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New research identifies 10,443 critically endangered species worldwide, with effective protection strategies available if funding and political will follow. More than 1,500 species, or 15% of the critically endangered species, are estimated to have fewer than 50 mature individuals remaining in the wild. Just 16 countries hold more than half of all critically endangered species, with concentrations across the Caribbean islands, Atlantic coastal regions of South America, the Mediterranean, Cameroon, Lake Victoria, Madagascar and Southeast Asia.

The unprecedented onslaught against South African succulents now includes beautiful and rare clivias, which are being illegally harvested to extinction to supply markets abroad. In 2023, the ENACT organised crime project outlined the global illegal trade in southern Africa’s succulent flora, and suggested ways to strengthen implementation of South Africa's National Response Strategy and Action Plan. In September 2024, guided by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), stakeholders met to consider progress, using ENACT's recommendations as a benchmark.

The Congo rainforest is home to one of Africa's least-known and most threatened monkeys: the golden-bellied mangabey. Golden-bellied mangabeys form extraordinarily large troops of dozens of individuals, and field observations reveal a complex social structure reminiscent of that of humans. The species faces significant threats from habitat loss, hunting and illegal trade, with experts pushing for stronger legal protections, including an upgrade from CITES Appendix II to Appendix I listing.

As two collectors walk down the South Korean nursery's humid aisles, they spot a magnificent specimen. Having collected South African succulents for over two decades, their greenhouse showcases many plants growing in what looks like their natural Succulent Karoo habitat. But they have never seen this species before, and judging from its size, the plant looks decades old. The nursery owner tells them the succulent is a new mother plant used for cultivation and is not for sale. But if they wanted an equally large plant, he could connect them to his broker.

There are worrying signs that the illegal trade is becoming more organised, with professionals and government officials involved.

Bulk shipments by sea accounted for most of the illegal wildlife parts seized by authorities around the world in 2022. The data, from U.S.-based nonprofit C4ADS, also show that seizures of elephant ivory, rhino horn and pangolin scales haven’t yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. However, the decline isn’t uniform across all countries, with China's late reopening from the pandemic this year indicating there might be an increase in trafficking in 2023, especially of ivory. C4ADS has called on law enforcement officials to focus on investigating…

The human rights organisation says citizens are unsafe in police custody. Human rights organisation NamRights says it is becoming increasingly alarmed by widespread allegations of torture and other cruel treatment of ordinary citizens by the Namibian police and other law-enforcement agencies. The executive director of NamRights, Phil Ya Nangoloh, says the organisation has reasonable cause to believe that there is evidence that citizens in general are no longer safe in police custody.

Suspected rhino and elephant poachers have gone missing in Etosha National Park after an alleged shootout with the anti-poaching unit of the Namibian police.

The head of the Namibian Police, Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga, said he would dismiss with contempt any claim that the government does not have a real commitment to root out the poaching of Namibia’s wildlife. “Cabinet has allocated a lot of resources to combat and eradicate poaching. It is a costly exercise. This is an indication of how serious government is,” he stressed. Ndeitunga said it is clear that the poaching of rhinos and elephants in Namibian national parks is a well-orchestrated and well-funded transnational organised crime.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the Namibian Police have requested evidence from Namibia Media Holdings (NMH) as well as the executive director of Namrights, Phil ya Nangoloh, to substantiate allegations of political leaders’ involvement in rhino and elephant poaching. At a joint press briefing on Wednesday, Minister Pohamba Shifeta and police chief Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga requested ya Nangoloh to submit the said evidence before the end of December.

While there is no conclusive evidence of illegal poaching, members of the Tsiseb constituency in the Erongo Region say wildlife in the area is being decimated by unscrupulous elements.