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Poaching in the Kruger National Park has seen a massive decrease in recent years attributed to the introduction of free-running hounds. The dogs were introduced almost eight years ago to arguably South Africa's number one visited national park to curb mostly the poaching of rhinos for their horns.

A 52-year-old man has been arrested after he was found with 446 units of dried abalone in Brackenfell.

A 42-year-old man has been sentenced to a decade behind bars at the Kuruman Regional Court after being nabbed with 2 850 endangered and protected plants worth more than R9 million. 

Durban - South African conservation NGO, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), has introduced a novel project that seeks to test the use of restorative justice approaches to wildlife crimes - a first for the country. In South Africa, it is an offence to undertake any prohibited or unauthorised activity in respect of any legally protected species.

These crimes, ranging from illegal wildlife trade to unregulated fishing and the trafficking of rare timber and precious stones, are estimated to be worth between $110 billion and $281 billion annually, positioning them among the most profitable illicit economies worldwide. The report, titled Hidden in Plain Site, is written by Kristina Amerhauser and Robin Cartwright and looks at illicit financial flows (IFFs) related to three specific illicit environmental flows: timber trafficking from Myanmar to China; gemstone trafficking from Mozambique to Thailand; and abalone…

The west coastal waters of South Africa are under siege, not from the waves of the Atlantic, but from an insidious tide of environmental crime that is sweeping away one of its most precious marine resources. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime has sounded the alarm on the rampant illicit trade of South African abalone, with the country's Haliotis midae species, locally known as perlemoen (abalone), facing potential extinction due to soaring demand from East Asia. So rampant is this environmental crime that the Global…

Transparency and regular communication about rhino numbers and rhino poaching are vital to understand the threat to our rhinos and finding the best ways to conserve them. The most recent rhino population numbers for Africa to the end of 2021, as released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) last year, showed that white rhino numbers had continued to decline at around 3.1% per year and numbered just below 16 000 animals.

Two suspects are expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday on charges of illegal possession of abalone, reckless and negligent driving and assault on a police official.

A field ranger who allegedly hid two suspected poachers in his bakkie, appeared at the Bushbuckridge Magistrate’s Court where he was released on R15 000 bail. Bright Mashele, 36, the field ranger and his two accomplice, Collen Mathebula, 32, and Casper Mlambo, 30, were arrested on Saturday when they tried to enter the Kruger National Park through Numbi Gate. According to provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, police received information about some individuals who were orchestrating to enter the park to commit crime.

The court has once again proved that those who illegally trade in exotic animals will feel the full brunt of the law. It ordered a vehicle which transported two pangolin skins forfeited to the State.

A Lesotho national is expected to appear in the Ganyesa Magistrate’s Court in the North West on Monday for possession of endangered species. During the operation, a search was conducted in a house at Tlakgameng, leading to the discovery of two pangolins, two dead rock pythons and two dead monkeys.

The parks and reserves in Pretoria did not lose a single rhino in 2022, said Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says the transnational organised crime networks targeting large conservation areas across Southern Africa remain a serious concern. The WWF was reacting to the 2022 rhino poaching statistics which saw a 40% decline compared to 2021 in the Kruger Park and other national parks across the country.

Mpumalanga provincial head of the Hawks, Major General Nico Gerber has welcomed the arrest of the 14th accused person, 24-year-old Nkateko Maluleke who was wanted in a case of money laundering, where field rangers allegedly provided tactical information to rhino poachers in the Kruger National Park.

The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DFFE) has reported that relentless pressure has forced rhino poachers to abandon parks in 2022.

A Mozambican man, convicted for poaching, will spend the next 18 years in prison. Santos Baloyi, 31, was arrested after a rhino was killed at Kruger National Park in September. He was also convicted on charges of trespassing, contravention of the Immigration Act, possession of a dangerous weapon.