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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 - 8 of 8
Friday, 22 December 2023
Smit E 2023. Wildlife conflict, poaching threaten conservation.

Wildlife conservation continues to face the acute challenges of poaching, habitat fragmentation and human-wildlife conflict. Environment ministry executive director Teofilus Nghitila said due to Namibia's successful conservation methods, which have led to increased wildlife populations outside national parks, human-wildlife conflict has increased. "The situation is worsened by the current disparities in rainfall as well as the growing human population," he said in his end-of-year message.

Thursday, 21 December 2023
Smit E 2023. Rhino poaching decreased by half.

Environment ministry executive director Teofilus Nghitila says 48 rhinos have been poached so far this year. The figure shows a decrease from the 92 animals poached last year. Meanwhile, eight elephants were poached this year - compared to four last year - but this still much better than the previous years' figures, which reached 27 in 2018. The ministry – in collaboration with various law enforcement agencies - set up a response team when poaching skyrocketed in 2013.

Wednesday, 20 December 2023
Smit E 2023. Pangolin trafficking arrests surge.

There has been an increase in the number of arrests made in crimes related to pangolin trafficking between 1 September and 30 November. According to environment ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda, 18 pangolin skins, 12 live pangolins and 146 scales were confiscated, resulting in 23 registered cases and 38 suspects being arrested. "These numbers surpass that of elephant and rhino arrests combined for this period."

Sunday, 17 December 2023
Smit E 2023. Organised crime low in Namibia - Report.

Namibia's average criminal market score was 4.1, an increase of 0.2 since 2021. The country scored 3.5 on human trafficking and 4.5 in arms trafficking. For flora crimes, Namibia scored 6.5, and for fauna crimes - which would include rhino poaching and the linked trade in horns - it scored 4.5.

Thursday, 30 October 2014
Smit E 2014. First black rhino poached in Etosha this year.

A black rhino has been killed and dehorned in the Etosha National Park, the first confirmed poaching incident in a national park this year. Minister of Environment and Tourism, Uahekua Herunga, yesterday confirmed that the carcass was found with 10 gunshot wounds and that the horn was removed. He said the ministry was alerted on Tuesday and currently there is not much information, as investigations are still ongoing at the scene. The rhino carcass was discovered in the southwest part of Etosha on Tuesday with its horn hacked off.

Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Smit E 2014. No slackness in Namibian courts, says magistrate.

A Windhoek magistrate yesterday warned the prosecution not to paint a picture of laxity in the country's courtrooms and to expedite matters in courts. Magistrate Johannes Shuuveni was speaking at the Windhoek Magistrate's Court in Katutura when the State asked for another postponement in the case of three Chinese men accused of trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns worth more than N$2 million out of Namibia.

Thursday, 23 October 2014
Smit E 2014. Namibia is world's second best destination.

The Land of the Brave has been named the second best destination to visit in the world in 2015 by the prominent global travel company, Lonely Planet. Singapore was announced the world's number one country to travel to next year. Lonely Planet made specific mention that Namibia is celebrating 25 years of independence next year and the country has made groundbreaking progress in sustainable development. According to the travel company, Namibia was the first African country to include protection of its environment in its constitution. Namibia empowers local communities to contribute…

Tuesday, 14 October 2014
Smit E 2014. Chinese rhino suspects plead not guilty.

The three Chinese nationals who stand accused of trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns out of Namibia have pleaded not guilty to all charges. The case has in the meantime been referred to the office of the Prosecutor-General for a decision. Li Xiaoliang, Li Zhibing and Pu Xuexin appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court in Katutura yesterday on charges of possession and export of controlled wildlife products.

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