyabonga Ndlovu, was sentenced to 32 years of direct imprisonment for offences related to poaching by the Skukuza Regional Court. The accused had a hand in the killing of three rhinos.

Two suspected poachers who were selling four ivory tusks have appeared in court.

This past weekend, police have seized large quantities of abalone in the Eastern Cape and Free State with both consignments allegedly heading to Bloemfontein. In the latest arrest, a 46-year-old suspect was apprehended and police recovered abalone worth over R1 million.

Four men were arrested for allegedly attempting to sell two endangered pangolins for R200 000 in Mahikeng, North West.

Police arrested 26-year-old man on the N6 Road with 16 refuse bags filled with abalone.

In an unrelated incident, an integrated operation led to the arrest of two suspects in Gansbaai on Friday, 17 February 2023. The team set up a vehicle checkpoint on the R43 between Gansbaai and Stanford and stopped a suspicious minibus taxi. They searched the vehicle and the occupants and confiscated 3608 units of abalone. This has an estimated to have a street value of R1.4 million.

A 47-year-old accused will appear in the Kabokweni Magistrate Court on Tuesday, 7 February 2023, after his DNA was linked to rhino horns found during a search and seizure operation.

The police in the Eastern Cape are searching for poachers who shot, killed, and dehorned two rhinos on a safari farm in Paterson on Wednesday evening, 1 February.

Police said four women are in custody for the possession of lion cubs they were selling in Boksburg North.

A South African immigrant Brent Johan Lunt was yesterday acquitted on charges involving possession of
four rhino horns worth US$240 000 without a licence after the High Court found merit in his application for
review of the trial court proceedings that put him on his defence even though the horns had not been proved

In Victoria Falls, police have arrested Listed Munkuli (35), Kudakwashe Ndlovu (31), Darlington Moyo (35) and Simon Nyoni (45) for unlawful possession of ivory at Mhizha Turn-off in the Matsetsi area. Two elephant tasks totalling 4,28kg, 15 lion claws and four lion teeth were recovered from the suspects. In another case, police and Zimbabwe National Parks Management Authority rangers, acting on a tip-off, arrested Evidence Moyo (22) for poaching. The suspect trapped and killed a male buffalo in the bush near the Victoria Falls dump site.

Two men from Zvishavane and their friend from Goromonzi appeared in court yesterday on allegations of illegally possessing four pieces of raw Ivory worth US$6 426 they intended to trade in Harare.

Another man has been arrested for illegal ivory dealing, being found trying to sell 21 pieces of ivory from his house in Gutu.

Five people were arrested in Midrand, Gauteng for pangolin trafficking and contravening the National Environmental Management-Biodiversity (NEMBA) Act. The Hawks pounced on the suspects after receiving a tip-off.

A 59-year-old Masvingo farmer yesterday appeared in court after he was found in possession of 52 crocodile skins worth US$78 000, without a licence.

Both of the convicted rhino poachers had entered the Kruger National Park, and one of them was found to be in the country illegally.

A suspected poacher was shot and killed at Malilangwe Conservancy Trust in Chiredzi during a gunfight with game scouts on Saturday and while his two accomplices escaped the scouts did recover a rifle and ammunition.

There is an urgent need to step up the fight against wildlife crime and human-induced reduction of species, which have wide-ranging economic, environmental and social impacts in the country, Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndhlovu says.

Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) spokesperson in the Western Cape said the elephant ivory dealer entered into a plea agreement with the State. The court sentenced Ziwande, 38, to "a fine of R10 000 wholly suspended for five years" for the offence, said Hani. He pleaded guilty to one charge under the Contravention of Section 42(1)(b). Ziwande was arrested on 14 May 2021, after the police’s Crime Intelligence provided the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team in Cape Town with a tip-off.

Poaching syndicates have killed at least two rhinoceros this month and are suspected of moving around the country targeting the animals and cutting off their horns. The rhino is targeted for its horn in the underground, illegal wildlife markets, particularly in Asia, where dubious cultural beliefs drive demand. In the latest killing, police in Bikita discovered on Sunday a carcass of a white rhino buried in a pit in a bushy area with some body parts missing

A 25-year-old man was convicted and sentenced by Kuruman Regional Court after trying to sell a pangolin for R200 000.

There has been a great improvement in the handling of wildlife crimes in the country's courts of law following an accelerated mentorship drive for prosecutors and magistrates on the subject, a wildlife rights proponent has said.

A nurse aide at Siyakobvu Hospital in Kariba was today fined $20 000 for possessing a leopard skin worth $2 308 400, which he was selling in Harare's Central Business District.

Swift justice has been meted out for this unfortunate smuggler on Wednesday, after he was promptly arrested at OR Tambo for being in possession of no more than eleven separate rhino horn packages.

A South African immigrant and a local man found in possession of four pieces of rhino horns worth US$240 000 without a licence have been acquitted after the High Court found that the prosecution failed to prove its case against them.

A nurse aide at Siyakobvu Hospital in Kariba appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court on allegations of possessing a leopard skin worth $2 308 400, which he was selling in Harare's Central Business District.

Three youths had a running battle with three policemen who attempted to arrest them for poaching, Bulawayo Regional Court was told yesterday.

Police in Chiredzi have arrested four suspected poachers and recovered five impala carcasses worth over
US$5 000 as they intensify their crackdown on poachers countrywide.

Police in Mashonaland East Province have arrested three suspects for poaching in Eldorado farm in Macheke.

A rhino horn trader has been sentenced to 14 years in jail, the longest ever prison term a Vietnamese court has handed down for the crime, a local conservation group said on Wednesday. Vietnam is both a consumption hub and popular transit point for the multi-billion-dollar trade in animal parts. Authorities have long vowed to stem the flow of illegal wildlife crisis-crossing its borders, but experts have warned the black market persists thanks to weak law enforcement.

Two men appeared in court today on allegations of illegally possessing elephant tusks worth US$2 497 they intended to trade in Harare's city centre. Nkululeko Chuma (40) and Tawenga Dandambira (40) appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs Tafadzwa Miti charged with unlawful possession of unmarked raw ivory.

The 38-year-old poacher was sentenced to 19 years behind bars after a white rhinoceros was killed in Lower Sabie in 2014.

Two men have been arrested in Bulawayo after they were found in possession of 18,25kg of ivory worth thousands of dollars.

An official from the North West Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism will appear in the Mmabatho Magistrate’s Court on Monday 11 October after he was arrested in connection with illegal rhino horn trade. The official and the owner of a security company were arrested on Thursday afternoon in relation to alleged contraventions of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, the Rhino Norms and Standards, and contravention of permit conditions.

A 34-year old policeman is recovering in hospital after he was shot and injured during a shootout with rhino poachers in Vredefort in the Free State on Tuesday night.

At least 249 rhinos were killed in the first six months of this year in South Africa. The bulk of the killings happened at the Kruger National Park, where 132 rhinos were killed.

Four men were each jailed for nine years after they were convicted of illegally possessing raw ivory which they intended to trade in Harare sometime last year.

Members of the Hawks Organised Investigation Unit searched a vehicle and found rhino horns that suspects were attempting to sell. "The pair were arrested during a buy and bust operation where they allegedly attempted to sell the horns. The suspects' vehicle was searched and two rhino horns worth approximately R2.4 million were found," Rikhotso said.

Two Mbire men have appeared at the Guruve Magistrates Court after being arrested in possession of 34kg of ivory and looking for a buyer.