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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 - 4 of 4
Tuesday, 4 June 2024
Smit E 2024. Namibia threatens to withdraw CITES membership.

Environment and tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta has come out strongly against CITES' decision to ban ivory from being sold on international markets. In an interview with New Era on the sidelines of the just-ended KAZA summit in Livingstone, he said if the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) refuses member states to sell off ivory stockpiles, they will withdraw their membership. "If CITES refuses, we have some alternatives and plans. We can go for arbitration.

Monday, 3 June 2024
Smit E 2024. Cargo-trucks confiscated over illegal wood.

In early May, the environment ministry's forestry directorate raided farms in the Kunene Region where protected mopane trees are being harvested and exported for charcoal and firewood. Trucks carrying loads of wood and charcoal - without permits to do so - have already been seized, the directorate confirmed. An outraged charcoal producer in the Outjo district, who preferred to remain anonymous, claimed a forestry official threatened him and demanded a bribe from him to not stop his charcoal business.

Tuesday, 9 December 2014
Smit E 2014. Chinese rhino case transferred to regional court.

The case of three Chinese men accused of trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns worth about N$2.3 million out of Namibia has been transferred to the Windhoek Regional Court in Katutura for plea and trial. Li Xiaoliang, Li Zhibing and Pu Xuexin were caught with the rhino horns, as well as a leopard skin valued about N$50 000, stashed in their luggage at the Hosea Kutako International Airport on March 23.

Monday, 8 December 2014
Smit E 2014. Don't collaborate with poachers - Herunga.

The Minister of Environment and Tourism, Uahekua Herunga, has warned Namibians who are collaborating with international poaching syndicates that they must stop with this illegal practice or face the consequences. Namibia is in the process of establishing an anti-poaching unit and Herunga stressed the urgency of getting this unit up and running as soon as possible. He said the country experienced a spill-over of poaching from South Africa, where large numbers of rhinos and elephants have been killed in the past two years.

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