SEARCH
UPLOAD
ABOUT
CONTACTSearch results
Namibian Wildlife Crimes article archive
This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:
- provide easy public access to published information and statistics
- enable easy stakeholder access to articles
- provide a comprehensive archive of wildlife crime reporting in Namibia
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.
Explore your search results using the filter checkboxes, or amend your search or start a new search.
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…
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| AFR_2025_06_Africa_Why anti_trafficking measures alone wont save Africas pangolins_All Africa.pdf | 188.13 KB |
However, due to long periods of over-hunting and poaching their meat (subsistence poaching) and ivory tusks, that number declined significantly across the continent between the 70s and 80s. It’s reported that an average of 100 000 elephants were killed each year during that time, and by 2016, experts estimated a drop in those numbers by 111 000 within a decade. Today, there are only 415 000 elephants across Africa, with Botswana being home to the world's largest elephant population.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| NAM_2024_09_Living large_African elephants_The Namibian.pdf | 386.99 KB |
In Namibia, despite famed conservation efforts, close to 300 rhinos have been poached over the past 4 years (2020 to 2023), according to wildlife reports from the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| NAM_2024_09_Beyond The Horn_The Namibian.pdf | 329.45 KB |
A 59-year-old Masvingo farmer yesterday appeared in court after he was found in possession of 52 crocodile skins worth US$78 000, without a licence.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| ZIM_2022_04_Farmer appears in court for crocodile skin possession_The Herald.pdf | 284.42 KB |
Two Harare man have appeared in court after they were caught in possession of 22,88 kilogrammes of ivory worth $326 726 without a licence.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| ZIM_2021_05_Pair in court for possessing ivory_The Herald.pdf | 478.4 KB |