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Two suspected poachers were at the weekend arrested while in possession of six pieces of elephant tusks in Tigania East, Meru county. They had wrapped the tusks weighing 18.5 kilos in four sacks when police and Kenya Wildlife Service officials intercepted them. Police said the two were nabbed at Muriamburi Junction Mulika area on July 18, as they transported the same to a potential buyer aboard a motorcycle. The suspects will be charged with being in possession of wildlife trophies of endangered species, contrary to Section 92(4) of the Wildlife Conservation Management Act 2013…

Members of anti-poaching units are sometimes involved in poaching or trafficking themselves, a latest report shows. This is according to a protection and law-enforcement report released by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism last week. Moreover, the report says 83 people have been arrested in connection with poaching and conspiring to poach rhinos and committing other wildlife crimes last year. It states that 39 people were arrested after pre-emptive investigations in 2023, while follow-up investigations related to rhino poaching have led to 44 arrests.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) said in a statement that Letswele was first arrested on December 8, 2022, and later released on bail. This is after Ermelo police received a tip-off about a Toyota double cab carrying rhino horns and firearms. When police stopped the vehicle, Letswele and his co-accused Junior Jorge Chauke, 42, tried to flee, but were quickly caught. A search of the vehicle revealed four rhino horns hidden in the bonnet, valued at R876,000. Despite being released on bail, Letswele continued his illegal activities.

Two suspects appeared in the Bronkhorstspruit Magistrate's Court in Gauteng on charges of possession of endangered species. This follows the arrest of two suspects, aged 43 and 45, on Friday, June 28. The provincial police spokesperson Captain Tintswalo Sibeko said an operation was conducted by the Cullinan Stock Theft and Endangered Species (STES) Unit successfully dismantled the endangered species trafficking operation.

Officials said up to eight elephants had been killed and there is a likelihood the incidents happened in the nearby parks. Elephant tusks fetch a fortune in the black market as a surge in demand for ivory in the East continues to fuel the illicit trade in elephant tusks, especially from Africa.

On June 3, a man was arrested at the Bangui Mpoko Airport in the Central African Republic (CAR) for illegal transport of ivory. This is the second case of ivory smuggling in Bangui in the span of just one week. The arrested man is a Central African Citizen who didn’t have any identity document with him despite his intention to travel abroad. The police confiscated several suitcases filled to the brim with ivory from this Central African citizen.

Tanzania is home to wild herds of buffalo, wildebeest, hartebeest, and impala that have been hunted for meat by generations of indigenous communities. In 2019, Tanzania’s late President called on the country’s authorities to establish a mechanism that will allow Tanzania's to access wild meat, counter rampant poaching and illegal bushmeat trade through a pioneering set of national laws. By early 2020, the Game Meat Selling Regulations (GMSR) - new legislation for the legal sourcing, selling, and consumption of wild meat - had come into force.

In January 2019, the arrest and imminent prosecution of several Vietnamese wildlife traffickers in Kampala excited wildlife conservationists in Uganda and abroad who saw it as an opportunity to disrupt a cartel that had been growing and widening in eastern Africa over two decades. But, the conservationists' excitement soon turned to despair, if not disappointment as they watched the case get smothered and eventually dismissed from Uganda's Anti-Corruption Court, reports Ronald Musoke. Five years on, there are more unanswered questions as to why this case collapsed.

There was barely a dry eye in the Kwale courtroom last Monday afternoon, June 10th, 2024, when Augustine Odwori Malingo and Nancy Akoth Owino were sentenced by Principal Magistrate Lillian Lewa. They had been found guilty of possession of wildlife trophies that included 4 ivory tusk pieces weighing 500 grammes and 1 hippo tooth weighing a similar amount from their 2019 arrest.

A wildlife warden on Wednesday raised alarm over the increase in poaching and the cutting down of trees at the Badingilo National Park. Speaking to reporters at the park, acting Warden, Maj. Butrus Simon, said the killing of the wildlife and deforestation have been exacerbated by the economic hardship in the country. "The poaching activities inside the park are due to the current situation. You will find that many poachers kill the animals and cut the trees," Simon said.

On May 31, 2024, the Special Court of Libreville will open a correctional hearing to try several individuals involved in an international ivory trafficking network connecting Gabon, Cameroon, and Nigeria. This complex case highlights the challenges of fighting poaching in Central Africa.

The police constable and a civilian had been arrested in Nairobi West and Eastleigh with the cargo on Sunday. They had tried to sell the trophies to Kenya Wildlife Service ocials who had posed as potential buyers.

Two men were on Tuesday arrested while trafficking 36 pieces of elephant tusks weighing 77 kilogrammes valued at Sh12 million in Maralal, Samburu county.

Police said the four were found in possession of 19 pieces of the jumbo tusks. The tusks have a street value of Sh10 million.