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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.
One of Namibia's endangered female black rhinos was poached over the weekend in a Kunene conservancy, renewing concerns about the protection of wildlife amid growing mining activity in the region. The female rhino, known as Dorsland, has given birth to up to eight calves since 2015 and was considered one of the region's prime breeding females. The rhino was with a calf and expecting another at the time.
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| NAM_2025_10_Dorsland killed amid mining threat_The Namibian.pdf | 350.07 KB |
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 ownership of the Henties Bay Seal Products Factory is again being disputed after the company failed in its bid to reclaim 501 boxes of seized seal products The bid to reclaim the products was dismissed in the Katutura Magistrate's Court recently. Seal Products is harvesting and processing a seal quota in their Henties Bay and Lüderitz factories. The controversy began on 10 January when the Namibian Revenue Agency (NAMRA) conducted a coordinated intervention at a warehouse in Sun Industrial Park, Windhoek, shared by Seal Products and Golden Lion Investment CC.
Around the world countries are adjusting to what their "new normal" looks like in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. For rhinoceros conservationists in Africa, it means coping with fewer resources while fighting an increase in the risk of poaching. Illegal hunting is nothing new for the dwindling rhino species, but the pandemic has amplified the threat and left their future more uncertain than ever.
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| Loneley planet_2020-09_How the pandemic threatens rhino conservation_Loneley planet.pdf | 860.93 KB |