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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.

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Displaying results 1 - 15 of 15
Friday, 22 August 2025
2025. Mozambique: Man arrested with elephant tusks, two others escape in Mágoè, Tete Province.

Mozambican police have arrested a person trying to sell four elephant tusks in Mágoè, Tete province, central Mozambique, a source from the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) has said. "This is an arrest in flagrante delicto, which occurred in Mágoè district, where this individual was in possession of four ivory tips, weighing approximately 22 kilograms," Sernic spokesperson in Tete, Celina Roque, told media.

Tuesday, 20 May 2025
2025. Mozambique: Man arrested for trying to sell 12 elephant tusks - Watch.

Police in Mozambique yesterday arrested a man who was trying to sell elephant tusks in the city of Pemba, Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country. The 40-year-old man was caught trying to sell the tusks for 2,000 meticais (€28) per kilogram in the Metula neighbourhood of the provincial capital, police spokesperson Eugénia Nhamússua told the media today. "We are processing the report to legalise his arrest, for subsequent steps," she explained.

Tuesday, 4 March 2025
2025. Mozambique: Poaching "virtually under control".

The general director of Mozambique’s National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), Pejul Calenga, believes that poaching in the country is now virtually under control. "10 or 15 years ago, we were losing between 1,000 and 1,500 elephants every year", said Calenga, interviewed by Radio Mozambique on Monday. "But currently the losses are less than 100 a year". He added that, in some conservation areas, there had been no deaths at all of elephants at the hands of poachers for two consecutive years.

Thursday, 17 October 2024
2024. Warehouse raids in Nigeria lead to historic seizure of over 9.4 tonnes of stockpiled pangolin scales.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), with support from the Wildlife Justice Commission, successfully conducted two major operations on 8 August 2024, resulting in the combined seizure of over 9.4 tonnes of pangolin scales and arrests of four suspects. These operations mark a significant achievement in the ongoing efforts to dismantle wildlife trafficking networks in Nigeria.
Tuesday, 16 July 2024
Joint operation leads to four arrests and major seizure of pangolin scales in Liberia.
In a coordinated effort, the Special Wildlife Investigations Unit (SWIU), supported by Focused Conservation and the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), successfully conducted a joint operation resulting in the arrest of four suspects and the seizure of 525 kilograms of pangolin scales in Monrovia, Liberia, on 10 July 2024. The SWIU is comprised of officers from the Liberian National Police, Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and the Liberia Revenue Authority Customs Department and is mentored in Liberia by Focused Conservation.
Friday, 24 May 2024
Dennis P 2024. Major breakthrough: Nigerian authorities arrest two key ivory traffickers connected to recent seizure in Vietnam.

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.

Thursday, 19 October 2023
2023. Mozambique: SERNIC arrests two in possession of elephant tusks.

Mozambique's National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) on Wednesday detained two individuals, in Beira city, in the central province of Sofala, who were caught redhanded in the possession of elephant tusks that they were trying to sell.

Friday, 22 September 2023
2023. Mozambique: SERNIC arrests two for poaching.

Mozambique's National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) has arrested two people in Moatize district, in the central province of Tete, for attempting to sell a pangolin.

Wednesday, 26 April 2023
2023. Man arrested in possession of a leopard skull and skin in central Mozambique.

A 40-year-old man has been arrested in possession of a leopard skull and skin, the National Criminal Investigation Service of Mozambique (Sernic) has announced. "The man was caught red-handed on April 22," Sernic spokesman Alfeu Sitoe said at a press conference in the city of Beira. The suspect claimed to have received the product from a friend, now a fugitive, who intended to sell it to a foreigner in Beira’s Alto da Manga neighbourhood for 60,000 meticais (€856).

Tuesday, 18 April 2023
2023. Mozambique: Man arrested in possession of lions' teeth and claws.

A 38-year-old citizen is currently detained in the city of Beira, Sofala province, accused of killing and possession of prohibited species. At the time of his arrest, the suspect had four lion teeth and 14 lion claws in his possession.

Monday, 14 March 2022
2022. Mozambique: Over 230 poachers arrested in Zinave National Park in five years - Lusa.

Over 230 poachers were arrested, and over 300 firearms seized, between 2016 and 2021, in the Zinave National Park in Mozambique, the manager of the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC) said on Monday.

Friday, 6 November 2020
Kapembwa J 2020. Zambia lobbies hard for ivory sales.

Zambia is leading a push for African countries to obtain a CITES waiver that would allow them to legally export ivory stockpiles. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has an international ban on trade and sale of ivory and related products. Southern African countries have accrued huge stockpiles of ivory worth millions of dollars over the decades. The stockpiles mostly constitute ivory from elephants culled for conservation and ecological purposes.

Friday, 23 October 2020
Munsaka L 2020. Anti-poaching initiatives pay dividends.

Anti-poaching initiatives instituted by Zimbabwe are bearing fruits as the country recorded a 78 percent decline in rhino poaching incidents in the first six months of 2020 compared to same period last year. Statistics from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) show that four rhinos were poached from January to June 2020. The figure for January - June 2019 was 19.

Friday, 14 August 2020
Kapembwa F 2020. Zambia wants to sell US$100m ivory.

Zambia is exploring the possibility of domestically selling its US$100 million ivory stockpile.

Friday, 10 July 2020
Shihepo T 2020. Nam anti-poaching gets 'bite'.

Namibia has recorded a drastic reduction in poaching in the past three years because of improved response mechanisms. Most of the success is attributed to the Environment and Tourism Ministry's efforts to upscale law enforcement components of conservation. Environment and Tourism Minister Pohamba Shifeta said anti-poaching canine units (the Ministry of Environment and Tourism Dog Unit) had been deployed to good effect. "The Dog Unit is part of our anti-poaching initiatives.

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