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African pangolins are heavily hunted to meet the international demand for scales as well as for their meat in the local bushmeat trade. But how much each contributes to the hunting of these beleaguered mammals in various parts of Nigeria, a trafficking hub, is unclear. For a recent study, researchers interviewed more than 800 hunters and meat vendors in southeast Nigeria, a poaching hotspot, and found that hunters almost always hunt pangolins opportunistically, mostly for their meat rather than their scales.

Rhino poaching persists despite a slight decrease worldwide over the last three years, driven by relentless demand for their horns in East Asia, according to a recent report by TRAFFIC and the IUCN. Three of the world's five rhino species are still in decline, the report finds, with white rhinos in Africa dwindling to an almost two-decade low. Greater one-horned rhinos in India and Nepal are recovering well, while Indonesia's Javan and Sumatran rhinos - both critically endangered species - continue to teeter on the brink of extinction.

Leopards are the second-most traded wildcat in the world, despite their international commercial trade being prohibited under CITES, the international wildlife trade agreement. Trophies and body parts - primarily skins, claws, bones and teeth - are the most traded, according to CITES data. However, other data indicate that illegal trade in skins and body parts is widespread in Asia and Africa. Southern African countries, particularly South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, are major exporters of leopard parts, while the U.S. is the largest importer, according to data from CITES.

A recent report from the Wildlife Justice Commission analyzed trends in ivory and pangolin scales trafficking from Africa over the past decade using seizure data and found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the illegal trade, with fewer significant seizures reported post-pandemic. The report attributes this dip to pandemic-induced lockdowns, increased law enforcement and intelligence gathering, successful prosecutions, and declines in the prices of ivory and pangolin scales.

In 2019, Malawi dismantled the Chinese-led Lin-Zhang wildlife trafficking syndicate, a major win in its fight against the illegal wildlife trade, thanks in part to funding from the U.S. government. The Trump administration’s recent slashing of international development funds, however, threatens these gains, leaving frontline enforcers and conservation programs without critical support. NGOs across Africa and Southeast Asia, running initiatives from sniffer rat programs to antipoaching patrols, tell Mongabay they're struggling to fill the funding gap.

The U.S., the largest importer of wildlife products in the world, brings in nearly 10,000 species of plants and animals into the country legally, some of which have a high potential to become invasive species. A recent study assessed these imported species and identified 32 as having the highest risk for becoming invasive, posing threats to local ecosystems and to human health.

Lions are the most-traded wildcat in the world, and the only big cat whose commercial trade is permitted under CITES, the international wildlife trade agreement. Lion body parts, including bones, skins, claws and teeth, trophies and live individuals are traded across the world, both legally and illegally. South Africa stands out as a hotspot for the trade due to the flourishing captive lion industry, which also supplies body parts and engages in canned hunting.

The country's uncontrolled growth of the seal population is a direct result of quota holders focusing only on harvesting bulls for their genitals, leaving the rest of theanimal, including the meat and valuable by-products, unused due to lack of a market. This is what the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on natural resources, Tjekero Tweya, said in parliament on Monday during the presentation of the committee's findings. He argued that the current system benefits only a handful of investors, while ignoring the potential for industrial development.

A South African court in January sentenced four poachers to several years in prison for two separate crimes committed in Kruger National Park (KNP). The Skukuza Regional Court, which in the past has boasted a near-100% conviction rate and under whose jurisdiction KNP falls, held two South African citizens, Sam Khosa and Solly Selahle, and a Mozambican named Oddis Maluleke, guilty of poaching a rhino and taking its horns in February 2019.

President Nangolo Mbumba has announced the establishment of 27 new boreholes across the Kavango West region's six constituencies in a bid to tackle water scarcity and human-wildlife conflict. Additionally, two traditional wells in Mpungu constituency have been upgraded to relieve communities grappling with these persistent challenges. Speaking at a Swapo rally in Mupini over the weekend, Mbumba highlighted the party's efforts to improve living conditions in the region, one of the country’s youngest regions.

'n Vermeende stroper is Sondag op die plaas Kaliombo in die Karibib-omgewing in die been geskiet. Volgens die Namibiese polisie se misdaadverslag het die 65-jarige plaaseienaar omstreeks 23:45 die honde hoor blaf. Veiligheidswagte van K-Sapu het hom ingelig oor vermeende stropers op sy eiendom. Die boer het ondersoek gaan instel en drie mans met vleis gewaar. Die verdagtes was met assegaaie en 'n byl gewapen. Hulle het ook drie honde by hulle gehad. Die verdagtes het na bewering probeer om die boer aan te val.

A farmer shot and wounded a suspected poacher in the leg at farm Kaliombo in the Karibib district on Sunday. It is alleged the farmer acted in self-defence, after a group of alleged poachers attempted to attack him after he discovered them on his farm. According to a crime update provided by the Namibian police, the farm owner (65) was alerted to possible intruders (65) when he heard dogs barking on Sunday at about 23:45. He was also notified about suspected poachers on his farm by security guards from K-Sapu Security and Anti-Poaching.

About 45 members of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Africa rhino specialist group yesterday met at Okahandja to discuss ways to curb rhino poaching.