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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 - 7 of 7
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.

Monday, 26 February 2024
Morris C 2024. Opportunity lost or covered - Nairobi court acquits Chinese national of wildlife trafficking.

It could have been the proverbial pot of gold. Instead, it became at best, an opportunity lost in the fight against transnational organized wildlife crime. On February 2, a Nairobi area court acquitted Hoang Thi Diu, a female of apparent Vietnamese/Chinese dual citizenship, of charges relating to the dealing and possession of 145 kilograms of ivory, rhino horn, lion's teeth, and claws. Objectively, and considering the evidence before the court, the verdict was not incorrect.

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…

Wednesday, 5 April 2023
Henning D 2023. Wildlife trafficking could return to prepandemic numbers.

As the world returns to post-covid normality, so do its trade routes and the unfortunate consequence of increased wildlife trafficking, experts say.

Sunday, 11 September 2022
Morris C 2022. African courts need to take the lead in trying traffickers.

It was a mistake. Ten tons of ivory and 190 kilograms of rhino horn were sold over a seven-year period, according to the indictment. It was actually much more than that. Much, much more. Moazu Kromah, a Liberian national, had pled guilty in March to three charges relating to wildlife trafficking in Africa. In his letter pleading for leniency submitted to the Southern District of New York, he thanked the court for the opportunity to "give some information about myself and the circumstances that led me to make the mistakes which bring me before you."

Wednesday, 6 April 2022
Henning D 2022. Potential poacher with rifle and axe in Kruger Park sentenced to prison.

A 23-year-old man, Rich Ricardo Chauke, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment after rangers apprehended him with a rifle and an axe in Kruger National Park.

Thursday, 10 March 2022
Henning D 2022. Pangolin trafficking on the rise in Malawi.

As Malawi registers a drop in ivory and rhino horn trafficking, it has noticed an increase in pangolin poaching with related arrests having tripled between 2019 and 2020.

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