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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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From 24 November to 5 December 2025, governments from around the world will gather in Samarkand, Uzbekistan for the 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP20) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This meeting comes at a moment of great consequence for some of the world's most threatened species - elephants, rhinos, pangolins, Asian big cats and the critically endangered vaquita porpoise.
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| INT_2025_11_Standing at a crossroads_why CITES CoP20 must put wildlife protection first_EIA.pdf | 2.33 MB |
Facing possible contempt of court charges for illegal elephant hunting in Botswana and violation of court interdicts, Dawie Groenewald's alleged proxy in Botswana, the now-disgraced former Justice Minister Ronald Machana Shamukuni and his dodgy shelf company DK Superior (PTY) Limited, are done and dusted.
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| BOT_2025_11_Showdown in the Okavango Delta_Save the beasts_stop the slaughter.pdf | 63.94 KB |
Minister Dion George of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has welcomed the successful intelligence-driven operation that resulted in the confiscation of abalone worth over R3 million in Cape Town. The Minister commended the collaborative efforts of the South African Police Service's Operation Lockdown III and the Endangered Species K9 Unit, which uncovered a drying facility containing 6,400 units of abalone with an estimated street value of R3,520,000.
Despite Africa's elephants and rhinos still living under serious threat from poaching and illegal trade, Namibia is pushing hard to resume ivory and horn sales. From 23 November to 5 December, representatives of the 185 countries that are signatories to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will gather in Samarkand, Uzbekistan for the 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP20).
Costa Rica is dealing with yet another sharp rise in wildlife trafficking, now our country's third most common environmental crime. Reports highlighted intensified efforts by authorities to curb this growing threat, which endangers our nation’s incredible array of life. Park rangers and police recently uncovered cases involving species like capybaras, parrots, and reptiles, with five capybaras found in captivity just last week. The illegal trade, driven by demand for exotic pets and animal parts, is putting immense pressure on Costa Rica's ecosystems.
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| CR_2025_06_Wildlife trafficking jumps in Costa Rica_Threatening biodiversity_Tico times.pdf | 171.25 KB |
Zhanjiang Customs of China announced on 17 May that the individual - named only as Huang inthe official statement - had been arrested and repatriated from Mozambique . EIA commends China Customs for its commitment to criminal justice and we congratulate it on thislatest success. The Shuidong ivory smuggling network was first exposed by EIA in 2017 , following our three-yearinvestigation tracing the syndicate's operations in Tanzania and Mozambique. The syndicate came from Shuidong, in Guangdong province, China.
A major shipment of 651 pieces of elephant ivory has been seized in Mozambique en route to Dubai. Officials from Mozambique's Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) and the Tax Authority intercepted a container at Maputo port on 22 March 2024 and found the ivory concealed in a shipment of bags of corn. This is the third known large-scale seizure of elephant ivory exported from Mozambique since 2022.
Three years ago this month, the Ugandan authorities seized a significant quantity of elephant ivory and pangolin scales en-route to Vietnam through Kenya. Acting on intelligence, the Ugandan Revenue Authority (URA) conducted a law enforcement operation targeting a Vietnamese wildlife trafficking network. It seized 3,299kg of elephant ivory - the largest ivory seizure in Uganda to date - and 424kg of pangolin scales.