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Five Namibian law enforcement officers recently completed two weeks of advanced training at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Otse, Botswana. The training, facilitated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), brought together officers from Namibia, Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, and Liberia. Participants strengthened their investigative skills, learned advanced techniques to track traffickers, and reinforced regional cooperation in the fight against the illegal trade in rhino horn, elephant ivory, and other high-value species.

A new report has found that the population of Javan rhinos has decreased since 2021 as a result of poaching. The report by the IUCN also found that the population of black rhinos saw an increase in Africa. Nonprofit International Rhino Foundation, which synthesized the data in the report, has now helped fund a tool to monitor and visualize illegal rhino horn trade globally. The tool aims to aid conservationists, NGOs and governments in informing and enforcing stricter policies.

The recent arrest of prominent former rhino baron, John Hume, and five others for allegedly running a criminal racket that trafficked nearly 1,000 rhino horns from South Africa, has brought the fore the emotive debate about what should be done to the rhino horn stockpiles that have continued to grow since a ban on international rhino horn trade came into effect nearly five decades ago.

The deployment of dogs at Entebbe International Airport has led to a significant drop in trafficking cases over the years As Uganda continues its efforts to combat wildlife crime, conservationists have urged the government to intensify the deployment of canine units in national parks and at international transit points throughout the country. The move is seen as critical to strengthening the fight against the illegal wildlife trade.

At a nature reserve in central Kenya, the last two northern white rhinos in existence live under the 24/7 protection of armed guards. The subspecies has been driven to near extinction by decades of poaching and civil war in its range of central Africa. A new documentary, "The Last Rhinos: A New Hope," which premiered on National Geographic on August 24, and is now streaming on Disney and and Hulu, chronicles the fight to save the northern white.

The largest rhino farmer in Namibia says the arrest of his South African role model and mentor, John Hume, is a kind of witch hunt and politically motivated. Jaco Muller of the Rhino Momma Project expressed his opinion after the world's largest rhino farmer was arrested last week. Asked whether Namibia's application to CITES for the legal trade in rhino horn would be negatively affected by this, Muller said that Hume had gone bankrupt precisely because of the ban on the legal trade in rhino horn.

Poaching accused Dawie Groenewald is allegedly conducting wildlife operations in one of South Africa's neighbouring countries. Reports from Botswana state that Groenewald had been spotted camping with clients near the Kwando River in Namibia under an alias. He is currently out on bail in two separate cases in Limpopo and Mpumalanga linked to rhino poaching.

Mortalities at poisoned carcasses significantly contribute to the population decline of many vulture species. As vultures employ social strategies and follow each other in their search for food, one poisoned carcass can kill hundreds of individuals of endangered species such as the white-backed vulture.

A team of highly trained dogs has become one of Uganda’s strongest weapons against wildlife traffickers. Now, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has assumed full responsibility for managing this canine unit, in a shift that conservationists say will secure the program’s long-term future. The takeover ends nearly a decade of joint management with the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), which helped establish the initiative in 2016.

Namibia's largest rhino farmer says the arrest of his South African hero and mentor, John Hume, is a witch hunt and politically driven. Jaco Muller of the Rhino Momma Project has expressed his opinion after the arrest of the world's largest rhino farmer last week. Asked if this would negatively affect Namibia's application to CITES for the legal trade in rhino horn, Muller said it was precisely because of the ban on the legal trade in rhino horn that Hume went bankrupt.

An African nation has enacted a policy to curb illegal fishing and ensure the sustainability of the fishing industry for years to come. As New Era Live reported, Namibia has reduced its bycatch limit from 5% to 2% in an effort to protect marine life. The government has also opted to increase penalties to deter violators. Bycatch limits are the maximum amounts of species that can be caught unintentionally during fishing operations. These limits are often designed to minimize the impact of fishing on vulnerable populations and ecosystems.

Mozambican police have arrested a person trying to sell four elephant tusks in Mágoè, Tete province, central Mozambique, a source from the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) has said. "This is an arrest in flagrante delicto, which occurred in Mágoè district, where this individual was in possession of four ivory tips, weighing approximately 22 kilograms," Sernic spokesperson in Tete, Celina Roque, told media.

An unregulated trade in pelargonium, a protected species, is causing environmental destruction across Lesotho. Five people were recently found guilty of illegally dealing in pelargonium. They were fined M200 (equivalent to R200). In a scathing judgment, magistrate Thabang Tapole found serious flaws in the government's permitting system and said laws should be updated to effectively deter people from breaking environmental laws. He also highlighted how local harvesters are paid "peanuts" for a product that sells at high prices internationally.

The State alleges that Hume, in association with his five alleged co-conspirators, knew or ought to have known that their enterprise 'uses or invests, directly or indirectly (Hume's) rhino horns, other rhino horns and rhino skins to fuel the illegal market'. A dark shadow has been cast around the "conservation hero" mantle of South African rhino baron John Hume following sensational allegations that he purchased or purloined the identity documents of several indigent people as part of an elaborate scheme to fraudulently circumvent a 50-year-old global ban on the rhino horn trade…

A leading conservationist in South Africa, charged with smuggling rhino horns worth $14 million, has insisted he has "nothing to hide". In a statement, John Hume, the former owner of what is thought to be the world's largest rhino farm, denies allegations that he trafficked the horns from South Africa to South East Asia. Hume (83) and five others, including a lawyer and a game reserve manager, have appeared in court on 55 charges, including theft, money laundering and fraud.

Yokohama - Tanzania and Kenya have announced a joint bid to champion digital public infrastructure, a regional command and control centre to address human-nature conflicts in Africa, as per the Lusaka Agreement Known officially as the Lusaka Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement Operations directed at Illegal trade in wild fauna and flora, it is a treaty focused on combating illegal wildlife trade.

Nkurenkuru - The Maurus Nekaro Conservancy in the Kavango West region is grappling with significant management challenges that threaten its wildlife conservation mission. Manager of the conservancy Muhepa Matheus said this during discussions between conservancy officials and parliamentary standing committee members specialising in natural resources here last week. Established in 2016 and gazetted in August 2017, the 1 117 square hectare conservancy has achieved notable successes in community development while protecting wildlife resources.

As delegates at a two-day indaba reached for solutions to human-elephant conflict, there were many who were happy to reach for their guns. At the Southern African Elephant Indaba at Bonamanzi Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal last week, landowners, provincial officials, conservationists, academics and some NGOs gathered for two days of fierce debate. The meeting was framed as a search for a solution to human/elephant conflict (HEC), but from the opening sessions a deeper tension was clear: was this about people’s real struggles, or about justifying a return to widespread culling and…

In the forests of Cameroon, a single conservation program has seized 1,392 kg of bushmeat, arrested 25 poachers, and destroyed 260 hunting camps, yet hunting pressure resumes whenever enforcement resources are withdrawn. This pattern, repeated across Africa, reveals the fundamental challenge facing wildlife conservation: economic incentives consistently outweigh protection measures when conservation efforts fail to address the underlying livelihood dependencies that drive wildlife exploitation.

Five men and a woman have appeared before the Pretoria Magistrates' Court for illegal rhino poaching. They have been linked to an international fraudulent scheme involving over 960 rhino horns, worth millions of rands, destined for illegal markets in Southeast Asia. It is alleged that the suspects defrauded the Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Department by securing permits under false pretenses to buy and sell rhino horns domestically, while funneling them into illegal international markets. Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Dion George has hailed the arrests.

Namibia is pinning its hopes on the upcoming COP20 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) for approval to legally sell a portion of its ivory stockpile. The summit will take place in Uzbekistan from 24 November to 5 December. According to the proposal, Namibia currently has just over 92 386 kg of ivory, valued at about N$166 million. The ivory was stockpiled via population management and seizures, in roughly equal parts. Namibia does not destroy its ivory.

When birds become entangled, the fishing line often becomes tight, stopping the flow of blood, resulting in swelling and eventually foot or toe loss. This also means that the entangled birds can no longer roost on tree branches at night as they no longer have the capability to clasp onto the branch when the wind blows.

Many times a week, CapeNature compliance officers and SAPS units chase down plant poachers - some driven by economic hardship, others by profit - supplying a market for ornamental conversation pieces in homes around the world. Whether buyers realise it or not, the trade has cascading ecological impacts and undermines tourism livelihoods. Between April and June 2025, CapeNature - the public institution responsible for biodiversity conservation in the Western Cape - registered 12 biodiversity crime cases. Eight involved flora (plant life), while four related to fauna (animal life…

The long-running case against Schalk Abraham “AB” Steyn and Limpopo game farmer Dawie Groenewald, who face charges of illegal possession and transportation of rhino horns, has been postponed yet again. The pair briefly appeared in the Nelspruit Regional Court on August 13, where the matter was set down for a pretrial conference on November 10. Steyn and Groenewald were arrested together on July 20, 2021, at a property in the Riverside area, where 19 rhino horns were allegedly found. They were granted bail of R50 000 each shortly afterwards.

An elderly resident (68) of Swakopmund who is accused of illegally keeping a lizard and a turtle was granted bail of N$15000 yesterday, after the state dropped its opposition to his release. Jürgen Michael Riegel, a German citizen with permanent residence in Namibia, appeared before Magistrate Nelao Brown for his formal application for bail in the magistrate's court in this town. The case did not go as planned, after public prosecutor Anita Likius told the court: "We have no objection to the accused being granted bail." Likius also said the investigation was complete.

Wildlife authorities in Ngamiland have expressed concern over the alarming involvement of public servants in poaching activities in the region. The illegal hunting by these officers is said to mostly occur while they are on official duty in areas with abundance of wild animals and while using government vehicles. This worrying surge has reportedly reached the District Commissioner’s office who is said to have early this year summoned some heads of departments to express his concern.

THE Namibian police are relentlessly searching for still-unknown suspects who on Friday entered the Namib Naukluft National Park in the Sesriem policing area of the Hardap Region and killed eight oryx valued at N$36,000 without a valid hunting permit. According to the police, the suspects, who entered the park in a vehicle, are wanted for hunting huntable game without a permit and for hunting on state land. The Namib Naukluft National Park is of great importance due to its unique desert environment, diverse wildlife, and rich geological and historical significance.

Rhino poaching in Africa drops to lowest level since 2011, but total rhino numbers decline 6.7%, with white rhinos at near two-decade low. Asian rhinos stable, but Critically Endangered species in Indonesia face extinction. Illegal rhino horn trade remains global threat: 1.8 tonnes seized in three years (approx. 716 whole horns), with South Africa, home to the largest rhino populations, continuing to be most affected.

Two Burundian nationals have been charged in a Mombasa court with illegal possession and trade in elephant tusks in an intensified crackdown on wildlife trafficking. Gakiza Sulemani and Nkunubumwe Celecius appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate David Odhiambo on Monday, facing charges of dealing in 27 pieces of elephant tusks without a permit. According to the charge sheet, the tusks - classified as trophies from endangered species - weighed approximately 62.85 kilograms and had an estimated market value of Sh12,570,000.

Conservation organizations are employing Cabo Verdeans, who formerly hunted endangered and threatened sea turtles, as rangers who now monitor and patrol beaches. From 2007-24, illegal catches of female turtles on one island plummeted from 1,253 to a mere 20, while nesting sites of vulnerable loggerhead turtles increased sevenfold, according to data by a conservation NGO.

Namibia is pinning its hopes on the upcoming COP20 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) for approval to legally sell some of its ivory stocks. A formal proposal has already been submitted. The summit will take place in Uzbekistan from November 24 to December 5. According to the proposal submitted by Namibia, the country currently has just over 92 386 kg of ivory with a value of about N$166 million. The ivory comes from population management and seizures, about half each. Namibia does not destroy its ivory.

04 August 2025 Devil's Claw has oddly shaped fruit with spikes that look like claws to deter animals. The plant's tubers are highly sought after for medicinal use as they are considered to have anti-inflammatory properties. Peace Parks Foundation in western Zambia's Sioma Ngwezi National Park, a little-known medicinal plant is vanishing - not from overuse by local communities, but at the hands of international crime syndicates.

A 73-year-old man was reportedly arrested for illegal hunting at Otjomupanda village on Friday. According to a police crime report issued on Sunday, the incident occurred around 14:40 during a joint police operation. It is alleged that police conducted a search at the suspect’s residence, where they discovered a kudu carcass valued at N$6,000. A rifle believed to have been used in the poaching incident was also reportedly found at the scene.

Kruger National Park officials have raised the alarm over a mass poisoning that killed over 120 vultures, calling it one of the worst in recent years and warning it could push the endangered species towards extinction. Rescue teams managed to save 81 vultures through an unprecedented joint operation. Experts warn that the poison used - an organophosphate so lethal it's nicknamed 'two-step' - poses severe risks to humans, pets and water systems, with even trace exposure potentially fatal.

A middle aged woman will serve a 12 years jail term after a Kabarnet court found her guilty of trading in wildlife trophies. Esther Chebii, appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate (SRM) Edwin Mulochi for the offence which occurred on May 27, 2023 at around 6pm at Kabarnet town in Baringo central sub-county, where she was nabbed with five pieces of elephant tusks weighing 15.7 kilograms and 105 pieces of pangolin scales weighing two kilograms with a street value of Sh 2.37 million.

Police have arrested a suspected poacher for allegedly poisoning over 100 elephants using cyanide at Hwange National Park. Tony Maphosa, who has been on the run since 2013, allegedly poisoned water points and salt pans with cyanide resulting in the death of more than 100 elephants. Maphosa was arrested in the national park on Wednesday following a tip off. An anti-poaching team comprising rangers from Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and police recovered two pieces of ivory from him. Zimparks spokesperson Mr Tinashe Farawo confirmed the arrest.

Leopards are the second-most traded wildcat in the world, despite their international commercial trade being prohibited under CITES, the international wildlife trade agreement. Trophies and body parts - primarily skins, claws, bones and teeth - are the most traded, according to CITES data. However, other data indicate that illegal trade in skins and body parts is widespread in Asia and Africa. Southern African countries, particularly South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, are major exporters of leopard parts, while the U.S. is the largest importer, according to data from CITES.

Another rhino was sadly killed at a private game reserve in the Pongola area on Thursday evening. The rhino bull was found dead, but this time around, the horns were still intact. Police suspect that the poachers may have only wounded the animal and it ran away to die somewhere else. Rangers found the rhino on Friday morning and contacted the police. Last week was full moon, oddly enough known as 'Poacher’s Moon'. There is also a known link between rhino poaching and the full moon, which is that anti-poaching teams actively monitor on these nights.

There were 698 lions killed by humans between 1980 and 2018 in the areas surrounding Etosha National Park - an average of 22 lions per year, although researchers say this number is likely an underestimate. A new study found there was no single reason behind the killings.

Six people have been jailed for their involvement in the illegal trade of more than 2.8 tonnes of pangolin scales, one of the country's largest such seizures ever recorded. The People's Court of Nghệ An handed a seven-year prison term to Hồ Văn Mạnh and a three-year sentence to Trần Thị Ngọc for trading prohibited goods and violating regulations on the protection of endangered wildlife. Four other defendants - Phạm Thị Lập, Hồ Mai Yên, Cao Xuân Quý, and Nguyễn Thị Long - received sentences ranging from 15 months to three years. Quý and Long were given suspended sentences.

A suspected poacher has been killed and another injured after a shootout with game rangers in Kruger National Park in the early hours of Saturday, June 14. According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), a group of rangers were on patrol in the Satara area, at approximately 12:45am, when they came across three men, who immediately aroused suspicion. One carried a firearm, and the others had backpacks. The rangers instructed them to stop and demanded that the armed individual drop his weapon to the ground, but the men refused and opened fire.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism has launched a community reward fund to encourage the reporting of poaching activities to help curb wildlife crimes in the Zambezi region. Namibia has lost over 631 rhinos to poaching over the last 10 years and just over 220 elephants, although the number of poached elephants has significantly declined in recent years. Saisai says compensation varies according to species, adding that if a community member provides a tip on a buffalo being poached, they would be paid N$1 000.

A recent report from the Wildlife Justice Commission analyzed trends in ivory and pangolin scales trafficking from Africa over the past decade using seizure data and found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the illegal trade, with fewer significant seizures reported post-pandemic. The report attributes this dip to pandemic-induced lockdowns, increased law enforcement and intelligence gathering, successful prosecutions, and declines in the prices of ivory and pangolin scales.

Botswana's Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) recently conducted intensive practical training for 74 staff members to enhance and strengthen law enforcement capacity through the use of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)’s Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme tools. The training was organised as a three-day workshop for three cohorts of rangers from the greater Chobe National Park, including its sub-stations.

Nigeria accounts for the largest volume of detected pangolin scales illegally traded from Africa. Between 2010 and 2021, 190,000kg of scales - representing nearly 800,000 African pangolins - were seized in shipments linked to Nigeria, despite a ban on international trade. Pangolins are scaly mammals found across Asia and Africa. They are considered the world’s most trafficked wild mammals and they are exploited in different ways on different continents. In Asia, mainly China, their scales are used in large-scale therapeutic medicines, despite not having known medicinal properties…

While Namibia and other southern African countries are struggling to protect their rhinos from poaching, scientists are looking for solutions to make the rhino financially unattractive to poachers. According to a new research report published in Science magazine on June 5, dehorning is currently the most effective solution to prevent poaching. The team of scientists led by Kuiper, Haussmann and Whitfield found that dehorning rhinos leads to a drastic reduction in poaching compared to other measures.

Seventy southern white rhinos have completed a journey of more than 3,400 kilometres (at least 2,112 miles) by truck and Boeing 747 from South Africa to Rwanda in what has been described as the largest translocation of its kind. Part of a rewilding initiative, the rhinos were transported in two groups of 35 - first by airliner then by road - from South Africa's Munywana Conservancy to the Akagera National Park in Rwanda, central Africa's largest protected wetland, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) said on Tuesday.

More than 1,000 starving elephants may have to be culled. Parliamentarians demand answers by tomorrow (Friday). In a scathing parliamentary session on Tuesday, 10 June members of the Portfolio Committee on Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment accused North West officials of gross mismanagement and evasion of responsibility for the ongoing elephant crisis in the Madikwe Game Reserve. The crisis, years in the making, has led to mass starvation and death among elephants, extensive environmental degradation and a controversial proposal to cull as many as 1,200 of them.

To make chuparosa love charms, the birds are first illegally killed. The methods are not fully known, but available information suggests that slingshots were traditionally used. Currently, they are also dispatched with nets and shotguns, loaded with shells containing tiny pellets. Their bodies are desiccated, usually in eviscerated form. They are then sealed in a paper tube, wrapped in thread, and placed in a bag with a prayer card called an oracione. Contemporary chuparosa charms often also have a Hecho En Mexico (Made in Mexico) sticker attached.