This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:
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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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…
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.
Mozambican national Nelson Sandile Sambo has been jailed for 20 years for rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park. Sambo (43) was arrested by SA National Parks field rangers in December 2020 after he and an accomplice shot and then hacked off the horns of two rhinos in the Stolznek section of the park. Sambo and Gabriel Chauke were granted bail soon after their arrest, but both suspects promptly jumped bail. While Chauke remains at large, Sambo was re-arrested in 2023 and has now been jailed for 20 years after he pleaded guilty to several charges in the Skukuza Regional Court…
Vietnam's apparent reluctance to share DNA samples of smuggled horns with South Africa - the country with the largest remaining populations of rhinos in the world, albeit decimated by a relentless wave of poaching over recent decades - has been criticised by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Listen to this article 11 min Listen to this article 11 min Vietnam has come under fire for its 'passive approach' to sharing crucial evidence that could help South African forensic experts trace the exact origin of horns smuggled…
Vietnam's apparent reluctance to share DNA samples of smuggled horns with South Africa - the country with the largest remaining populations of rhinos in the world, albeit decimated by a relentless wave of poaching over recent decades - has been criticised by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
A proposed bill in the United Kingdom (UK) oversimplifies the complex issues surrounding wildlife conservation and poaching. This is according to Namibia Professional Hunting Association (Napha) vice ombudsman Danene van der Westhuizen who says the anti-hunting movement treats regulated hunting and illegal poaching as the same thing. The bill seeks to ban the importation of hunting trophies from lions, elephants and other animals.
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NAM_2024_11_UKs anti_trophy hunting bill confuses poaching and trophy hunting_The Namibian.pdf | 231.94 KB |
The dehorning project in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozirhino sanctuary in KwaZulu-Natal has suffered asetback, with at least 20 dehorned animals gunneddown for their remnant horn stumps over the pastmonth. E (right) collect blood samples prior to the dehorning of another rhinoin Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve. The dehorning project in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozirhino sanctuary in KwaZulu-Natal has suffered asetback, with at least 20 dehorned animals gunneddown for their remnant horn stumps over the past month.
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SA_2024_11_Relentless poachers butcher 20 dehorned rhinos in KZN sanctuary_Daily Maverick.pdf | 600.77 KB |
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.
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SA_2024_07_Radioactive rhinos_conservationists try new anti_poaching trick_Tortoise Media.pdf | 545.64 KB |
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.
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SA_2024_04_Poachers kill two lions and a zebra using wire snares in a Limpopo ranch_IOL.pdf | 255.19 KB |
Fifteen years after South Africa was hit by an unprecedented wave of rhino-horn poaching, the slaughter rate remains relentless - with one rhino shot almost every day in KwaZulu-Natal, the historic heartland of global rhino conservation. More than 60% of the rhinos killed in South Africa so far in 2023 drew their last breaths in KwaZulu-Natal as poachers continue to shift more of their deadly firepower and axes to the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, one of the world’s last strongholds of wild rhino conservation. Latest poaching …
The Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife conservation agency has, up till now, opted to not dehorn its rhinos to protect them from poachers. But that could change soon, following another year of relentless killings in which the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park emerged as the current rhino poaching hotspot, globally. The latest poaching figures released by national Environment Minister Barbara Creecy show that 244 rhinos were killed by horn poachers in KwaZulu-Natal in 2022 - the vast majority of them in the HIP.
The first eight months of 2022 saw 48 rhinos poached, four times more than the rhinos poached in 2021, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism announced on Wednesday. The country recorded 44 rhinos poached in 2021, 42 in 2020, 57 in 2019, 83 in 2018, and 55 in 2017. The Etosha National Park alone saw 20 cases this year, with two carcasses discovered in the area just last week. In total, 32 poached rhinos are black and 16 are white. A total of 12 black rhinos were poached on custodianship farms and 16 white rhinos were poached on private farms.
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NAM_2022_09_48 rhinos poached in 8 months_Namibia Economist.pdf | 708.58 KB |
Namibia saw 48 rhinos killed for their horns in the first eight months of 2022, four more than the 44 cases reported in 2021. The country recorded 44 rhinos poached in 2021, 42 in 2020, 57 in 2019, 83 in 2018, and 55 in 2017. Etosha National Park alone saw 20 cases this year, with two carcasses discovered in the area just last week. The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism said of the poached rhinos, 32 are black and 16 are white.
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NAM_2022_09_48 rhinos fall prey to poachers_The Namibian.pdf | 565.58 KB |
Just as the barbarity of war in Ukraine or the global climate crisis gradually lose their shock value, the unrelenting massacre of South Africa’s rhino has all but drifted from public view. Behind the scenes, however, at least 75 rhinos have been butchered for their horns in KwaZulu-Natal in the opening months of 2022.
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SA_2022_04_Rhino bloodbath in KZN as poachers gun down 75 animals this year_DailyMaverick.pdf | 1.04 MB |
Shocking official statistics have emerged which show that the world's single-largest population of rhinos - those living in the flagship Kruger National Park - has been slashed by between 66% and 70% over the past decade, mainly due to the unrelenting wave of butchery by international hornpoaching syndicates.
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SA_2021_01_Shocking statistics reveal that Kruger rhino population has dropped.pdf | 603.84 KB |
With conservation funding affected by the lockdown, a number of areas in north-western Namibia’s rhino range have been left exposed by the lack of tourists thus requiring extra patrolling. With the donation of 1,000 ounces of gold by B2Gold, the launch of the B2Gold Rhino Gold Bar in January 2020 and the subsequent sale of 600 bars to local buyers, the B2Gold Rhino Gold Bar Advisory Committee has responded to the crisis.
Local short film, ‘Baxu and the Giants’ will have its first public screening of the year at the DHPS Auditorium, on Thursday, 6 February. Entrance is free but any donations to the Save the Rhino Trust will be welcome.
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NAM_2020-02_Anti_rhino poaching short film to screen at DHPS next week_Namibia Economist.pdf | 619.62 KB |