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A cluster of mass vulture poisonings in May and June 2025 has drawn attention to an ongoing problem in the transfrontier conservation area that straddles South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The field response to the poisonings involved teams of veterinarians, rapid response teams, and stepped-up monitoring of the area, saving the lives of more than 80 vultures. The series of incidents triggered meetings involving South Africa National Parks, conservation NGOs and other authorities to assess where systems were lacking and could be improved.

More than 400 vultures died in a spate of poisoning events in and near South Africa's Kruger National Park in May and June this year. André Botha, co-chair of the Vulture Specialist Group at the IUCN, says more than 2,000 vultures have been poisoned in the wider Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA) since 2015, and other raptors and predators have also died. Observers have noted an increase in hunting and snaring of species such as impala for the bushmeat trade, with poachers frequently leaving poison-laced carcasses behind to deliberately kill carnivores or…

The Cape vulture, Southern Africa's only endemic vulture species, has shown positive signs of recovery in some parts of its range, with the overall population stabilizing. In 2021, the species' conservations status improved from endangered to vulnerable, making the Cape vulture a rare success story for vulture conservation in Africa, say conservationists.

In July this year, conservationists from North Carolina Zoo in the U.S. and the Grumeti Fund in Tanzania went searching for a white-backed vulture in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park that had been tagged a few weeks earlier. Tracking data suggested the bird had died. The team traveled off-road to the southwestern edge of the park, accompanied by rangers from the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA). Upon arriving at the bird's location, they came across a gruesome scene: 108 vultures had been sorted into rows, missing their heads and feet.

Multiple arrests have been made recently in connection with pangolin trafficking in operations in Gauteng, Free State and Mpumalanga. Prof Ray Jansen, founding member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Pangolin Specialist Group, and his partners rescued a trafficked pangolin in Midrand in a sting operation last week. It was the 12th pangolin rescued this year. Jansen said the pangolin was in a critical condition and might not survive.

Three alleged pangolin poachers were bust red-handed and arrested when they tried to sell an animal to a "potential client" at a Shell garage on the N1 in Midrand on Friday. Olivia was the seventh pangolin rescued this year from poachers.

Kasane - Rhino poaching in Botswana is getting worse, and the government is not helping matters in any way due to its split attitude on the crisis. On the one hand, the government of President Mokgweetsi Masisi - in power since 2018 - acknowledges the seriousness of the crisis but, when it suits it, the administration ambivalently denies any calamity and neglects taking decisive action.

The Namibian man intercepted alongside a party of suspected Zambian rhino poachers that he was attempting to guide into Botswana is a repeat offender wanted in Botswana for skipping the country when he was due for prosecution for rhino poaching and illegal possession of firearms, the Botswana Gazette can reveal.

Zimbabwean police officer Sergeant Tawanda Kwaramba drove from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls on September 16 2019, on a mission to undermine the law he had sworn to uphold. In Victoria Falls he loaded seven Chinese nationals into a stolen car and drove more than 900km to Sango on the border with Mozambique. From Sango border post, the Chinese nationals - Zeng Dengui, Peicon Jang, Liu Cheng, Yu Xian, Yong Zhiu, Cheng Zhiang and Qui Jinchang - were driven across south-central Mozambique to Maputo and the safety of a Chinese fishing boat that was due to sail them home.

Oscar Nkala talks to a jailed Zambian elephant poacher about the structure, financing and operations of cross-border smuggling gangs.

Who are the people driving Namibiaʼs plans to open commercial abattoirs for donkey meat and skins for Asia? Oscar Nkala tracks them down.