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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 - 5 of 5
Thursday, 24 November 2022
Smit E 2022. Seven arrested for old wildlife crime cases.

Seven suspects were arrested last week in connection with old wildlife crime cases. This is according to weekly wildlife crime statistics issued by the protected resource division and the intelligence and investigation unit within the safety and environment ministries. On 19 November, two Namibian men, Festus Amunyela and Mekondjo Tsillinus, were arrested at Oshivelo for conspiring to poach a rhino on 16 June. In another incident, Angolan national Ndango Nicolaus was arrested on 17 November in Rundu for being in possession of a pangolin on 4 August.

Wednesday, 16 November 2022
Smit E 2022. Protected skins land 3 in jail.

Only two new wildlife crime cases were registered last week, with three suspects arrested. This is according to the weekly crime statistics for 7 to 13 November. Twelve wildlife crime cases were heard in court, while one was finalised. In Otjiwarongo, two Namibian men - Tjizire Kohongo and Angula Kafidi - were arrested on 8 November for being in possession of a leopard skin. They have appeared in court and were refused bail. In a separate incident in Rundu, 55-year-old Namibian Ngoma Mungenyu was arrested on 11 November for being in possession of an African skunk skin.

Tuesday, 22 October 2019
Smit E 2019. 16 arrested for wildlife crimes: Protected wildlife species continue to be illegally hunted in northern Namibia.

Sixteen suspects were arrested in connection with wildlife crimes in the past week. Eight of the suspects are Namibians and the rest Zambians. Statistics provided by the Protected Resource Division of the Namibian police and the Intelligence and Investigation Unit of the environment ministry indicate that a total of 21 wildlife products were seized last week.

Thursday, 10 October 2019
Smit E 2019. Organised crime low in Namibia.

Namibia is among the countries with the lowest level of organised crime in Africa. This is according to a report by the Enact project, financed by the European Union (EU).

Thursday, 10 October 2019
Smit E 2019. 100 pieces of ivory confiscated: Wildlife crime is not showing any signs of abating.

One-hundred pieces of elephant tusk were seized and two suspects were arrested in Katutura during an operation by the Blue Rhino Task Team last week.

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