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Government officials in Malawi have applied to withdraw bribery charges against wildlife trafficking convict Lin Yunhua, which would pave the way for his release from prison. In July 2025, a presidential pardon set Lin, a Chinese national, free from a 14-year jail sentence he'd received in 2021 connected to illegally trading in wildlife parts such as ivory, rhino horn and pangolin scales. Malawian authorities had arrested Lin, his wife and 13 members of his transnational wildlife crime syndicate in 2019.

A North Korean man arrested in a hotel in Dar es Salaam in possession of 500 elephant tusks will stand trial this week on charges of unlawful possession of the ivory and intent to trade it. Observers note that arrests of traffickers in Tanzania are not consistently followed up with careful investigation and effective prosecution.

In late January, Kenyan authorities arrested two men in possession of more than a hundred kilos of ivory in the town of Namanga, on the border with Tanzania. According to Kenya's Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), police and wildlife officers were on a covert operation at a hotel when they caught three men - identified as Imani Manasi Msumbwa and Justin Mwalima, both Tanzanian, and Alton Jilaoneka, a Kenyan - likely negotiating a deal. Mwalima escaped; the remaining two led investigators to a car with 20 pieces of elephant tusks, weighing a total 110 kilograms (243…

On March 9, wildlife authorities in Zambia arrested 10 people in possession of 550 kilograms (1,212 pounds) of ivory, according to the U.K.-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), which provided intelligence that led to the arrests. EIA said the case highlights the impact that international cooperation can have in the fight against the illegal trade of wildlife. In a Mar.

A cross-border investigation is underway following a devastating wildlife poisoning incident near Amboseli National Park that has left at least six lions and 34 vultures dead. The animals are believed to have died after feeding on a cow carcass deliberately laced with poison in the Kitenden area along the Kenya–Tanzania border. The incident, which occurred two days ago, has shocked conservationists and authorities, who describe it as one of the most serious poisoning cases ever recorded in the Amboseli ecosystem.

In 2019, Malawi dismantled the Chinese-led Lin-Zhang wildlife trafficking syndicate, a major win in its fight against the illegal wildlife trade, thanks in part to funding from the U.S. government. The Trump administration’s recent slashing of international development funds, however, threatens these gains, leaving frontline enforcers and conservation programs without critical support. NGOs across Africa and Southeast Asia, running initiatives from sniffer rat programs to antipoaching patrols, tell Mongabay they're struggling to fill the funding gap.

Police and wildlife department officials in Malawi have arrested two men suspected of having killed an elephant in Kasungu National Park in the country's west.

An 18-year-old man has been arrested and 20 kg of elephant tusks valued at Sh2 million recovered at a roadblock in Loruk, Baringo county. The suspect had stashed the tusks in a gunny bag when he was arrested on March 31, police said. Police said he was arrested in in Loruk trading centre in a public service vehicle. He will be arraigned and charged with being in possession of wildlife trophies of endangered species contrary to section 92 (4) of the Wildlife Conservation Management Act 2013.

A major shipment of 651 pieces of elephant ivory has been seized in Mozambique en route to Dubai. Officials from Mozambique's Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) and the Tax Authority intercepted a container at Maputo port on 22 March 2024 and found the ivory concealed in a shipment of bags of corn. This is the third known large-scale seizure of elephant ivory exported from Mozambique since 2022.

Namibia is in the process of establishing a special operations unit that will include the use of horses to help curb poaching, an ofcial said on Wednesday. According to Manie le Roux, who coordinates the K9 unit at the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, the mounted unit, which will have 12 horses and 14 members, will work together with the canine unit.