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INTERPOL recently executed the largest-ever edition of its annual series of coordinated of raids to dismantle criminal shipments and networks of trafficked and poached wildlife. Called Operation Thunder, some 30,000 live animals were seized in 4,620 raids across 134 countries, 30% more than last year. INTERPOL identified 1,100 suspects and issued 69 notices of criminal activity to participating nations’ police forces. Operation Thunder took place between September 15th and October 15th.

Wildlife poachers can now be located and arrested across the central African forests thanks to state-of-the-art AI listening technology. A network of microphones has been deployed across the rainforests to detect gunshots from illegal poaching of elephants and other animals, and American scientists are using AI to ensure the network can distinguish gunshots over the din of the jungle environment. The web of acoustic sensors was deployed in Gabon, Congo, and Cameroon, creating the possibility of real-time alerts to the sounds of gun-based poaching.

Former diplomat Pius Dunaiski says the decision by the Labour party in the United Kingdom (UK) to push for an anti-trophy hunting bill will affect Namibia's tourism industry. He says the new labour government will need to enhance ties with Namibia. Trophy hunting is a major foreign currency earner in Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Members of anti-poaching units are sometimes involved in poaching or trafficking themselves, a latest report shows. This is according to a protection and law-enforcement report released by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism last week. Moreover, the report says 83 people have been arrested in connection with poaching and conspiring to poach rhinos and committing other wildlife crimes last year. It states that 39 people were arrested after pre-emptive investigations in 2023, while follow-up investigations related to rhino poaching have led to 44 arrests.

Four suspected rhino poachers died in two separate incidents in South Africa's internationally renowned Kruger National Park this month (June). The park on South Africa's eastern boundary is bordered by Mozambique and Zimbabwe and for the first time was last year overtaken by KwaZulu-Natal as the apparent venue of choice for armed poachers seeking rhino horn.