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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.
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Instability, enforcement gaps and poverty combine to enable the rampant trafficking of cheetah cubs to the Middle East. Cheetah trafficking in the Horn of Africa has reached crisis levels. Research has documented at least 1 884 incidents involving around 4 000 live cheetahs and cheetah parts related to the illegal wildlife trade from Africa to the Arabian Peninsula between 2010 and 2019. A more recent study sheds light on how baby cheetahs are smuggled from the Horn of Africa to Gulf countries and sold as exotic pets.
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| AFR_2025_04_Africa_Trafficking is decimating the Horns cheetah population_All Africa.pdf | 108.33 KB |
Waldo McClune (38), Fabian Routh (39), Brandon Van Wyk (34) and Terence Theron (47), all members of the Block A neighbourhood watch, are said to have hunted the game at night and, with the owner's knowledge, delivered it to a well-known slaughterhouse in Rehoboth. McClune is reportedly part of the group's executive committee. The source, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Namibian Sun that McClune had exploited his position to influence the nightly meetings, and members were concerned about the extent of negligence and feared for their monthly dues.
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| NAM_2024_11_Members of Neighbourhood Watch hunt illegally_Allgemeine Zeitung.pdf | 242.47 KB |
Three Namibians were nabbed last week after they were caught in possession of close to 450 kilograms of protected plants, estimated to be worth nearly N$80 000. According to the Namibian Police, the three men - aged 27, 30 and 37 - were caught at the Namasira police checkpoint in the Kavango West Region last Friday. Police discovered the men were transporting seven 150-kilogram bags containing 176 gouty-vine (cyphostemma) plants weighing, 429 kilograms in total. The pants were valued at N$79 288.
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| NAM_2024_03_Three men caught with protected plants worth NS80 000_Namibian Sun.pdf | 204.71 KB |
Private game reserves are buckling under the costs of keeping rhinos safe from poachers. This as the trend shows poachers have set their sights on private reserves. More than 250 rhinos were poached in the first half of the year.
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| SA_2022_09_Rhino poaching hits private game reserves in the pocket_News24.pdf | 549.59 KB |
Rhino conservation groups say a collaborative, cross-border approach is needed to stop poaching. South Africa lost 259 rhinos to poaching in the first half of the year. Private game reserves are increasingly targeted by poachers, forcing them to increase security measures.