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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.
Explore your search results using the filter checkboxes, or amend your search or start a new search.
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.
Kruger rangers face armed poachers daily while investigating elephant killings and recent poaching camps in a 2-million-hectare wilderness. Rangers undergo six-week intensive training, including 15km bush patrols and survival skills, but job opportunities are limited by budget constraints
Rangers say poachers are starving young men who kill animals for meat, not traditional medicine, and dry the meat inside the park. More than 120 vultures were poisoned after eating meat from a dead elephant laced with toxic chemicals used by poachers. Hungry and desperate, people living near Kruger National Park are turning to poaching to survive. About 80% of the population in the area depend on illegal hunters who sneak into the park to kill wild animals for food. The meat is either eaten or sold to local butchers who pass it on to poor community members at low prices.
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| SA_2025_07_South Africa_Hungry poachers killing Kruger animals for meat_All Africa.pdf | 86.95 KB |
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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| SA_2023_11_Former Kruger National Park field ranger sentenced to 10 years for rhino killing_News24.pdf | 158.94 KB |
Six Zimbabwean nationals, found guilty of rhino poaching, appeared at the Makhanda High Court on Wednesday, 14 June 2023, for their long-awaited sentencing. The six felons were first arrested in July 2018. Almost five years after their arrest, Francis Chitiyo, Trymore Chauke, Misheck Chauke, Simba Masinge, Nhamo Muyambo, and Abraham Moyane have been sentenced to between 16 to 20 years for conspiracy to kill rhinos so that they could steal their horns and for possession of an unlawful firearm and ammunition.
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| SA_2023_06_Six rhino poachers sentenced to between 16 to 20 years_Grocotts Mail.pdf | 402.32 KB |