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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Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF), working in close collaboration with national law enforcement agencies and a partner (Freeland), successfully concluded a coordinated multi-agency operation that resulted in the arrest of suspected wildlife traffickers and the seizure of illegal elephant ivory in Namanga, a border town between Kenya and Tanzania. The operation, conducted on 24th January 2026, forms part of LATF's ongoing efforts to support Member States in dismantling organised transnational wildlife crime networks operating across Africa.
Two Nigerian nationals will appear in court on Wednesday after they were arrested in connection with rhino horns and lion or tiger bones recovered at a Kempton Park storage facility in Gauteng. The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) wildlife trafficking section discovered the horns and bones during an integrated transnational operation on Monday. Alleged trafficking to southeast Asia: According to the Hawks, an integrated team followed up on information about the suspects who allegedly traffic rhino horns and wildlife bones from South Africa through Singapore to…
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| NIG_2025_12_Nigerian nationals to appear in court over seized rhino horns_George Herald.pdf | 196.09 KB |
Operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service have intercepted a 40-foot container loaded with donkey genitals along the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway, the Service said on Thursday. The interception, suspected to be destined for illegal export, was uncovered on Friday, June 5, 2025, at about 9 pm following a coordinated surveillance operation by officers of the Special Wildlife Office and Customs Intelligence Unit. The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday.
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| NIG_20252_07_Customs foil donkey genitals smuggling_intercepts 40ft container_Punch.pdf | 135.5 KB |
According to SANParks head of communication JP Louw, the rangers acted on information received from Southern Cape Operation Phakisa the day before and conducted a patrol along Forest Hall Road. "Rangers observed a suspicious vehicle in the area, and upon approaching, the individuals fled, leaving behind two bags which were later confirmed to contain abalone," says Louw. Following the discovery, rangers notified the police and a thorough search of the surrounding area resulted in the apprehension of 10 suspects. One managed to escape.
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| SA_2024_10_ 10 arrested for abalone poaching_George Herald.pdf | 84.98 KB |
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| SA_2024_06_Poachers hunted by Hawks in George_George Herald.pdf | 618.63 KB |
George Herald's sister publication, Mossel Bay Advertiser, confirmed that it is the horn of one of the white rhinos at Botlierskop Private Game Reserve. The reserve is situated just outside Little Brak River. According to a source close to George Herald, the suspects were stopped at a roadblock between George and Wilderness where the rhino horn was found in their possession. The horn was confiscated but the suspects managed to flee from police. By the time of going to print on Wednesday morning, the suspects were still at large and
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| SA_2023_05_Rhino poaching at local game reserve_George Herald.pdf | 441.9 KB |