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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.
Explore your search results using the filter checkboxes, or amend your search or start a new search.
The Skukuza Regional Court has postponed the poaching case against Rodney Landela and Kenneth Motshotsho to November 27 and 28 for the defence's case. Mpumalanga News reports that Landela and Motshotsho, both former employees of the Kruger National Park (KNP), briefly appeared in court yesterday. Their bail of R20 000 each was extended pending their next appearance. The two suspects were both 52 years old at the time of their arrest on July 27, 2016, following the killing and dehorning of a white rhino in the Kingfisherspruit region of the KNP.
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| SA_2025_09_Skukuza court postpones one of the longest rhino poaching cases_Caxton Network News.pdf | 162.97 KB |
The former police constable who appeared in the KaBokweni Magistrate's Court on fraud charges on January 8 is also an accused in several rhino poaching-related cases. According to Mpumalanga News, Thembi Aretha Mhlanga (47) is one of four accused, alongside alleged rhino poaching kingpin Joseph 'Big Joe' Nyalungu, Claude Lubisi, and Rachel Qwebana. In her latest legal trouble, Mhlanga was arrested with Sarel Sithole (37) after allegedly swapping a bank card belonging to a 71-year-old woman.
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| SA_2025_01_Fraud_accused former Skukuza cop also faces rhino poaching_related charges_Caxton.pdf | 152.68 KB |
When Edward Ndiritu joined Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, central Kenya, as a rhino monitor in 1996, poaching had already reduced the nation's black rhino population from 20,000 in 1970 to fewer than 300. Driven by a fear that they might disappear completely, Edward worked his way up the ranks to become the head of Lewa's anti-poaching unit. In 2015, his team’s community-minded approach to conservation won him the first Wildlife Ranger Award from conservation charity Tusk. While a rhino hasn't been killed by poachers in Lewa since 2020, the threat endures.
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| KEN_2024_07_Meet the Kenyan ranger finding new ways to fight poaching_National Geographic.pdf | 70.94 KB |
In a landmark joint operation, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), supported by the Wildlife Justice Commission has successfully arrested two major wildlife traffickers in Nigeria. These arrests are linked to the significant seizure of 1.58 tonnes of ivory at Lach Huyen International Port, Hai Phong, Vietnam on 27 March 2024. Comprehensive intelligence-led investigations by the Wildlife Justice Commission in response to the Hai Phong seizure led to the identification and location of both the alleged shipper and supplier of the ivory.
An alleged rhino poacher who has been in custody for the past six months was granted bail last week.
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| SA_2023_12_Alleged rhino poaching kingpin Big Joe granted bail_Caxton Network News.pdf | 213.67 KB |
Another two rhinos have paid the ultimate price as a result of ongoing poaching.The circumstances surrounding the poaching of two rhinos on a Limpopo farm are being investigated by the Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit. Rooiberg police, in the Waterberg District, have launched a manhunt for unknown perpetrators involved in the poaching of two rhinos on Pomo Estate.
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| SA_2023_10_Graphic photos_Rhinos shot and killed on Limpopo farm_Caxton News.pdf | 210.45 KB |
A mission to rescue a pangolin confiscated in Kuruman in the Northern Cape led to a Limpopo foundation sponsoring a flight to the Northern Cape to have it treated at Provet Animal Hospital in Hoedspruit. Provet Animal Hospital said on Facebook that a female Temminck’s ground pangolin was confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade and upon assessment, the veterinarian in Kuruman discovered that she was clutching a newborn pup, a little male, still wrapped in the afterbirth.
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| SA_2023_08_Female pangolin and baby rescued from poachers in the Northern Cape_CAXTON Network News.pdf | 307.04 KB |
Elephant poaching is likely driven by need, not greed, according to findings published this month in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Fewer elephants were poached where humans were healthier and wealthier, according to researchers from Oxford University, the UN, the University of Cape Town, and other institutions who analyzed data from more than 10,000 killings over nearly two decades and across 30 African countries.
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| AFR_2023_01_What drives elephant poaching Its not greed_National Geographic.pdf | 238.88 KB |
The amount of elephant ivory, rhino horn, and pangolin scales intercepted by authorities in 2020 was far less than compared with the previous five years, according to analysis for National Geographic by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS). The coronavirus pandemic likely dampened both the ability of wildlife traffickers to move their products internationally and of law enforcement to detect them, according to the group, a U.S.
Some conservationists and activists in South Africa are concerned that criminal syndicates are making it even more difficult to protect rhinos from poachers.
The effects of poaching and climate change are keenly felt In Zambia and Zimbabwe. This ecological
frontline is manned by innovative, but under-funded conservation units, with tourism supporting the survival
of some of Africa’s rarest species.