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Caught with a mother pangolin and its child in his home village near Nata on 19 November 2022, 33-year-old Othusitse Baile will forgo his freedom for the next four years.

Two Zimbabwean men have been remanded in custody after they were found in possession of a live pangolin.

Botswana's government has presented to the ongoing CITES CoP-19 in Panama a detailed document on the country's efforts to contain rhino poaching which increased at least 100 fold between 2018 and 2020. The country recorded two rhino poaching incidents in the five years between 2012 and 2017 with zero incidents reported in 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2017.

Botswana' Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) has confirmed the recent arrest of a man found in possession of a live pangolin in the capital Gaborone. The department says the incident was reported to them by the Botswana Police, raising concern about the continued poaching of pangolins.

A white rhino has reportedly been killed and dehorned by poachers inside the protected Khama Rhino Sanctuary (KRS) in Botswana. Two separate conservationists have reported about the killing. One conservationist told this publication that their sources inside the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) confirmed the incident. "Two weeks ago a white rhino was poached at Khama Rhino Sanctuary but they are denying it happened at their property but sources inside DWNP confirm it was indeed at KRS."

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism is investigating some of its workers at Etosha National Park for possibly playing a part in the rhino poaching syndicate which recently left 11 of the mammals dead. Addressing the media yesterday environment minister Pohamba Shifeta said they suspect the "act" was an inside job. All the rhinos killed were also dehorned. He said the ministry is broadening investigations to determine whether its workers were complicit in the matter.

Environment, Forestry and Tourism Minister Pohamba Shifeta says the recent discoveries of 11 dead rhinos are an indication that the country needs to up its game in curbing wildlife crime. This comes after the rhino carcasses were discovered at Etosha National Park, since the beginning of June to date, with their horns removed.

The Environment and Tourism Ministry says it has discovered 11 rhino carcasses at the Etosha National Park since the beginning of this month. According to the ministry's spokesperson Romeo Muyunda, investigations indicate the carcasses are at least three weeks old. "This is regrettable and a strong indication that the fight against poaching is not over," he said. To date, 22 rhinos have been poached this year.

"The absence of tourists in conservation areas enables poachers to act more freely. In normal times, tourists act as additional 'eyes and ears' in conservation areas, and their presence deters poachers from acting, but the decline in tourism activity emboldened poachers," a UK government report on the impact of Covid-19 on poaching has said.

A sense of remorse and a convincing mitigation statement have saved a convicted ivory dealer from a lengthy jail term as he got off lightly with a reduced sentence. Poul Garirayi would have been condemned to a mandatory 10-year maximum jail term and a hefty fine for the elephant tusks valued at P10 233.22 that he was found in possession of.

Poaching intensified over the past three years following the 2018 decision by the government to disarm the anti-poaching unit under the DWNP. The 100+ rhinos poached since the disarmament represents a 100+ percent increase in poaching incidents when compared to the previous three years when Botswana lost one rhino per annum in the preceding 2015, 2016, and 2017 when the unit had firearms. There were at least 12 rhinos poached in 2018, 29 rhinos in 2019, and over 50 poached by the end of 2020.

A man caught with a single elephant tusk during an unexpected run-in with the police in the bush two years ago will learn his fate next Thursday. Although he tried to hide the offending item beneath his jacket during his unplanned encounter with the cops, the big bulge gave Gaosego Emang Seipato away. The 35-year-old met his downfall on 3 May 2019, when he was rumbled by a police patrol who were actually on the lookout for illegal gold miners in the bushes between Matshelagabedi and BDF training centre on the outskirts of Francistown.

A big-hearted boyfriend who managed to get his lover off the hook after the pair were caught with two elephant tusks has been taken to task over the matter and jailed for two years. Zimbabwean native, Brian Ndlovu admitted to being in possession of the ivory, claiming he had been given the tusks by another man with the instruction to sell them. He was busted when police received a tip-off of a man trying to sell tusks at Tonota lands. Swooping into action on 22 January, the cops pounced to find Ndlovu in the presence of his girlfriend and home-girl, Mary Sibanda.

The Director of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) Brigadier Peter Magosi has defended government’s decision to dehorn Botswana’s rhinos as an anti-poaching control measure. Magosi has said the dehorning of rhinos was the only way they could ensure protection of the animals from poachers.

Namibia has recorded a drastic drop in rhino and elephant poaching cases in the past three years because of improved response mechanisms, the government said yesterday. Minister of environment Pohamba Shifeta said the country has seen a reduction in rhino poaching numbers from 78 cases in 2018, 49 in 2019 and 17 so far this year.