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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 - 9 of 9
Tuesday, 28 November 2023
Smit E 2023. 24 elephant tusks confiscated.

A total of 24 elephant tusks were confiscated, while one suspect was arrested and seven others fled the scene when their car was searched last Friday in the Zambezi Region. According to the environment ministry, the police, the defence force and ministry officials searched vehicles as part of an intelligence-led operation in pursuit of a syndicate of Zambian nationals who were embarking on transnational poaching of elephants in neighbouring Botswana using Zambezi as a transit root. It said security operatives intercepted the vehicle used to transport elephant tusks.

Sunday, 26 November 2023
Smit E 2023. 24 elephant tusks confiscated.

A total of 24 elephant tusks were confiscated, while one suspect was arrested and seven others fled the scene when their car were searched on Friday in the Zambezi Region. According to the environment ministry, members of the ministry, the police and the defence force were searching vehicles as part of an intelligence-led operation in pursuit of a syndicate of Zambian nationals who were embarking on transnational poaching of elephants in neighbouring Botswana using the Zambezi Region as a transit root.

Sunday, 26 November 2023
Smit E 2023.  24 elephant tusks confiscated.

A total of 24 elephant tusks were confiscated, while one suspect was arrested and seven others fled the scene when their car were searched on Friday in the Zambezi Region. According to the environment ministry, members of the ministry, the police and the defence force were searching vehicles as part of an intelligence-led operation in pursuit of a syndicate of Zambian nationals who were embarking on transnational poaching of elephants in neighbouring Botswana using the Zambezi Region as a transit root.

Sunday, 26 November 2023
Smit E 2023. 24 Elefantenstosszähne beschlagnahmt.

Insgesamt wurden 24 Elefantenstoßzähne beschlagnahmt, während ein Verdächtiger verhaftet wurde und sieben weitere bei der Durchsuchung ihrer Fahrzeuge am Freitag in der Sambesi-Region flüchteten.

A total of 24 elephant tusks were seized while one suspect was arrested and seven others escaped during searches of their vehicles in the Zambezi region on Friday.

Tuesday, 18 August 2020
Smit E 2020. Officials get 'teeth' to identify trafficked ivory.

A comprehensive new guide has been published to assist law enforcement agencies to identify trafficked ivory. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) secretariat, TRAFFIC and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have published the Identification Guide for Ivory and Ivory Substitutes. It is a comprehensive and accessible resource for identifying the most commonly found ivories and artificial substitutes used for trade.

Wednesday, 12 August 2020
Smit E 2020. Python skins seized.

Six suspects were arrested in connection with wildlife crimes and three new cases were opened recently, while seized products included python, leopard and pangolin skins.

Friday, 7 August 2020
Smit E 2020. Pangolin traffickers nabbed.

In the first cooperation between US law enforcement and the Namibian police, four suspected pangolin traffickers were recently arrested in Namibia. According to a statement by the US embassy in Namibia, time-sensitive information was received by the Homeland Security Investigations office in Pretoria relating to the imminent illegal sale of a live pangolin.

Thursday, 6 August 2020
Smit E 2020. N$5.5m for wildlife protection.

The Game Product Trust Fund (GPTF) has become increasingly important in protecting wildlife due to a lack of funding from government. The GPTF has committed funding of more than N$5.58 million to several activities in the environment and tourism sector during the 2018/19 financial year. This information is contained in the Environmental Investment Fund (EIF) of Namibia 2018/19 annual report that has just been made public. "The GPTF's role has become more important than ever. It has stepped in and filled the void that has been left by a lack of funding from the government.

Wednesday, 5 August 2020
Smit E 2020. Eight arrested for wildlife crimes.

Eight suspects were arrested last week in connection with wildlife crimes. These suspects were arrested in three separate cases and a total of five illegal wildlife products were seized, which included a lion skin, three leopard skins and a live pangolin.

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