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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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Displaying results 1 - 11 of 11
Tuesday, 26 November 2024
Matthys D 2024. 'UK's anti-trophy hunting bill confuses poaching and trophy hunting.

A proposed bill in the United Kingdom (UK) oversimplifies the complex issues surrounding wildlife conservation and poaching. This is according to Namibia Professional Hunting Association (Napha) vice ombudsman Danene van der Westhuizen who says the anti-hunting movement treats regulated hunting and illegal poaching as the same thing. The bill seeks to ban the importation of hunting trophies from lions, elephants and other animals.

Thursday, 1 August 2024
Sewsunker A 2024. Downward trend in rhino poaching numbers.
The department said that during the first six months of 2024, 229 rhinos were poached in South Africa (compared to 231 for the same reporting period in 2023).
Friday, 5 July 2024
Ndalikokule P 2024. Wildlife not spared by drought - Ministry - game meat for drought-hit communities.

The ongoing drought that has its grip on most parts of Namibia has not spared wildlife either, the environment ministry says.  The drought is also severely impacting conservation efforts, but has not yet led to increased mortalities, reduction of wildlife numbers or any endangered species, environment ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda stated.  While responding to questions by New Era, revealed the scarcity of rainfall in the affected regions has resulted in a dire shortage of water and grazing resources for wildlife.

Monday, 1 July 2024
Ndalikokule P 2024. Naivasha - Policeman yet again trafficking ivory - 29 kg.
On June 30th, 2024, two men in the process of ferrying ivory on a motorbike were arrested by Kenya Wildlife Service just south of Naivasha. That was the third ivory trafficking arrest involving police suspects in two weeks.
Tuesday, 4 June 2024
Ndalikokule P 2024. Chinese and Vietnamese transport groups unite in fighting cross-border wildife trafficking.
In an unprecedented event, two major logistics groups from two of the largest exporting countries, the China Express Association (CEA) and the Viet Nam Automobile Transportation Association (VATA), came together to pave the way for greater industry collaboration, especially to work together to curb cross-border illegal wildlife trade.
Thursday, 30 May 2024
Ndalikokule P 2024. 418/17 Shanzu - Republic vs. Falah Manzu Yusuf and 5 Others 1004 kg Ivory.

There was no judgement for the third time. Since the last sitting of this matter, the presiding magistrate, Senior Principal Magistrate Joe Mkutu Omido has successfully attained the appointment as a Judge of the High Court. This matter is now "on notice", meaning that involved and interested parties will be notified when the judgement will be given. As a point of interest, the three magistrates that have handled this case have all been promoted to the High Court.

Thursday, 7 March 2024
Ndalikokule P 2024. Court freezes car, residential block belonging to suspected poacher Bishop Burugu.

A Nairobi court has frozen ownership of a Mercedes Benz and a block of residential flats built on prime land within Allsops area in Ruaraka belonging to televangelist and businessman Jackson Mbugua Burugu. This is in connection with a case of poaching that is pending in court. Lady Justice Diana Kavedza of the Nairobi Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division issued the freezing order following a suit filed by the Asset Recovery Agency. Burugu is a prominent Nairobi-based televangelist who is commonly referred to as 'Bishop'.

Thursday, 1 September 2022
Matthys D 2022. 48 rhinos poached in 8 months.

The first eight months of 2022 saw 48 rhinos poached, four times more than the rhinos poached in 2021, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism announced on Wednesday. The country recorded 44 rhinos poached in 2021, 42 in 2020, 57 in 2019, 83 in 2018, and 55 in 2017. The Etosha National Park alone saw 20 cases this year, with two carcasses discovered in the area just last week. In total, 32 poached rhinos are black and 16 are white. A total of 12 black rhinos were poached on custodianship farms and 16 white rhinos were poached on private farms.

Thursday, 1 September 2022
Matthys D 2022. 48 rhinos fall prey to poachers.

Namibia saw 48 rhinos killed for their horns in the first eight months of 2022, four more than the 44 cases reported in 2021. The country recorded 44 rhinos poached in 2021, 42 in 2020, 57 in 2019, 83 in 2018, and 55 in 2017. Etosha National Park alone saw 20 cases this year, with two carcasses discovered in the area just last week. The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism said of the poached rhinos, 32 are black and 16 are white.

Monday, 6 July 2020
Matthys D 2020. B2Gold supports community-backed rhino conservation efforts in north-west Namibia.

With conservation funding affected by the lockdown, a number of areas in north-western Namibia’s rhino range have been left exposed by the lack of tourists thus requiring extra patrolling. With the donation of 1,000 ounces of gold by B2Gold, the launch of the B2Gold Rhino Gold Bar in January 2020 and the subsequent sale of 600 bars to local buyers, the B2Gold Rhino Gold Bar Advisory Committee has responded to the crisis.

Tuesday, 28 January 2020
Matthys D 2020. Anti-rhino poaching short film to screen at DHPS next week.

Local short film, ‘Baxu and the Giants’ will have its first public screening of the year at the DHPS Auditorium, on Thursday, 6 February. Entrance is free but any donations to the Save the Rhino Trust will be welcome.

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