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A pregnant rhino has been shot dead and dehorned by poachers on a game reserve near Alexandria. The incident comes as a gruesome reminder of the rhino poaching scourge, which has been relatively quiet in the Eastern Cape in the past six months but continues to threaten the survival of the species. We will update with more information once it becomes available. The only info circulating at the moment is currently behind a pay wall, which we don't have access to.

South Africa: Great team work guys. Live pangolin saved from the illegal trade - disgraceful that 2 cops were among the suspects arrested! In an intelligence driven operation yesterday, 4 suspects were arrested at Makro Wonderboom, Pretoria, 2 were SAPS police officers, 2 x 9mm pistols retrieved. Outstanding work from SAPS Cullinan stock theft and Endangered species, SAPS Silverton K9 and support from US Homeland Security

EAGLE Côte d'Ivoire - 2 traffickers arrested with 32kg ivory. The ivory, concealed in a rice sack, was trafficked from Liberia. The Burkina Faso National trafficker denounced the other for being a known big ivory trafficker.

The largest rhino farmer in Namibia says the arrest of his South African role model and mentor, John Hume, is a kind of witch hunt and politically motivated. Jaco Muller of the Rhino Momma Project expressed his opinion after the world's largest rhino farmer was arrested last week. Asked whether Namibia's application to CITES for the legal trade in rhino horn would be negatively affected by this, Muller said that Hume had gone bankrupt precisely because of the ban on the legal trade in rhino horn.

Namibia's largest rhino farmer says the arrest of his South African hero and mentor, John Hume, is a witch hunt and politically driven. Jaco Muller of the Rhino Momma Project has expressed his opinion after the arrest of the world's largest rhino farmer last week. Asked if this would negatively affect Namibia's application to CITES for the legal trade in rhino horn, Muller said it was precisely because of the ban on the legal trade in rhino horn that Hume went bankrupt.

An elderly resident (68) of Swakopmund who is accused of illegally keeping a lizard and a turtle was granted bail of N$15000 yesterday, after the state dropped its opposition to his release. Jürgen Michael Riegel, a German citizen with permanent residence in Namibia, appeared before Magistrate Nelao Brown for his formal application for bail in the magistrate's court in this town. The case did not go as planned, after public prosecutor Anita Likius told the court: "We have no objection to the accused being granted bail." Likius also said the investigation was complete.

Namibia is pinning its hopes on the upcoming COP20 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) for approval to legally sell some of its ivory stocks. A formal proposal has already been submitted. The summit will take place in Uzbekistan from November 24 to December 5. According to the proposal submitted by Namibia, the country currently has just over 92 386 kg of ivory with a value of about N$166 million. The ivory comes from population management and seizures, about half each. Namibia does not destroy its ivory.

The illegal mining of mica is believed to continue within the Dorob National Park in the Namib, despite a reported government investigation and fines issued earlier this year. Tourism operators, environmentalists and residents allege increasing environmental damage, lax enforcement and deliberate evasion in the licensing process allegedly linked to the exclusive prospecting licence (EPL) 10877. According to a reliable source, an investigation was carried out by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) in February 2025.

Only about 7% of all suspects arrested for rhino-related crimes in Namibia in the past decade have been convicted by th end of 2024. Since 2015 when the current rhino poaching crisis first peaked, 726 rhinos have been recorded as poached in Namibia by last year. According to the Namibia National Wildlife Protection Report for 2024, proactive law enforcement led to the arrest of 855 suspects accused of rhino-related crimes.

Namibia's succulents are being poached at levels that could quickly wipe out entire species, and that for a global ornamental plant market largely unaware of the damage being caused. According to the Namibia National Wildlife Protection and Law Enforcement Report for 2024, live-plant trafficking poses a massive threat to Namibian succulents and pachycauls. Large numbers of live plants were once again seized in 2024, although the number of arrests and seizures was lower than in 2023.

Jürgen Michael Riegel, 68, who was arrested in Swakopmund last week for allegedly detaining a lizard and a turtle at his home without the necessary permits, will remain in custody until his official bail hearing on August 11. Riegel, a German citizen with permanent residence in Namibia, is facing charges under the Nature Conservation Ordinance for the detention of wildlife species without a permit and for the "inability to provide a satisfactory explanation of possession".

Ten years have passed since the massive increase in rhino and elephant poaching drastically changed wildlife conservation and law enforcement in Namibia. The number of registered cases of wildlife crime and the associated arrests decreased again in most categories in 2024 compared to the previous year. "This could indicate a decrease in crime or be due to a lower clearance rate," according to the "Wildlife Protection and Law Enforcement" report by the Ministry of Environment and the Namibian Police for 2024. The total number of registered cases fell by 14%, the number of arrests…

Zimbabwe Police has arrested one Cong Yanzhong from China for possession of 3 rhino horns worth US$240 000 and 4 pieces of raw ivory weighing 36kgs . The Chinese national appeared in court and was remanded in custody to 22 July 2025 for trial.

Botswana's Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) recently conducted intensive practical training for 74 staff members to enhance and strengthen law enforcement capacity through the use of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)’s Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme tools. The training was organised as a three-day workshop for three cohorts of rangers from the greater Chobe National Park, including its sub-stations.

'n Beloning wat sal lei tot die inhegtenisneming van 'n renosterstroperysindikaat wat nou al vier renosters op 'n plaas naby Maltahöhe in die Hardapstreek gestroop het, het nou gestyg tot N$1 miljoen nadat nóg drie karkasse gister ontdek is. 'n Beloning van N$200 000 is aanvanklik aangebied vir die inhegtenisneming wat sal lei tot die skuldigbevinding van die stropers wat onlangs 'n witrenosterkoei gestroop het en haar kalf, Elsa, wees gelaat is.

Three suspected abalone smugglers appeared in the Karasburg Magistrate's Court on Wednesday after allegedly smuggling abalone worth about N$1.7 million across the Orange River. Well-known residents of Warmbad, Laurentius Basson, Petrus Alexander Bock and Mannetjie Harold Schultz appeared before Magistrate Melissa Mungunda who postponed their case to July 23 and 24. Esther Jafet appeared for the state. The accused are charged, among other things, with helping Chinese nationals smuggle 407 kg of abalone across the Orange River in July 2022.

A dispute has erupted in the informal settlement of Tumweneni in the Kavango East region, with residents accusing the settlement committee of unilaterally allowing a Chinese company to cut down five mopane trees. This without the wider community being aware of the matter. However, Max Solar Power Trading cc, the Chinese company at the center of the controversy, denied any wrongdoing. Supervisor Peter Sandanda told Network Media Hub (NMH) that the company had simply helped remove the trees that were seen as harmful or an obstacle.

The country's uncontrolled growth of the seal population is a direct result of quota holders focusing only on harvesting bulls for their genitals, leaving the rest of theanimal, including the meat and valuable by-products, unused due to lack of a market. This is what the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on natural resources, Tjekero Tweya, said in parliament on Monday during the presentation of the committee's findings. He argued that the current system benefits only a handful of investors, while ignoring the potential for industrial development.

Wildlife crime poses a serious threat to conservation efforts across Africa that rob communities of high-value resources and reduce their benefits from natural resources. The just-released 2023 State of Municipal Conservation Report warns that wildlife crime is occurring at multiple levels, necessitating a widespread response from multiple agencies. "Some wildlife crime takes place at a subsistence level for food or at a commercial level, which then involves crime syndicates and illegal international smuggling, which increases the stakes," the report said.

"Controlled trade in rhino horn should be permitted". The Wildlife Vets Namibia team recently dehorned rhinos from the Rhino Momma project. According to Wildlife Vets, the CITES ban on the trade in rhino horn has caused a rhino to be worth more dead than alive.

Just a few days after World Pangolin Day, the Pangolin Conservation & Research Foundation (PCRF) has once again drawn attention to the devastating situation of pangolins in Namibia in an urgent appeal. On Pangolin Day itself, February 15, a Namibian pangolin fell victim to an electric fence - "just one of countless silent deaths that go unnoticed. This pangolin survived the illegal wildlife trade, only to be killed by another human-made threat," said PCRF Director Kelsey Prediger. Since 2018, 570 pangolins have been killed by poaching in Namibia alone (AZ reported).

A total of 77 suspects arrested, but no word is said about how many have already been tried, and what the sentences are. This leaves no doubt that cases are still in the investigation stages, and it leaves no doubt that cases will drag on for days to come. Bringing a case to court and having it successfully tried is supposed to be the pride of any detective/investigator. It breaks my heart to see no positive reporting, with the amount of settled/conviction cases' feedback.

Namibia has experienced one of the worst years of rhino poaching in over ten years, with 81 rhinos illegally killed in 2024. Authorities arrested 77 suspects for rhinorelated crimes, 73 of whom were Namibian nationals. According to the document, which was presented at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Geneva, Switzerland, the country's poaching crisis peaked in 2015 with 97 rhinos killed, followed by 84 cases in 2018 and 94 rhinos poached in 2022.

The battle between mining and conservation tourism rages on in the dry rocky plains of the Sorris Sorris Conservation Area, the High Court in Windhoek and in the boardroom of the Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC). At stake are promising tin deposits that could mean big bucks from increasing global demand, as opposed to preserving the natural beauty of the area where the endangered black rhinos roam. Community-driven tourism and their private-sector partners strive to keep their symbiotic relationship with the rhinos alive. "Get rid of us and the rhinos are gone with the…

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) has expressed satisfaction with the progress made in establishing the District Court for Environmental Crimes in Otjiwarongo. According to a press release from MEFT press officer, Romeo Muyunda, this initiative is part of the national wildlife conservation strategy agreed by stakeholders to support the fight against wildlife crime. "The court focuses on environmental crime cases and will expedite the processing of wildlife cases, which we believe will help prevent wildlife crime," it says.

A group of highly endangered black rhinos is protected until 6 March to be peacefully protected by the conservation areas - Sorris Sorris, Uibasen Twyfelfontein and Doro ! Nawas - to walk. Then the court dispute will proceed to determine whether mining operations may continue in this area. Acting High Court Judge Anne-Doris Hans-Kaumbi ordered on Tuesday that the trial over planned open-pit tin mines in the area will not proceed until March. Until then, interdicts against further development of any new mining operations in the area remain in force.

Last week, according to social media, a previously unknown vehicle reportedly drove at high speed into a flock of cormorants near "Canopy" north of Cape Cross. The incident, which was discovered on Friday, left dozens of cormorants lying dead, seriously injured or maimed. The cormorants, which are known to take off slowly in flight, were apparently unable to escape the oncoming vehicle, which was apparently deliberately targeting the flock. Numerous birds suffered serious injuries, others lay dead on the ground.

The assertion that mining and conservation can coexist in fragile ecosystems is disingenuous. Our operations depend on black rhinos, a species critically sensitive to noise and human disturbance. Evidence shows mining activities – including heavy machinery and blasting – force rhinos to abandon their habitats, destroying the tourism models reliant on them. The Huab Conservancy serves as a cautionary tale: mining in the area led to the loss of tourism operations, community income, and conservation efforts – all without any meaningful benefit to the local population.

The Ministry of Environment (MEFT), in cooperation with the police and the Namibian Defence Forces (NDF), arrested two suspects found in possession of four elephant tusks in the Zambezi region at around 11pm last Thursday. "The suspects, aged 23 and 25, both male nationals of Zambia, are charged with illegal possession of controlled wildlife products and for violating the Immigration Control Act 7/1993 for illegally entering Namibia," the environment ministry said.

Judge Collins Parker on Monday in the High Court in Windhoek struck down the counter-application of Ottilie Ndimulunde to an urgent court application by two communal conservation areas in the Kunene region, a traditional authority and tourism company. "The first respondent came to play rugby, but the game is a football game, so to speak," Parker argued in the court order, declaring the four applicants' case regarding a new road to a tin mine urgent. The four applicants are the conservation areas of Doro !

The conservation areas of Ûibasen, Twyfelfontein and Doro ! Nawas strongly denies allegations of widespread support for the Goantagab tin mine at Khorixas. This follows allegations in local media reports that the local community supports the mining operations in the Sorris Sorris Conservation Area. "The claim that Ultimate Safaris independently opposes the mine is incorrect. Opposition to the mine is a joint effort by the conservation areas of Ûibasen Twyfelfontein and Doro !

Waldo McClune (38), Fabian Routh (39), Brandon Van Wyk (34) and Terence Theron (47), all members of the Block A neighbourhood watch, are said to have hunted the game at night and, with the owner's knowledge, delivered it to a well-known slaughterhouse in Rehoboth. McClune is reportedly part of the group's executive committee. The source, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Namibian Sun that McClune had exploited his position to influence the nightly meetings, and members were concerned about the extent of negligence and feared for their monthly dues.

Rhino poachers are becoming domesticated. Not only do they strike more during full moons, but they even poach during daylight. So says a despondent farmer in the Okahandja district who caught two men red-handed on his farm last Tuesday with rhino horns in their possession. He says in the past three weeks, rhino poachers have raided three locations in the central area, poaching and killing rhinos.

A study has found that data collected over a period of 53 years on elephant populations in Africa show that a dramatic decline in elephant populations has been recorded over the period. This study concludes that habitat loss and poaching are the reason for the dramatic decline in African elephants. However, the study, "Survey based inference of continental African elephant decline," published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that it was difficult to measure the numbers for the entire continent and to monitor changes accurately.

On Thursday morning, a notice of appeal was filed with the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism to revoke the Environmental Impact Certificates (ECC), according to which mining was allowed in the protected and conservanial areas southwest of Khorixas. This came after the High Court temporarily banned all mining operations in the area in an urgent procedure until the environmental officer Timoteus Mufeti made a decision on the mining applications of Timoteus Mashuna and Otilie Ndeshetelwa Ndimulunde.

The Ministry of Environment has banned the export of white rhinos. This export ban mainly refers to the fact that the animals may not be used for breeding purposes outside their natural range. Apparently, 163 rhinos have already been born in breeding programs.

The High Court granted an interdict this week ?? which keeps Ottilie Ndimulunde from carrying out mining operations and building a road or anything else on her mine mines in the Khorixas area. The interdict will be valid pending the outcome of a review application to the Environment Commissioner against the Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) issued. The Doro ! Nawas Conservation Area, Ûibasen Twyfelfontein Conservation Area, the ≠Aodaman Traditional Authority and the company Ultimate Safaris have brought an urgent application against Ndimulunde.

Shifeta also mentioned that the additional patrol vehicles will especially help ensure that units can reduce their response time. He said that the donated IT equipment will broaden their capabilities to deal with the administrative challenges of wildlife protection, as well as improve the monitoring and reporting of patrol efforts to demonstrate the impact of the money invested in the wildlife protection services.

Two communal conservation areas near Khorixas feel betrayed by the decision of the environment ministry to allow mining activities in a joint management area where rhinos are threatened. The conservation areas of Doro ! Nawas and Ûibasen Twyfelfontein recently succeeded in obtaining a court order to stop road construction activities related to mining claims within their nuclear rhino conservation area.

A black rhino bull was poached from a farm in the Otavi district of the Otjozondjupa region between last Monday and Saturday. According to the Namibian police's weekly crime report, the carcass of the rhinoceros was discovered with the horns removed from the bull.

The Doro ! Nawas and Ûibasen Twyfelfontein recently obtained a court order to halt road construction work for planned mining operations to protect rhinos in their area. They are supported by the traditional authority Aodaman and Ultimate Safaris, a tourism partner, in their lawsuit against mining entrepreneurs Ottillie Ndimulunde and Timoteus Mashuna. The lawsuit is also directed against the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Mines, the Commissioner for the Environment and the Commissioner for Mines.

The Namibia Professional Hunting Association (Napha) has publicly emphasised the need to distinguish between illegal and ethical practices related to leopard hunting but has not clearly condemned the illegal activities that are being exposed by the media as well as being investigated by law enforcement and prosecuted in the courts. Behind the scenes, parts of the trophy sector are lobbying to legalise hunting with dogs and hunting at night.

Gerhardus Petrus van Zyl (50) is in hegtenis geneem en van onwettige jag van jagbare wild aangekla. Hy het na bewering 23 koedoe-, 17 eland-, nege hartebees- en 139 gemsbokvelle in sy besit gehad. Gerhardus Petrus van Zyl (50) was arrested and charged with illegal hunting of huntable game. He allegedly had in his possession 23 kudu, 17 eland, nine hartebeest and 139 oryx skins.

Represented by a gruff lawyer - he slapped the phone out of the journalist's hand - hunting guide Brian Roodt is facing trial in the Magistrates' Court for a number of wildlife crimes. The defendant has also appeared in court in other parts of the country for similar offences. He is currently free on bail.

'n Witrenosterbul se karkas is gistermiddag op 'n plaas in die Okahandja-distrik gevind nadat hy aanvanklik deur stropers gekwes is. Die gekweste bul is verlede week op die plaas ontdek. Twee veeartse het die plaas besoek om die agtjarige renoster te behandel nadat hy deur die stropers in die voorkop geskiet is. Die eienaar van die plaas het aan NMH gesê hy het nog Sondag omstreeks 18:00 oor die plaas met sy girokopter gevlieg en die bul lewend gesien.

In diesem Jahr wurden in Namibia schon insgesamt 47 Nashörner gewildert, von denen 32 Kadaver im Etoscha-Nationalpark gefunden wurden. Nach Angaben des Sprechers des Umweltministeriums, Romeo Muyunda, handelt es sich bei 33 um Spitzmaulnashörner und 14 um Breitmaulnashörner. "Von den 47 Nashörnern, die in diesem Jahr bisher gewildert wurden, wurden zusätzlich zu den 32 in Etoscha acht Spitzmaulnashörner auf Farmen, die Teil des Nashornschutz-Projekts sind, gewildert. Davon sechs auf privaten Farmen und eines in der Kunene-Region", sagte Muyunda. Vor weniger als einem Monat, am 13…

Altesaam 47 renosters is al vanjaar in Namibië gestroop waarvan 32 karkasse in die Etosha Nasionale Park gevind is.Volgens die woordvoerder van die ministerie van die omgewing, bosbou en toerrisme, Romeo Muyunda, is 33 swartrenosters en 14 witrenosters gestroop. 

A total of 47 rhinos have been poached in Namibia this year, of which 32 carcasses were found in the Etosha National Park. According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of the Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Romeo Muyunda, 33 black rhinos and 14 white rhinos were poached.

Altesaam 47 renosters is al vanjaar in Namibië gestroop waarvan 32 karkasse in die Etosha Nasionale Park gevind is. 

A total of 47 rhinos have been poached in Namibia this year, of which 32 carcasses have been found in the Etosha National Park.

Trotz Bemühungen um Eindämmung des Handels mit bedrohten Tierarten wie Elefanten geht der illegale Handel mit Wildtieren weltweit unvermindert weiter. Dies geht aus dem einem Bericht des Büros der Vereinten Nationen für Drogen- und Verbrechensbekämpfung (UNODC) hervor, der eine Bestandsaufnahme der weltweiten Anti-Wilderei- Maßnahmen enthält.