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The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has announced the arrest of five people over the possession of elephant tusks in violation of the Wildlife Management laws.

Four traffickers have been arrested for trafficking in ivory tusk, pangolin, and chimpanzee.

Additionally, 770 suspects were arrested for wildlife crimes. Wildlife products confiscated included 108 elephant tusks, 117 pangolins and 59 rhino horns, while 42 unlicensed firearms used in the commission of wildlife crimes were seized.

Community participation is key to reducing wildlife crimes amid concerns that the country is losing revenue as a result of poaching. Poachers kill elephants for their tusks and rhinos for their horns. The official value of ivory is US$250 per kilogramme yet poachers can sell it for as little as US$50 per kilogramme.

"The absence of tourists in conservation areas enables poachers to act more freely. In normal times, tourists act as additional 'eyes and ears' in conservation areas, and their presence deters poachers from acting, but the decline in tourism activity emboldened poachers," a UK government report on the impact of Covid-19 on poaching has said.

Three Harare men, including a game ranger and a police officer yesterday appeared before magistrate Babra Mateko charged with illegal possession of 28 kilogrammes of ivory worth $700 000.

Wildlife crimes remain a severe threat to the economy and biodiversity as well as to local livelihoods, the recently released Second National Integrated State of the Environment Report for Namibia showed. According to the report, a large number of wildlife crime cases are related to poaching for meat while rhinos currently represent the most valuable and sought after wildlife crime target. "Between 2018 and 2019, there has been an increase in registered wildlife cases related to high-value species growing from 115 to 174 cases.

‘n Bejaarde man is gister by die Swakopmundrivier-plotte glo met ‘n ou renosterhoring en vyf stukke olifanttande in sy besit vasgetrek. Volgens die Namibiese polisie se misdaadverslag volg die inhegtenisneming van die 69-jarige man nadat die volgende ander items ná ‘n soektog glo in sy besit gevind is: 27 patrone van ‘n .308-geweer, twee patrone van ‘n R1- outomatiese aanvalsgeweer en 33 patrone van ‘n .22-vuurwapen.

An intense debate continues to rage over whether the Namibian government should maintain its existing stockpiles of collected legal and confiscated illegal ivory. Trading in valuable wildlife products is one of the most important incentives for Namibia's coexistence with wildlife, especially rhinos and elephants, to support its conservation. There are two categories of stockpiles: Those held legally and those held illegally. Legally-held stockpiles consist of raw ivory, and are mostly owned by the government under the Controlled Wildlife Products and Trade Act 9 of 2008…

The suspects belong to an organized ivory trafficking network whose ramifications extend as far as Nigeria. Six suspected ivory traffickers were arrested in early December in the eastern region of Cameroon, in a joint operation by the departmental delegation of the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife and the police. This operation was carried out with technical assistance from LAGA, an NGO specializing in law enforcement on wildlife. Two of the suspects were arrested on December 2 in Bertoua, the regional capital, with four ivory tusks, two of which came from baby…

At least 12 elephants have been killed in Tanzania in the past three months in what the country's national parks watchdog has described as a new wave of poaching.

Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI) has formulated a wildlife protection project setting up a task force project to end ivory poaching and trafficking. It as well would introduce much stronger custodial sentences, if criminals are caught with Illegal Wildlife Trade. Kumera Wakjira, Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority General Director, said that the project is aimed at combatting wildlife crime. Kumera added that the project has set up an Environmental Crime Unit and regional task forces to combat wildlife crime.

It's clear why the illegal wildlife trade exists. Where there's consumer demand for products from endangered species, there are bound to be networks seeking to profit from that demand. But what about the motivations of individual offenders? TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade NGO, decided to simply ask them. The researchers interviewed 73 people in South African correctional centers, who had been convicted of crimes related to rhinos, abalone, or cycads (ancient palm-like plants that have been called "the world's most endangered plants").