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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
Wednesday, 10 April 2024
Smit E 2024. Hundreds behind bars for rhino poaching.

A total of 707 suspects have been arrested in connection with rhino poaching between January 2023 and March of this year. Currently, 589 suspects are in custody awaiting trial, 91 suspects have been convicted, 21 are out on bail, five have been released, two were acquitted, and one suspect has died. Environment minister Pohamba Shifeta provided these statistics during his budget motivation for the 2024-2025 financial year.

Wednesday, 3 April 2024
Smit E 2024. Urgent meeting called to discuss steep rise in rhino poaching.
The environment ministry has called for an urgent high-level meeting with security clusters after 28 rhinos were poached in Namibia this year, with 19 of them killed in Etosha National Park.
Tuesday, 2 April 2024
Smit E 2024. 28 renosters reeds vanjaar gestroop.

'n Dringende hoëvlak-vergadering tussen die ministerie van omgewing, bosbou en toerisme en sekuriteitsgroepe is belê nadat 28 renosters in die eerste drie maande van die jaar in Namibië gestroop is. Uit die 28 renosters is 19 in die Etosha Nasionale Park gestroop. Volgens die ministerie se woordvoerder Romeo Muyunda is tien van die 19 gestroopte renosters in die park verlede maand tydens onthoringsoperasies ontdek.

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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