This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:
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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It's past midnight and the officer manning Namibia's fisheries monitoring centre in Walvis Bay notices that a vessel near the Namibia-Angola border has stopped transmitting its location. At the same time, a Namibian fishing vessel's radar detects a foreign vessel notorious for illegal fishing, entering Namibia's waters. Both the officer and the vessel alert the Namibian navy and the fisheries department in Walvis Bay. Calls to the vessel's flag state remain unanswered, and without a law enforcement vessel located near the Namibia-Angola maritime border, the foreign vessel escapes…
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| NAM_2025_06_Fauna_Foreign fishing vessels plunder Namibias horse mackerel_Enact Africa.pdf | 101.69 KB |
Masai giraffe calves and other juvenile African wildlife are being exported from Tanzania to the Sharjah Safari in Al Dhaid in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the pleasure of Dubai royalty and tourists. Human Rights Watch reports that the shooting and capture of animals, including the endangered Masai giraffe, and their transfer to Dubai are part of a long-running syndicate between successive Tanzanian governments and the Otterlo (sometimes Ortello) Business Corporation (OBC). This syndicate has been active since Ali Hassan Mwinyi’s presidency in the 1980s and 1990s.
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| TAN_2025_01_Fauna_Elite syndicate threatens Tanzanias Masai giraffe_Enact Africa.pdf | 138.66 KB |
Masai giraffe calves and other juvenile African wildlife are being exported from Tanzania to the Sharjah Safari in Al Dhaid in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the pleasure of Dubai royalty and tourists. Human Rights Watch reports that the shooting and capture of animals, including the endangered Masai giraffe, and their transfer to Dubai are part of a long-running syndicate between successive Tanzanian governments and the Otterlo (sometimes Ortello) Business Corporation (OBC). This syndicate has been active since Ali Hassan Mwinyi's presidency in the 1980s and 1990s.
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| TAN_2025_01_Tanzania_Elite syndicate threatens tanzanias Masai Giraffe_Enact.pdf | 364.41 KB |
Poaching threatens the survival of savanna elephants in Central Africa. Over the last two decades, the Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants programme has recorded 3 004 illegal elephant kills in this region. In April 2023, several elephants were killed in the Beinamar region of Chad, close to the Cameroon border, sparking concerns about a potential resurgence of poaching in this region. The Bouba Ndjida National Park, located in the North Region of Cameroon, shares a border with the Sena Oura Biosphere Reserve in Chad.
Poaching threatens the survival of savanna elephants in Central Africa. Over the last two decades, the Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants programme has recorded 3 004 illegal elephant kills in this region. In April 2023, several elephants were killed in the Beinamar region of Chad, close to the Cameroon border, sparking concerns about a potential resurgence of poaching in this region. The Bouba Ndjida National Park, located in the North Region of Cameroon, shares a border with the Sena Oura Biosphere Reserve in Chad.
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.
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| KAM_2024_11_Chinese pangolin merchants arrested over illegal wildlife trade_NilePost.pdf | 714.99 KB |
The man, who was arrested on Friday (July 8), will face charges of rhino poaching, the possession of rhino horns and the illegal possession of a firearm. Police spokesperson Motlafela Mojapelo explained in a statement that the man is one of three men suspected of rhino poaching near Gravelotte.
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| SA_2022_07_Rhino poacher nabbed near Gravelotte_Reviewonline.pdf | 488.51 KB |
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.
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| UGA_2022_05_UPDF Lt Colonel arrested with ivory in Katakwi_Nile Post.pdf | 338.51 KB |
Limpopo - The Bela-Bela Magistrate’s court last week granted bail to a Vietnamese national who was arrested earlier this month on charges related to the illegal trade of wildlife. According to Mashudu Malabi Dzhangi, the regional spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority the accused in the case, Guyen van Phong, was granted R10 000 bail and is expected to reappear on November 30. Phong was apprehended on August 12 in Bela-Bela after a four-month investigation by the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) into the illegal trade of wildlife in the…
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| SA_2021_08_Limpopo man nabbed with lion teeth and claws granted bail_Review Online.pdf | 584.06 KB |