This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:
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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In Côte d'Ivoire, an alleged trafficker operating in the illegal ivory trade was arrested on Friday, November 19, 2021 in the town of Treichville. The alleged trafficker, in possession of two ivory tusks was arrested when he was about to sell the goods in the cables of a jewelry store belonging to him.
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IVO_2021_11_Ivory trafficker caught in Treichville_Africa Sustainable Conservation News.pdf | 574.31 KB |
In the war on poaching, some of the best defenders have four legs. Trained canines are used in some of South Africa's national parks to detect wildlife contraband like rhino horns, pangolin scales, and ivory at airports and roadblocks. Other dogs are trained to track and apprehend poachers in the field. According to Save the Rhino, 9,885 rhinos have been lost to poaching in the last decade. But Carl Thornton, founder and director of Pit-Track K9 Conservation and Anti-Poaching Unit, says the numbers are likely much higher.
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SA_2021_11_How Dogs Are Fighting Rhino Poaching_Treehugger.pdf | 574.43 KB |
Durban - Environmental organisations have welcomed the arrest of two suspects found in possession of ivory with a street value of R400 000 in Ballito last week. It is alleged that the suspects were trying to sell elephant tusks and were arrested after an undercover operation.
The Livingstone Subordinate Court has sentenced a Lusaka businessman of Garden-Chilulu compound to five years imprisonment with hard labour for unlawful possession of 196 kilograms of dried elephant meat. Ministry of Tourism Sakabilo Kalembwe has told #Mwebantu in a statement, that the businessman has also been sentenced to one year-six months imprisonment to run concurrently for escaping lawful custody in 2019 after being arrested for unlawful possession of 241 kgs of elephant ivory
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ZAM_2021_11_Businessman gets 5 years for unlawful possession of dried elephant meat_Mwebantu.pdf | 1.33 MB |
A sense of remorse and a convincing mitigation statement have saved a convicted ivory dealer from a lengthy jail term as he got off lightly with a reduced sentence. Poul Garirayi would have been condemned to a mandatory 10-year maximum jail term and a hefty fine for the elephant tusks valued at P10 233.22 that he was found in possession of.
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BOT_2021_11_Illegal Ivory Dealer Jailed For Two Years_The Voice Botswana.pdf | 432.33 KB |
Durban - Two suspects were arrested in the posh Zimbali Eco Estate, on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal, for dealing in elephant tusks.
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SA_2021_11_Two suspects arrested in posh Zimbali Eco Estate for dealing in elephant tusks_IOL.pdf | 506.11 KB |
Elephant poaching in Africa has fallen to the lowest level since 2003. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species programme for Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) published its annual analysis of continental and sub-regional trends in the levels of poaching. This is derived from data collected at 95 MIKE sites across 43 elephant range states in Africa, including Namibia, and Asia.
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NAM_2021_11_African elephant poaching lowest in 17 years_Namibian Sun.pdf | 392.49 KB |
A wildlife nature reserve covering Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Angola will undertake a loose elephant census next year at the cost of $3 million. The aerial survey by the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) directorate will help in managing elephants that freely roam across member states. "The elephant population of KAZA represents more than 50% of the remaining savanna elephants (Loxodonta Africana) found in Africa, a species recently listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as globally endangered.
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SA_2021_11_Census to shed light on elephant population in southern Africa_News24.pdf | 327.21 KB |
Two men appeared in court today on allegations of illegally possessing elephant tusks worth US$2 497 they intended to trade in Harare's city centre. Nkululeko Chuma (40) and Tawenga Dandambira (40) appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs Tafadzwa Miti charged with unlawful possession of unmarked raw ivory.
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ZIM_2021_11_Duo in court over ivory_The Herald.pdf | 348.65 KB |
The 11-count indictment alleges that Lokua and Mujangi worked with a middleman to smuggle four packages into the United States. In August and September, 2020, the defendants sent three shipments containing a total of about 49 pounds of ivory by air freight to Seattle. In May 2021, they sent another package with approximately five pounds of rhinoceros horn. At the same time, the defendants conspired to conduct large transactions via ocean freight, offering the buyer more than two tons of elephant ivory, one ton of pangolin scales, and multiple intact rhinoceros horns. On Nov.
Two foreign nationals from the Democratic Republic of Congo were arrested outside Seattle last week and indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy and money laundering for allegedly smuggling elephant ivory and rhino horns into the United States.
Authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo have seized $3.5 million worth of ivory, rhinoceros horn and pangolin scales in a joint operation with United States officials, the U.S. embassy in Kinshasa said on Monday. Two wildlife traffickers were also arrested in the United States on Nov. 4, following a more than two-year investigation between the two countries and global police agency Interpol.
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CON_2021_11_Congo seizes us3_5 mln of ivory_rhino horn and pangolin scales_Reuters.pdf | 1.89 MB |
Kenya remains a leading spot for laundering proceeds of illegal wildlife trafficking, logging, and fishing in Africa, a report on illicit financial flow by Sentry shows. Dubbed 'Kenya Illicit Finance Risk and Assessment', the report says the country acts as a transshipment site for East Africa. According to the report, Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda, DRC, Zambia and South Sudan traffic their wildlife products via Kenya heading to Asian countries including China and Hong Kong via Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore.
Airlink, the privately owned Southern African regional airline, will implement a company-wide programme involving training, new processes and supply chain interventions to identify and combat illicit wildlife trade. The illegal wildlife trade is valued between USD $50 to 150 billion (approximately between ZAR730 billion - ZAR 2,19 trillion at current exchange rates) per year and is one of the five most lucrative global crimes. Illegal killing and trading of wild animals is a global crisis, with species being hunted to extinction for their horns, skins and teeth.
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NAM_2021_11_Airlink joins fight against wildlife trade_Namibia Economist.pdf | 519.28 KB |
Sodra die wêreld Covid-19 onder beheer kry, kan stropery - veral die stroping van olifante - weer die hoogte inskiet. Dit sal dan die opgeboude vraag na ivoor in die wêreld se swartmarkte moet inhaal. Mnr. Daniel Stiles, 'n onafhanklike ondersoeker wat dekades reeds spesialiseer in onwettige markte en handel in wild en wildprodukte, waarsku dat 'n onlangse styging in swartmarkprys vir ivoor in Viëtnam en China onrusbarende tekens is. Hy het die opmerkings in 'n verslag gemaak wat deel vorm van 'n reeks deur die Wêreldwye Inisiatief teen Transnasionale, Georganiseerde Misdaad (GI-…
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NAM_2021_09_Na virus kan stropers weer toeslaan_Republikein.pdf | 321.29 KB |
NAM_2021_09_After virus_poachers can strike again_Republikein_Eng.pdf | 320.52 KB |
Namibia hat einen starken Rückgang der Elefantenwilderei verzeichnet, insbesondere in den letzten acht Jahren. Nach Angaben des Umweltministeriums scheint die Elefantenwilderei jährlich zurückzugehen. 2014 wurden 78 Elefanten gewildert, 2017 wiederum 50. Während im Jahr 2016 bis zu 101 Elefanten gewildert wurden, waren es 2019 und 2020 nur noch 13 bzw. zwölf Elefanten. Der Sprecher des Ministeriums, Romeo Muyunda, erklärt, dass der Rückgang darauf zurückzuführen ist, dass die Strafverfolgungsbehörden strengere Maßnahmen gegen Wildtierkriminalität ergreifen.
A Zimbabwean man, who managed to get his lover off the hook after the pair was caught with two elephant tusks, has been jailed for two years in Botswana.
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ZIM_2021_09_Zim Man Jailed 2 Years In Botswana For Ivory Possession_NewZimbabwe.pdf | 268.8 KB |
Zimbabwe Republic Police in Hwange arrested Bokisi Augustine (33) at St Mary's Village for illegally possessing an elephant tusk weighing 11.79 kgs and valued at US$2000.
A man caught with a single elephant tusk during an unexpected run-in with the police in the bush two years ago will learn his fate next Thursday. Although he tried to hide the offending item beneath his jacket during his unplanned encounter with the cops, the big bulge gave Gaosego Emang Seipato away. The 35-year-old met his downfall on 3 May 2019, when he was rumbled by a police patrol who were actually on the lookout for illegal gold miners in the bushes between Matshelagabedi and BDF training centre on the outskirts of Francistown.
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BOT_2021_09_Busted In The Bush_TheVoiceBw.pdf | 496.73 KB |
A big-hearted boyfriend who managed to get his lover off the hook after the pair were caught with two elephant tusks has been taken to task over the matter and jailed for two years. Zimbabwean native, Brian Ndlovu admitted to being in possession of the ivory, claiming he had been given the tusks by another man with the instruction to sell them. He was busted when police received a tip-off of a man trying to sell tusks at Tonota lands. Swooping into action on 22 January, the cops pounced to find Ndlovu in the presence of his girlfriend and home-girl, Mary Sibanda.
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BOT_2021_09_Big-Hearted Boyfriend Jailed In Elephant Tusk Takedown_TheVoiceBw.pdf | 458.21 KB |
Alain Moukombou, Romuald Kassa, Gervais Bamdjogo and Ralph Ngayïkoukoudié, all Gabonese nationals, were arrested on 14 September to Mulundu in Ogooué-Lolo, in possession of six ivory tusks. Placed in custody to view the premises of the Judicial Police (PJ) Koula-moutou, suspected traffickers face up to 10 years in prison.
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GAB_2021_09_Four nationals caught with ivory_Africa Sustainable Conservation News.pdf | 882.1 KB |
Franzistown: A tenderpreneur has pleaded with the court to be lenient when sentencing him after pleading guilty to illegal possession of an elephant tusk.
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BOT_2021_09_Tenderpreneur pleads guilty to illegal ivory possession_Mmegionline.pdf | 365.51 KB |
The Chief Resident Magistrate Court in Lilongwe has set 27 September, 2021, as the day for delivering judgement against a Chinese national, Yunhua Lin, who is answering charges of money laundering and rhino horn trafficking. Lin came to Malawi as an investor like many do but without proper screening and vetting, the country let in a criminal who is destroying our current and future economy. Lin is a member of one of Southern Africa’s most prolific wildlife trafficking syndicates, which has been operating out of Malawi for at least a decade.
Kenyan authorities have welcomed the progress made in the fight against poaching, after the publication Monday night of the first animal census conducted in the country, which should serve as a basis for improving environmental conservation. According to the data, Kenya has 36,280 elephants, among other things, a population that is up 21 percent from 2014, when poaching peaked.