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The High Court of Kibera (Nairobi) on April 8th, 2025, dismissed the appeal of Lawrence Kinoti who, the previous November, had been sentenced to life imprisonment with a second prison warder, Paul Muranu Mwangi. Judge Diana Kavedza-Mochache found “the appeal to be lacking in merit and is dismissed in its entirety”. Kinoti and Mwangi had been arrested at the Rio Hotel in Nairobi West on August 11th, 2015 after KWS investigators had received intelligence that the two and one other were selling ivory. A third prison warder, Kipkoech Cheruiyot escaped but was arrested a few days…

A middle aged woman will serve a 12 years jail term after a Kabarnet court found her guilty of trading in wildlife trophies. Esther Chebii, appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate (SRM) Edwin Mulochi for the offence which occurred on May 27, 2023 at around 6pm at Kabarnet town in Baringo central sub-county, where she was nabbed with five pieces of elephant tusks weighing 15.7 kilograms and 105 pieces of pangolin scales weighing two kilograms with a street value of Sh 2.37 million.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Zambia on Thursday expressed deep concern over the resurgence of rhino poaching in the southern African country. The concern followed the killing of a three-year-old white rhino by poachers in Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park on March 11, who fled with its horns. This incident came after two rhinos were killed last year at a ranch in the southern district of Kazungula. WWF Zambia Country Director Nalucha Nganga-Ziba described the recent rhino killing as a major setback in the country's ongoing efforts to restore its rhino population.

There was barely a dry eye in the Kwale courtroom last Monday afternoon, June 10th, 2024, when Augustine Odwori Malingo and Nancy Akoth Owino were sentenced by Principal Magistrate Lillian Lewa. They had been found guilty of possession of wildlife trophies that included 4 ivory tusk pieces weighing 500 grammes and 1 hippo tooth weighing a similar amount from their 2019 arrest.

There was no judgement for the third time. Since the last sitting of this matter, the presiding magistrate, Senior Principal Magistrate Joe Mkutu Omido has successfully attained the appointment as a Judge of the High Court. This matter is now "on notice", meaning that involved and interested parties will be notified when the judgement will be given. As a point of interest, the three magistrates that have handled this case have all been promoted to the High Court.

In a landmark joint operation, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), supported by the Wildlife Justice Commission has successfully arrested two major wildlife traffickers in Nigeria. These arrests are linked to the significant seizure of 1.58 tonnes of ivory at Lach Huyen International Port, Hai Phong, Vietnam on 27 March 2024. Comprehensive intelligence-led investigations by the Wildlife Justice Commission in response to the Hai Phong seizure led to the identification and location of both the alleged shipper and supplier of the ivory.

KWS investigates the bulk of wildlife crime generally but it does happen that the National Police Service and the Directorate of Criminal also become involved in the same. The DCI, in fact, becomes the lead agency in the more serious wildlife investigations such as large, transnational, ivory seizures. A 2018-2019 courtroom monitoring report by Wildlife Direct indicated that of data analyzed, 31% of arrests under the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act were made by the NPS.

Botswana and Namibia have embarked on a joint investigation into the increased incidents of elephant poaching in the northern part of Botswana. "The country (Botswana) experienced a surge in elephant poaching incidents during November and December 2023," Lesego Kgomanyane, the spokesperson for Botswana's Ministry of Environment and Tourism, told Xinhua over the telephone, noting that the development has shone the light on the apparent increase in poaching of elephants in northern Botswana.

Namibia is experiencing a surge in poaching, with the number of poached rhinoceros rising to 48 this year, Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said Wednesday. In a statement, Muyunda said of the poached rhinoceros, 32 were black rhinoceros and 16 were white rhinoceros.

One poacher was killed in an anti-poaching incident in Ditshiping village, Okavango Delta, Botswana Defense Force (BDF) said Tuesday.

Namibia is eager to partner with China on wildlife cooperation, the African country's environment minister said during an interview with Xinhua. Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism Pohamba Shifeta said that China has been a supporter of Namibia's conservation programs, adding that he had discussed others areas of cooperation with his counterparts during a trip to China. "Namibia-China cooperation is very cordial and a genuine one, especially when it comes to conservation programs and also environmental programs.

Namibia has recorded a drastic drop in poaching cases with only two rhinos poached so far this year compared to 13 poaching cases recorded at the same period last year, Environment Ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said on Monday.

Namibia has drastically cut down on the number of rhino poaching cases in the past year despite the country still battling the problem, Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta told Parliament on Wednesday.

The Botswana Defence Force (BDF) has reported death of two poachers killed in an anti-poaching incident in the Okavango Delta, bringing the number of poachers killed in the Southern Africa country to seven this year.

Namibia launched an initiative that will contribute to the collective efforts of conserving the environment as well as the conservancies and communities in the rural areas at an event held in Windhoek on Thursday.