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Fifteen people accused of financial crimes related to rhino poaching briefly appeared in the Nelspruit Commercial Crimes Court on Monday. Among the accused were two former field rangers and some of their relatives. While the majority of the respondents appear to be from a humble background, almost all of them are represented by private advocates. Although the State was ready to commence with trial proceedings, the matter was provisionally postponed to February 27 for possible pretrial conference.

Four days of court transcriptions seem be missing in the trial of alleged rhino poaching kingpin Joseph Nyalungu and his three remaining co-accused, Claude Lubisi, Aretha Mhlanga and Rachel Qwebana. This emerged as the quartet of former police officers briefly appeared in the Mpumalanga High Court this morning, January 17. Their appearance follows a postponement late last year to settle financial instructions in a trial that commenced more than three years ago, in September 2021.

While visitors to the Kruger Park were enjoying their peaceful festive season bush breaks, poachers were quietly mowing down rhinos within the Intensive Protection Zone. A staggering 27% of all rhinos poached in the Kruger National Park last year is understood to have been slaughtered in December. Three of these were slaughtered for their horns around Christmas, and another at New Year’s Eve, leaving two young calves orphaned.

A proposed bill in the United Kingdom (UK) oversimplifies the complex issues surrounding wildlife conservation and poaching. This is according to Namibia Professional Hunting Association (Napha) vice ombudsman Danene van der Westhuizen who says the anti-hunting movement treats regulated hunting and illegal poaching as the same thing. The bill seeks to ban the importation of hunting trophies from lions, elephants and other animals.

The first eight months of 2022 saw 48 rhinos poached, four times more than the rhinos poached in 2021, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism announced on Wednesday. The country recorded 44 rhinos poached in 2021, 42 in 2020, 57 in 2019, 83 in 2018, and 55 in 2017. The Etosha National Park alone saw 20 cases this year, with two carcasses discovered in the area just last week. In total, 32 poached rhinos are black and 16 are white. A total of 12 black rhinos were poached on custodianship farms and 16 white rhinos were poached on private farms.

Namibia saw 48 rhinos killed for their horns in the first eight months of 2022, four more than the 44 cases reported in 2021. The country recorded 44 rhinos poached in 2021, 42 in 2020, 57 in 2019, 83 in 2018, and 55 in 2017. Etosha National Park alone saw 20 cases this year, with two carcasses discovered in the area just last week. The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism said of the poached rhinos, 32 are black and 16 are white.

With conservation funding affected by the lockdown, a number of areas in north-western Namibia’s rhino range have been left exposed by the lack of tourists thus requiring extra patrolling. With the donation of 1,000 ounces of gold by B2Gold, the launch of the B2Gold Rhino Gold Bar in January 2020 and the subsequent sale of 600 bars to local buyers, the B2Gold Rhino Gold Bar Advisory Committee has responded to the crisis.

Local short film, ‘Baxu and the Giants’ will have its first public screening of the year at the DHPS Auditorium, on Thursday, 6 February. Entrance is free but any donations to the Save the Rhino Trust will be welcome.

The highest office in the country has joined the outcry against the spate of poaching and plundering of wildlife resources currently experienced in the country. President Hage Geingob, during the opening of the 2017 legal year, called upon parliament to send him the necessary amendments to the relevant laws to increase penalties so that he can sign them into law for the courts to enforce them.

Lawyers appearing for a Chinese national and a Namibian man accused of wildlife crimes, say their clients have not received a list of State witnesses, and were in difficult position, as their bail conditions include that they should not contact or interfere with those who will testify against them.

A Chinese national and a Namibian appeared before the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on charges of dealing in protected game products and possession of controlled wildlife products with a combined valued of N$320 000. The two men, Zhi Geng (37) and James Barron Wallace (47), were not asked to plead to the charges Geng was arrested in Windhoek on February 1 for dealing in 1.5kg rhino horn valued at N$232 000 and abalone valued at N$91 000. Wallace is charged only with the possession of abalone.