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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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Displaying results 1 - 7 of 7
Wednesday, 14 December 2022
2022. Task team appointed to find 'exit options' for captive lion breeders.

A task team formed by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) will help captive lion breeders with a strategy to exit the industry. In a statement released by DFFE Minister Barbara Creecy, the appointment of the eight-member ministerial task team follows recommendations made by a high-level panel (HLP) on the management, breeding, hunting, trade and handling of elephant, lion, leopard and rhino.

Saturday, 3 December 2022
2022. Nine arrested in cross-province rhino poaching raid.

The two main suspects have pending charges of corruption, money laundering and fraud to related wildlife trafficking. Photo for illustration: Susan Scott, Stroop Police have arrested nine suspects between the ages of 22 and 61 in a multidisciplinary poaching blitz codenamed "Blood Orange" conducted in Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo provinces. The arrests follows a targeted investigation which involved looking into the suspect’s financial affairs, with auditing firm KPMG brought in to scrutinise the flow of cash into their accounts.

Friday, 2 December 2022
2022. Three suspects bust for illegal possession of R2.8m worth of abalone.

Three men have been arrested in Cape Town for illegal possession and processing of abalone. The suspects, aged between 26 and 57, were nabbed on Thursday during a search and seizure operation by the Hawks and members of Sea Border Police Cape Town.

Wednesday, 26 May 2021
2021. Midrand pangolin poaching case delayed.

Olivia the pangolin's alleged poachers will have to remain behind bars until June after their case was postponed.The pangolin pulled through the weekend and was in a stable condition after being rescued from three alleged poachers at a Shell garage on the N1 road in Midrand last Friday.

Saturday, 22 May 2021
Nemakonde V 2021. SANParks takes legal action over 'sensationalised' reports of dead rhino.

While it was initially thought that the Rhino may have been shot, the post mortem team established that the rhino died of natural causes (fighting).

Friday, 21 May 2021
Coetzer M 2021. PICS: Alleged poachers caught trying to sell pangolin in Midrand.

Three alleged pangolin poachers were bust red-handed and arrested when they tried to sell an animal to a "potential client" at a Shell garage on the N1 in Midrand on Friday. Olivia was the seventh pangolin rescued this year from poachers.

Friday, 21 May 2021
2021. SANParks criticised after tourists find employee, man harvesting black rhino horn.

A gruesome discovery by a group of tourists on a night-drive in Kruger National Park earlier this month has raised questions about how a rhino died. The tourists spotted a man emerging from bushes holding a horn dripping with blood, chopped from a critically-endangered Black rhino carcass, just 15m away. He and another man, dressed in what appeared to be a uniform, have subsequently been confirmed by SANParks to be employed by the park.

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