This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:
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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From sharks, rhinos to giraffes - they are the focus of the species conservation conference in Samarkand. As of November 24, 185 states in Uzbekistan will be wrestling over trade bans and restrictions. There is a lot at stake: the fate of more than 230 animal and plant species is being decided. The organization Pro Wildlife warns in advance of dangerous steps backwards in the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates or even prohibits the international trade in plants and animals.
One of the greatest tragedies in Namibian conservation is playing out on the Kavango River east of Rundu in the Shamvura area where poachers operating from the Angolan side of the river have wiped out 75% of the local hippo population over the past year. Eyewitnesses report seeing Angolan individuals indiscriminately and in open daylight shooting at the hippo pod on the Namibian side of the river in what appears to be a thriving illegal trade in hippo meat across the river.
The Criminal Investigation Service (SIC), through its Central Directorate for Combating the Illicit Trafficking of Precious Stones, Metals and Crimes against the Environment, in operational coordination with other defense and security forces, and in close collaboration with the General Tax Administration (AGT), international organizations, and NGOs dedicated to wildlife protection, conducted a micro-operation on Thursday, 6 November, on the outskirts of Luanda.
"We have tons of ivory sitting in vaults, gathering dust. Let us sell it. If we flood the market, prices will drop, and poachers will have no reason to kill our elephants." It sounds like a solution, logical, understandable, the kind of idea that fits neatly into an economics textbook: more supply, lower prices, less crime. But the world of ivory doesn't play by those rules. It isn't a clean market driven by transparency and rational behavior. It's a shadow economy built on secrecy, speculation, and status.
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| SA_2025_11_To trade or not to trade_thats the question_Roar Wildlife News.pdf | 50.44 KB |
Across Africa, the greatest killers of elephants are poaching, illegal ivory trade, habitat loss, and government-sanctioned hunting. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and TRAFFIC have repeatedly identified organized wildlife trafficking networks as the main drivers of elephant declines. The African Elephant Status Report shows tens of thousands of elephants slaughtered over the past decades due to ivory demand, not activism.
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| SA_2025_11_Stop blaming the protectors_The real war on elephants_Roar Wildlife News.pdf | 54.96 KB |
Slaughtering of donkeys for their hides has become a problem in Africa, with daily rates reportedly reaching up to 400 in Kenya to meet China's demand, NGO says Hong Kong customs have uncovered two major sea smuggling cases, seizing suspected illicit goods worth about HK$200 million (US$25 million), including 150 tonnes of donkey skins. The massive haul was discovered aboard a river trade vessel and an ocean-going ship on October 3 and 7, respectively.
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.
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| SA_2025_09_South Africa_Tragic news from the Eastern Cape_Roar Wildlife News.pdf | 41.59 KB |
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
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| SA_2025_09_Live pangolin saved from the illegal trade_Roar Wildlife News.pdf | 51.08 KB |
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.
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| CI_2025_09_2 traffickers arrested with 32kg ivory_Roar Wildlife News.pdf | 43.58 KB |
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.
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| ZIM_2025_07_Zimbabwe Police has arrested one Cong Yanzhong_Roar Wildlife News.pdf | 43.62 KB |
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| SA_2025_07_As of July 3_Roar Wildlife News.pdf | 68.98 KB |
The functional forces have just discovered a package containing 11.82 kg of rhino horn and 4,712 kg of smuggled ivory transported on a flight from Doha (Quatar) to Vietnam. When scanning the above 02 pieces of luggage through a portable scanner, the Import Baggage Procedure Team discovered suspicious images of rhino horns and ivory, so they invited Ninh Ba Dien passenger to the headquarters. for fact check. According to the inspection results, in addition to his carry-on luggage, Mr.