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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 - 9 of 9
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Mhango H 2025. Notorious poaching gang leaders pardoned in Malawi.

The leaders of a prolific Chinese wildlife trafficking gang have been pardoned in Malawi, sparking concern that renewed poaching will help spread diseases including coronaviruses. Lin Yunhua and his wife Qin Hua Zhang, who led the notorious Lin-Zhang syndicate that operated across southern Africa, were among 15 people sentenced to jail as part of a major crackdown on ivory trafficking.

Saturday, 3 August 2024
Pillay T 2024. Appeal for return of stolen birds.

The jackal buzzard is a fairly large African bird of prey and the Harris's Hawk - native to the Americas - is a standout with bold dark brown, chestnut red, and white markings, long yellow legs, and yellow markings on its face. An appeal has been made to the public for any information related to the theft of the four missing birds. Centre manager James Wittstock said they hoped the birds were still alive and safe. This is the first time birds have been stolen from the Centre. There was no way they could have escaped from their enclosure.

Thursday, 1 August 2024
Pillay T 2024. Drop in South Africa's rhino poaching linked to dehorning programmes.

South Africa recorded 229 rhinos poached in the first half of 2024, a slight decline from the same period last year, and the government said global cooperation is essential to save the rare animals. Poaching poses the biggest threat to the rhino population in South Africa where at least one rhino is killed for their horns every day. Rhino horns - made primarily of keratin, a protein also found in human hair and fingernails - are prized in some East Asian countries for traditional medicine and jewellery.

Monday, 13 November 2023
Pillay T 2023. Restorative justice approaches to wildlife crimes.

Durban - South African conservation NGO, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), has introduced a novel project that seeks to test the use of restorative justice approaches to wildlife crimes - a first for the country. In South Africa, it is an offence to undertake any prohibited or unauthorised activity in respect of any legally protected species.

Monday, 16 January 2023
Muronga P 2023. Man arrested with ivory granted bail.

A man arrested for allegedly being in possession of two elephant tusks at the Buffalo checkpoint on Friday evening, was granted bail on Monday.

Saturday, 14 January 2023
Muronga P 2023. Man arrested for possessing two elephant tusks.

The police in Divundu have arrested a 31-year-old man after he was allegedly found in possession of two elephant tusks.

Tuesday, 4 October 2022
Muronga P 2022. Otjiwarongo cop to appear in court over missing rhino horn.

A police officer working at Otjiwarongo police station is due to appear in the Otjiwarongo Magistrate's Court on Tuesday after one of six rhino horns left in his care went missing.

Tuesday, 16 November 2021
Muronga P 2021. Two men arrested with three python skins granted bail.

Two men arrested for allegedly being in possession of three python skins at Nkonke village were on Monday granted bail during their first court appearance in the Kahenge Periodic Court.

Wednesday, 12 July 2017
Muronga P 2017. N$10 000 reward for reporting poaching.

Anti-poaching organisation 'Help our Rhinos NOW Namibia' (HoRN.NAM) has called on the public in the Kunene region and across the country to report wildlife crimes.

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