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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.
The High Court in Kimberley has ruled that registered rhino conservation breeding operations can now legally sell rhino horns overseas. The case, brought by Derek Lewitton and Wicus Diedericks against the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, could change the future of conservation and help stop poaching. "It's not over yet. This fight now turns into a war for the hearts and minds of the public. And we need to fight hard; we can’t give that up like we had in the past," said Lewitton.
The global black market for rhino horn is worth billions, built on poverty at the bottom, greed at the top and violence in between. It is one of the world’s most entrenched illegal trades. Derek Lewitton, owner of Black Rock Rhino Reserve in Limpopo, was caught in the middle. On 22 December 2023, he tells us, police raided his farm, accusing him of holding illegal horn, rhino carcasses, and unlicensed firearms. These were the same officers he alleges he once asked to help him fight poaching cartels.
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| SA_2025_10_Inside the brutal Rhino horn trade_Derek Lewittons story_Eye Witness News.pdf | 85.98 KB |
The use of social media has allowed smugglers of wildlife products to expand their network's reach using Rwanda as a transit route, experts say.
Kigali: For many years, East African countries were considered wildlife trafficking hotspots. Now conservation organisations have started to mobilise all stakeholders to combat the illegal trade that targets animals – some to the edge of extinction.
SADC countries have individually decided not to get involved in the non-commercial international trade in rhino horn. This questionable decision has happened despite approval for such trade by the UN international wild trade-regulating agency, CITES, and despite the help, it would give to wildlife conservation, the jobs it would create, and the socio-economic benefits it would bring to Southern Africa. Why? The reluctance to trade rhino horn in any way possible seems strange in the face of the economic devastation, particularly to rural areas, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
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| NAM_2020-10_Opinion_Why SADC_countries still oppose rhino horn trade_New Era.pdf | 328.27 KB |
SADC countries have individually decided not to get involved in the non-commercial international trade in rhino horn. This questionable decision has happened despite approval for such trade by the UN international wild trade-regulating agency, CITES, and despite the help it would give to wildlife conservation, the jobs it would create, and the socio-economic benefits it would bring to Southern Africa.
| Attachment | Size |
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| Bulawayo24News_2020-10_Why SADC countries still oppose rhino horn trade_Bulawayo24 News.pdf | 316.76 KB |