This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:
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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Two anti-poaching security guards (23 and 34) were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly shooting and killing a suspected poacher on a private commercial farm near Okahandja. Otjozondjupa head of community policing affairs senior inspector Maureen Mbeha confirmed the incident on Wednesday. She said the deceased has not been identified yet. The shooting occurred around 08h00 on Tuesday at farm Otjisazu. Mbeha said the guards reportedly encountered two suspects involved in the hunting and killing of an oryx.
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| NAM_2026_01_Anti_poaching guards arrested after suspected poacher shot at Okahandja_The Namibian.pdf | 297.06 KB |
The stash of illicit rhino horns, together with an assortment of other animal parts, was destined for the south-east Asian country of Laos. The National Parks Board of Singapore confirmed this week that 35.7kg of rhinoceros horns, valued at roughly S$1.13 million (just under R15 million), were discovered earlier this month during routine cargo checks. The horns were concealed inside four packages falsely declared as furniture fittings. The shipment also contained about 150kg of assorted animal parts, including bones, teeth and claws.
One of the world's most infamous ivory traffickers will remain in prison in Tanzania after an appeal judge sent her case back to a lower court. The high court accepted there were anomalies in the original written judgment against Yang Fenglan, but declined her attorney's application for her release. Between 2009 and 2014, poachers reduced Tanzania’s elephant population by 60%, according to a government census. In response, Tanzania developed a strategy of intelligence-led investigations.
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| TAN_2021_06_Tanzanias Ivory Queen denied release after appeal_Mongaby.pdf | 471.78 KB |
Once known as the world's elephant killing fields, Tanzania appears to have halted the worst ivory poaching within its borders, making more than 2,300 arrests of poachers and traffickers over five years.