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Namibian Wildlife Crimes article archive

This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:

  • provide easy public access to published information and statistics
  • enable easy stakeholder access to articles
  • provide a comprehensive archive of wildlife crime reporting in Namibia

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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Displaying results 1 - 5 of 5
Sunday, 27 July 2025
Mthethwa C 2025. KZN cops arrest three suspected poachers found with rhino horn and two unlicensed rifles.

Police in KwaZulu-Natal have arrested three suspected poachers who were found in possession of two unlicensed rifles and a rhino horn in Paulpietersburg on Saturday. It’s alleged that the men, aged between 34 and 50, entered a game reserve and stormed up to two security guards while wearing face masks.

Wednesday, 1 January 2025
Xi F, Chao X, Wu S, Zhang F 2025. Curbing the trade in pangolin scales in China by revealing the characteristics of the illegal trade network. Scientific Reports 15

Globally, pangolins are the most heavily trafficked mammals and China is one of the main destinations for their scales and meat. Conducting separate studies on the characteristics of the illegal trade in pangolin meat and in scales in China will provide a basis for devising more targeted protection strategies and actions. This study focused on the illegal pangolin-scale trading network in China by collating relevant cases of smuggling published in China Judgements Online, revealing that most scales came from Africa.

Monday, 1 July 2024
O'Brien C 2024. Radioactive rhinos: conservationists try new anti-poaching trick.

South African conservationists have begun implanting radioactive pellets into the horns of white rhinos in an effort to curb the illegal rhino horn trade. James Larkin, the leader of the project, says the £1,000 pellet is cheaper and less damaging than other anti-poaching measures such as removing the horn. The project takes advantage of the global nuclear surveillance system. Sensors installed at border posts will now be able detect the horns’ radiation and alert the authorities.

Tuesday, 23 April 2024
O'Brien C 2024. Poachers kill two lions and a zebra, using wire snares in a Limpopo ranch.

Police at Lulekani under the Mopani District are investigating a case of illegal poaching of protected wild animals, in an incident where two lions and a zebra were killed. An injured hyena was rescued after it was caught up in a wire snare, in the incident which happened at Genoeg Camp inside Letaba Ranch on Sunday around midnight.

Sunday, 19 November 2023
Mthethwa C 2023. Former Kruger National Park field ranger sentenced to 10 years for rhino killing.

A former field ranger, tasked with protecting wildlife, has been sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for killing a rhino in the Nwanetsi section of the Kruger National Park in 2020. Eckson Musa Matumbu was sentenced at the Skukuza Regional Court on Friday. According to the South African National Parks (SANParks), Matumbu was arrested in February 2020 for killing a rhino with an official firearm issued to him and using non-issued ammunition. He was initially granted bail, which was later cancelled; the case was remanded to October 2023 for conviction and…

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