Search results

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

An alleged rhino poacher who has been in custody for the past six months was granted bail last week.

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.

The Nkayi Rural District Council has been urged to tighten its monitoring systems to stop the illegal harvesting of timber by companies as the natural resource is not benefiting local communities. Nkayi South Member of Parliament Jabulani Hadebe said there were no mechanisms in place to protect natural resources in the Matabeleland North district.

A 26-year-old gold panner from village 8, Inyathi, Matabeleland North province has appeared at the Bulawayo Magistrates Courts for killing a kudu valued at US$1 500.

Two Zimbabweans, who were recently arrested for illegal possession of a pangolin and illegally entering Botswana, have been jailed four years each.

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.

Three Bulawayo residents have been dragged to court over illegal possession of a pangolin worth US$5 000.

There is a resurgence of poaching activities targeting rhinos at Matobo National Park, which threatens to reverse gains made over the years to protect the endangered species. Matobo National Park in Matabeleland South has one of the highest rhino populations in the country. Six poaching incidents have been reported at the game reserve this year, according to Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) Matabeleland South regional manager Midwell Kapesa. Zimbabwe holds the fourth largest population of rhinos in Africa with 616 black rhinos and 417 white…