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In recent years, traders in west Africa have used social media to advertise wild meat directly and connect with customers. Platforms like TikTok and Facebook act as online storefronts linked to physical markets, enabling sellers to reach much larger audiences than they would have by selling at traditional stalls. This change is bringing new, often urban, buyers into the market and altering how wild meat is sold and the overall scale of the trade. A screenshot of a wild meat TikTok channel. Supplied We are wildlife researchers studying the trade in wild animals in west Africa.

Globally, one in five plants are close to extinction. That is equivalent to 40% of our flora vanishing in the next decades. The global demand for endemic and rare plant species has increased because many covet them for their aesthetics and ornamental use. In southern Africa countries such as Namibia, which has about 400 to 700 endemic plant species, they are significantly targeted by plant poachers. A prominent Namibian botanist, Antje Burke, believes some Namibian succulent plants are under more threat of extinction than black rhinos.

EAGLE Côte d'Ivoire - 2 traffickers arrested with 32kg ivory. The ivory, concealed in a rice sack, was trafficked from Liberia. The Burkina Faso National trafficker denounced the other for being a known big ivory trafficker.

Two Zimbabwean men have earned themselves jail time after being caught in possession of a pangolin, a specially protected species, without a permit. The pair were arrested on 10 July in a joint operation conducted by the police's Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit in Musina and private security. Abednego Nyathi (51) and Personal Sibanda (41), both from the Mangwe District in Zimbabwe, were arrested and charged on two counts. Count 1 was for contravening the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, Act 10 of 2004, by being in possession of a specially protected…

In what is being treated as another poaching incident, game rangers at a private reserve near Paulpietersburg discovered two dead rhinos and a third one wounded on Monday. The horns of the two dead rhinos had been removed. This gruesome discovery follows a previous incident at the same reserve on July 25, when rhinos were also targeted by poachers. In connection with that case, three men - Simanga Mnguni (42), Betwell Baloye (27) and Muziwakhe Nkosi (38) - were arrested and scheduled to face a bail hearing in the Vryheid District Court on August 14.

A Chinese national caught with rhino horns worth over US$240,000 has been sentenced to an effective 18-year jail term. Cong Yanzhong (57) was convicted of unlawfully dealing in wildlife when he appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court for sentencing this Wednesday. He was facing two counts of wildlife trafficking. It was the State's case that on July 16, 2025, police detectives received a tip-off to the effect that a Chinese national was involved in illegal wildlife products.

African pangolins are heavily hunted to meet the international demand for scales as well as for their meat in the local bushmeat trade. But how much each contributes to the hunting of these beleaguered mammals in various parts of Nigeria, a trafficking hub, is unclear. For a recent study, researchers interviewed more than 800 hunters and meat vendors in southeast Nigeria, a poaching hotspot, and found that hunters almost always hunt pangolins opportunistically, mostly for their meat rather than their scales.

The illegal wildlife trade threatens many species worldwide but also jeopardizes local communities' well-being and livelihoods, breaks down law and order in society, compromises people’s safety and security, and promotes corruption, a new op-ed argues. Organized criminal networks typically depend on vulnerable, cash-poor people in local communities to capture and transport wildlife across borders, but even when they’re not caught, the damage to their families and communities can be great.

A couple of things come to mind from this state of affairs. The first is that some provincial governments did not do their jobs. The second is that there are concerns about past overestimates. After two consecutive years of growing numbers, the population of white rhinos in Africa declined significantly in 2024 in the face of poaching and other factors such as drought and past overcounts, according to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

A Vietnamese national has been arrested in Thailand after X-rays showed suspicious shapes inside a series of logs he was bringing into the country through the airport, officials said. The man, who was not identified, arrived at the Suvarnabhumi Airport from Angola on Sept. 6, according to a Sept. 7 Facebook post from the Thailand Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.

Tourism operators, however, warn of damage to rhino habitats. Ultimate Safaris secured High Court interdicts in October and December 2024 to halt mining, arguing it would threaten endangered black rhinos and harm the tourism industry. Four black rhinos were translocated to the Sorris Sorris conservancy under the Black Rhino Custodianship Scheme between 2005 and 2010, while another operator held a mining licence in the same area until 2019 without facing court action.

Rhino poaching persists despite a slight decrease worldwide over the last three years, driven by relentless demand for their horns in East Asia, according to a recent report by TRAFFIC and the IUCN. Three of the world's five rhino species are still in decline, the report finds, with white rhinos in Africa dwindling to an almost two-decade low. Greater one-horned rhinos in India and Nepal are recovering well, while Indonesia's Javan and Sumatran rhinos - both critically endangered species - continue to teeter on the brink of extinction.

Safeguarding Namibia's Natural Heritage: Minister Indileni Daniel Visits Zambezi's Conservation Frontlines Zambezi Region, Namibia, August 27, 2025 In a show of commitment to Namibia's environmental stewardship, the Hon. Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Indileni Daniel, undertook an official visit to several key conservation sites in the Zambezi Region this week. Accompanied by Executive Director Mr. Sikongo Haihambo and a delegation of ministry officials, the Minister toured Nkasa Rupara, Mudumu, and Bwabwata National Parks, as well as the Kongola Forestry Office…

Three suspects were shot and fatally wounded in a shootout with police in the early hours of Wednesday, 31 January 2024. Police received intelligence that a group involved in serious crimes including murders committed in the Inanda area were hiding at the Lungelani Informal Settlement in La Mercy. A team comprising of various police disciplines including members of the Hawks descended on the location. Realising that they were surrounded, the suspects opened fire at the police and a shootout ensued.

Police arrest six suspected rhino poachers in Limpopo and Gauteng; recover horns, guns and ammunition.

Katima Mulilo - Three individuals, Nyambe Calvin Matomola, John Mwelwa, and Nziye Lusinyize, have been brought before the Katima Mulilo Magistrate's Court for alleged possession of controlled wildlife products. The trio was apprehended with a total of 39 elephant tusks, leading to their court appearance on Tuesday. Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism spokesperson, Romeo Muyunda, revealed that Matomola, along with seven Zambian nationals, was caught with 24 tusks after smuggling them into Namibia via the Zambezi Region.

Two businessmen and a farmer of Lusaka have been taken to court for illegal possession of a live pangolin, one of the most tracked mammal in the world, valued at over K23, 000. Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy, while their scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine as they are believed to treat a range of ailments from asthma to rheumatism and arthritis.

It's not rocket science. Harsher sentences - both locally and abroad - need to be dished out to those who poach rhinos for their horns, or smuggle those horns to other countries. The South African government reported 448 rhinos were killed across the country in 2022 - just three fewer than the previous year. It's welcoming to hear a Singapore court on Friday sentenced Gumede Sthembiso Joel, a 33- year-old South African man, to two years in jail for smuggling rhino horns. It was the heaviest sentence handed down by the city state for trafcking wildlife parts.

One of Algoa Bay’s most valuable resources is being poached and plundered at an alarming rate. Nelson Mandela Bay has experienced a string of perlemoen-related incidents over the past few days, with experts in the field saying the illegal trade of this protected shellfish is now at an all-time high.

In a crucial operation towards wildlife protection, a Mozambican national has been arrested at Namwera, Mangochi, charged with the illegal possession of a protected wildlife species. The arrest, a serious violation of section 110(b) of the National Parks and Wildlife Act, signifies the ongoing fight against wildlife trafficking, a crime increasingly crossing national boundaries and threatening global biodiversity. Caught in the act was 26-year-old Moses Paul Banda, a Mozambican citizen.

Two men are expected to appear in the Vryheid magistrate's court after they were arrested with two rhino horns and a rie hidden in their car's engine compartment. KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Lt-Col Nqobile Gwala said ofcers acted on information about the suspects and spotted their vehicle on the R34 travelling towards Vryheid and a high-speed chase ensued.

The police constable and a civilian had been arrested in Nairobi West and Eastleigh with the cargo on Sunday. They had tried to sell the trophies to Kenya Wildlife Service ocials who had posed as potential buyers.

Three Hurungwe men who captured themselves on camera killing an elephant using traditional weapons and dogs yesterday appeared before Kariba magistrate accused of hunting or removing any animal or part of the animal in a safari area without a permit. Francis Chigomararwa (30), Simeon Kezias (23) and Arthur Murimbika (24) all from Nyamakate area are also facing another charge of killing a buffalo.The accused were unlucky when a video went viral of them killing an elephant after setting their dogs on it before attacking it using spears and axes.

Bei Outjo mehren sich weiterhin die Vorfälle von Kriminalität auf Farmen. Wie Rolf Wagner und Erika Zamzow von der Farm Moselle gegenüber der AZ berichteten, haben Unbekannte im vergangenen Dezember Solarinstallationen und Pumpen von fünf Wasserstellen der Farm gestohlen. Die Farm arbeite eng mit der Anti-Wilderei-Einheit Nyime zusammen, die die Diebe "über fast 30 Kilometer bis zur Teerstraße Outjo-Khorixas verfolgt" hätten. Die Diebe seien nicht gefasst, aber nahezu alle gestohlenen Teile sichergestellt worden.

Die 49-jarige Leon Schiffer het Maandag in die landdroshof op Maltahöhe verskyn. Hy word van stropery in die Namib-Naukluft Nasionale Park (in die Sesriem-distrik) aangekla. Luidens verlede naweek se polisieverslag is Schiffer op 5 Januarie omstreeks 10:00 saam met nog 'n verdagte (32) in hegtenis geneem - volgens inligting van die landdroskantoor in Maltahöhe was dit 'n sekere "Gariseb". Die twee het glo nege gemsbokke gestroop.

Dit gaan baie goed met Venasha, die renosterkalfie wat in Oktober 2022 by die Rhino Momma-projek aangekom het, nadat sy deur haar ma verwerp is. Volgens Juliette Erdtsieck, haar versorger van die afgelope 19 maande, bly Venasha onder meer saam met drie renosterkoeie en hul kalwers in 'n kamp. "Sy word nou regtig baie groot en is 'n regte renoster! Sy het op 26 November haar laaste bottel melk gekry en aan die einde van die jaar is sy na die groot kamp verskuif," sê Juliette. Die Rhino Momma-projek in Namibië het in 2022 in een maand twee wees-renosterkalfies gekry.

Botswana and Namibia have embarked on a joint investigation into the increased incidents of elephant poaching in the northern part of Botswana. "The country (Botswana) experienced a surge in elephant poaching incidents during November and December 2023," Lesego Kgomanyane, the spokesperson for Botswana's Ministry of Environment and Tourism, told Xinhua over the telephone, noting that the development has shone the light on the apparent increase in poaching of elephants in northern Botswana.