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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.
Explore your search results using the filter checkboxes, or amend your search or start a new search.
Two Belgian 19-year-olds have pleaded guilty to wildlife piracy - part of a growing trend of trafficking 'less conspicuous' creatures for sale as exotic pets. Poaching busts are familiar territory for the officers of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), an armed force tasked with protecting the country's iconic creatures. But what awaited guards when they descended in early April on a guesthouse in the west of the country was both larger and smaller in scale than the smuggling operations they typically encounter. There were more than 5,000 smuggled animals, caged in their own enclosures…
Lyon, France - Nearly 20,000 live animals, all endangered or protected species, have been seized in a global operation against wildlife and forestry trafficking networks, jointly coordinated by INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization (WCO). Operation Thunder 2024 (11 November - 6 December) brought together police, customs, border control, forestry and wildlife officials from 138 countries and regions, marking the widest participation since the first edition in 2017.
Berlin, Germany - The Federal Environment Ministry of Germany, INTERPOL and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) are joining forces to combat the devastating impact of environmental crime. With a EUR 5 million investment from the German government's International Climate Initiative (IKI), the three-year project aims to identify and prevent transnational crimes impacting the climate, biodiversity and the environment across five key areas: fisheries crime, forestry crime, illegal mining, pollution crime, and wildlife crime.
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| INT_2025_01_Tackling Environmental Crime_Germany_INTERPOL and WWF unite efforts_Interpol.pdf | 479.66 KB |
Conservationists have raised the alarm about the rapid decline in Nigeria’s lion population, which now stands at fewer than 50 wild lions; a stark contrast to the thousands that roamed the country decades ago. They urged Nigerians to protect lions by reducing illegal bushmeat consumption, supporting better protection of their shrinking habitat, and championing anti-poaching measures. The experts also cautioned that losing these apex predators would have devastating consequences for Nigeria’s ecosystems and cultural heritage, as well as its tourism potential.
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| NIG_2024_12_How decline in lion population is affecting Nigerias tourism potential_The Guardian.pdf | 215.18 KB |
The three were arrested in Lagos in July 2021 following the interception by Nigerian Customs agents of 196 sacks of pangolin scales weighing 7,137.40kg, one sack of pangolin claws weighing 4.60kg and 29 sacks of elephant tusks weighing 870.4kg.
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| NIG_2023_10_How illegal wildlife_trade traffickers escape justice in Nigeria_The Guardian.pdf | 374.86 KB |
The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) of the Nigeria Customs Zone D, Bauchi has declared that its
operatives have arrested and seized 216 kgs of Pangolin scales worth the sum of N432m.
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| NIG_2023_06_Customs impounds pangolin scales worth N432m_Nigerian Tribune.pdf | 255.36 KB |
The Nigeria Customs Service, in collaboration with Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), has intercepted 397.5 Kilogramme of pangolin scales and arrested 8 suspects in connection with the seizure.
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| NIG_2022_08_Nigeria Customs intercepts 397kg of Pangolin scales_arrests 8 suspects_The Guardian.pdf | 422.35 KB |
Singapore - An eight-week INTERPOL operation against wildlife crime and trafficking resulted in arrests and seizures across Asia and Africa. Codenamed Golden Strike, the operation - which ended late last year - targeted the criminals and networks smuggling wildlife protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) from Africa to Asia.
Despite being 20 times smaller and having much lower rainfall, Richtersveld has more plant species than the country's famous Kruger national park. It is, says Van Wyk, "the most important succulent laboratory in the world". But it is this variety of rare succulents that draws the poachers. Many Richtersveld species are so specialised that they grow only in one valley or on one mountain slope. In extreme cases an entire species can be confined to an area smaller than a football pitch, so a poacher could render a species extinct in a morning.