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A 50-year-old man was arrested at the Liselo checkpoint near Katima Mulilo after he was found in possession of protected game products, including lion teeth, bones and oils extracted from lion fat. The discovery was made on Monday at midday during a routine vehicle search conducted by law enforcement officers with the assistance of a K-9 sniffer dog. The officers discovered illegal wildlife products hidden in the traveller's bag. The suspect, who has yet to appear in court, failed to produce a valid permit authorising possession or transport of the protected game items.

A Kenyan court has sentenced four men to one year in prison or pay a fine of $7,700 (£5,800) for trying to smuggle thousands of live queen ants out of the country. The four suspects - two Belgians, a Vietnamese and a Kenyan - were arrested last month with live ants suspected to have been destined for collectors in Europe and Asia. They had pleaded guilty to the charges, with the Belgians telling the court that they were collecting the highly sought-after ants as a hobby and didn't think it was illegal.

Ten endangered flamingos have been saved after smugglers were caught trying to traffic them out of Tunisia, according to the country's customs body. Photos of the birds crammed into crates with their wings, legs and torsos bound up were posted by the force online. The flamingos were rescued close to the Algerian border on Sunday, having been "loaded onto a lorry bearing a Tunisian registration plate", officials said in a statement. The birds have now been safely returned to their natural habitat, officials added, "as part of efforts to preserve the species".

Four Chinese nationals were arrested last week in Kampala for their involvement in illegal wildlife trade and tax evasion. The suspects were apprehended by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) in collaboration with Uganda Police and Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) following the discovery of illegal wildlife products and smuggled goods at their residence in Naguru, Kampala. Among the items recovered were 9.4 kilogrammes of pangolin scales, two skinned pangolin carcasses, 167 cartons of smuggled premium cigarettes, and Shs27 million in cash. 

When South African officials at Cape Town's international airport came across cardboard boxes labelled as toys being sent to China they became suspicious. China is famous for exporting toys around the world - not importing them. The boxes were opened for a spot check - and instead of finding the promised toddler’s cooking set or a board game inside, they discovered bundles of endangered succulent plants all carefully wrapped in toilet paper.

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism is currently conducting an assessment to determine the extent of rhino poaching. In light of the recent poaching incidents in the park, the ministry has also requested an urgent high-level meeting with the security cluster. To date, a total of 28 rhinos have been poached in Namibia. Out of these, 19 were poached in the Etosha National Park, while the remaining 10 were discovered during dehorning operations throughout the month of March.

Zambezi Region's law enforcement and security forces are making significant strides against wildlife crime. Today, seven individuals from Zambia were apprehended in the Kapani area with 18 tusks, along with the discovery of a .375 caliber firearm in their possession. These tusks, believed to be sourced from poached elephants in Botswana, mark the latest incident in a series of arrests within the past three weeks. The total number of intercepted elephant tusks in this region over the last three consecutive weeks now stands at 59.

Police in the Zambezi Region apprehended a 37-year-old man found in possession of 24 elephant tusks during a joint operation with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism last night. The tusks are alleged to have come from Botswana, where the elephants were poached, and entered Namibia through the Batubaja Area in Linyanti Constituency. All 24 tusks were found loaded into a vehicle with an expired disc licence driven by a suspect who was allegedly called to provide transport after the car in which they were transported initially ran out of fuel.

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism intercepted a truck full of unprocessed timber last weekend in Windhoek, which was intended for export to South Africa. 1500 planks on the truck were confiscated and the transport permit was temporarily suspended pending further investigations to establish where the timber came from and if it was legally acquired. The Ministry introduced a moratorium on timber harvesting, transportation, marketing, and exporting in 2018.

The number of endangered rhinos poached in Namibia last year was the highest on record and almost twice as many as the year before, officials say. A total of 87 rhinos were killed compared with 45 in 2021, official government data show. Most were poached in Etosha, Namibia's biggest national park, officials say.

A senior officer in the UPDF, Lt. Col. Ariko Robert, 54 has been arrested in Katakwi while attempting to sell ivory. Ariko was arrested from his home in Africa village, Getom sub county, Katakwi district.