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.
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 |
King Misuzulu kaZwelithini issued a warning to criminals within communities to stop damaging Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife game reserves’ fencing including cutting fences and stealing poles. The King was speaking during a meeting with an Ezemvelo delegation at his palace in Pongola on Thursday. During his presentation to the King, Ezemvelo chief executive officer Sihle Mkhize, informed the King that Ezemvelo faces challenges beyond rhino poaching, including criminals within neighbouring communities stealing fence materials and poles.
A now 51 year old Czech who was found trying to smuggle 85 geckos, two snakes and two scorpions from Namibia into the EU via the Vienna Airport on the 23rd of May 2023 has been charged and fined 4000 Euros by a court in Austria (no date given) and all animals forfeited to the state. This was confirmed by the Head Public Relations Official of the Austrian Ministry of Finance, Steffan Trittner, after inquiring via e-mail a month ago. No further details were given because of "protection of data privacy".
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| NAM_2024_04_Smuggler fined €4000_Facebook.pdf | 540.1 KB |
Durban - A 45-year-old man convicted of rhino poaching was sentenced to 28 years in prison by the Empangeni Regional Court.
KwaZulu-Natal wildlife is "under attack" by illegal hunters across the province says Blessed Gwala, the IFP spokesperson for community safety and liaison. Last week the carcasses of four dehorned rhinos were found in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| SA_2020-12_KZN wildlife under siege from illegal hunters_IOL.pdf | 104.59 KB |