This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:
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.
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“Navara”, the codename used by Simon Ernesto Valoi, first appeared in our crosshairs in 2013 when we were researching rogue South African trophy hunters directly involved in rhino poaching and trafficking in the Kruger National Park. The article Rhino trafficking: Down the rabbit hole at Kruger did not mention Navara, but intelligence agents we spoke to did. Oxpeckers journalists kept pecking away at Navara over the years.
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SA_2024_09_A decade of pecking at a poaching kingpin_Oxpeckers.pdf | 464.31 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.
Authorities in Mozambique have arrested "Navara", aka Simon Ernesto Valoi, and an associate in connection with allegedly attempting to sell rhino horns in the country’s capital, Maputo. For many years Navara has had the reputation of being one of the most notorious rhino poaching syndicate leaders in Mozambique. He was arrested with an associate, Paulo Zukula, on July 26 2022 in possession of eight rhino horns.
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MOZ_2022_08_Notorious rhino kingpin Navara under arrest in Mozambique_Oxpeckers.pdf | 562.74 KB |
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.
One of three suspects, who were denied bail by the Oshakati Magistrate's Court after allegedly being found in possession of two rhino horns, is appealing the decision in the Oshakati High Court. Petrus Mashuna (35) from Iitapa village in Omusati is hoping to reverse the decision by Magistrate Makapa Castro Simasiku to deny him bail.
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NAM_2018-05_Rhino horn accused fights for bail_Namibian Sun.pdf | 72.89 KB |
The rhino-poaching court case of former Brave Warriors team doctor Gerson Kandjii and four other accused was postponed to 23 September after he and co-accused Stephanus David failed to turn up at the Okahao Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
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NAM_2016-08_Poaching suspect Kandjii a no show_Namibian Sun.pdf | 84.82 KB |