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On International Cheetah Day, 4 December, conservationists have sounded the alarm about the rapid decline of the valuable species. Namibia is home to about 1,500 to 2,000 of the world's remaining 7,500 wild cheetahs. But they are threatened with extinction as human activities and the loss of their habitat push them closer and closer to the edge of the abyss. Globally, cheetahs are classified as "vulnerable" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, with two subspecies considered "critically endangered".

A parliamentary monitoring mission to the Zambezi, Kavango East and Kavango West regions has revealed that Namibia's world-renowned Community Natural Resources Management Programme (CBNRM) is at a critical crossroads. While nature reserves continue to generate millions for rural communities - over N$30 million in the Zambezi region alone last fiscal year - the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources said the system was hampered by outdated frameworks, weak governance and an unhealthy reliance on trophy hunting.

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.

A local game breeder has earlier today been charged with the illegal possession and the selling of rhino horns after a combined intelligence operation involving several law enforcement units.

The National Prosecuting Authority has welcomed the sentences handed to two Mozambique nationals found guilty for poaching related offences by the Malamulele Regional Court. Enock Sibanda(31) and Eckson Shirinda (28) were arrested by Kruger National Park rangers on 14 November 2018 and were each sentenced to eight year’s imprisonment, said Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, the Regional Spokesperson of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Limpopo.

Three black rhinos were found killed in separate incidents in the Lephalale and Gravelotte policing areas. In the first incident, a rhino was found shot and killed at a local game reserve in the Waterberg district on Friday, 22 January.

The police on Friday arrested three suspects for possession of elephant tusks worth over R100 000. The suspects were arrested at a local mall during an undercover operation which was conducted by the police together with the Endangered Species Unit in Limpopo, K9 unit, Crime Intelligence, LEDET and KNP ECI .

The trio were arrested following a R50 000 transaction for parts of lions they killed on a private game reserve outside Lephalale.

During the month-long Operation Thunder, Border Force officers at ports and airports made 178 seizures containing thousands of products regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). These included elephant tusks and other ivory goods, live corals and reptile skin products. Border Force also made a number of non-CITES seizures including heroin, cocaine, cannabis and cigarettes.

Although the CBNRM programme has played a central role in the success of conservation in Namibia since 1998, it has not been modernised to reflect rapidly changing economic and environmental realities, according to the report. The nature reserves continue to operate according to the original framework conditions, which no longer meet new threats such as escalating human-wildlife conflicts, illegal logging, poaching, land occupation and increasing competition for land from other sectors.