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The matter in which Chinese businessman Hou Xuecheng and his Namibian co-accused Hamutenja Hamutenya were summoned to appear on a count of dealing in controlled wildlife products from 2014, was put on hold again on Wednesday. This time, it is to allow Xuecheng, who is no stranger to the law, the opportunity to raise funds to pay for his lawyer, Kadhila Amoomo. The matter was already struck from the court roll on several occasions because the PG did not have her ducks in a row, and then re-enrolled.

According to the director of the institutional communication and press office of the general directorate of SIC, Manuel Halaiwa, the goods were on the construction site of a construction company, in the municipality of Camama. Two Vietnamese men, aged 36 and 43, both construction engineers, were arrested at the scene, indicted for the crimes of criminal association and environmental aggression.

For the second time in a week, Angolan authorities arrested two Vietnamese nationals on suspicion of illegal poaching and wildlife trafficking, preventing them from leaving the country with over 46 kilograms of elephant ivory, teeth and rhinoceros horns, reports Novo Jornal. The two individuals raised suspicions during check-in, leading authorities to track their movements through Luanda 4 de Fevereiro International Airport using CCTV surveillance.

The General Tax Administration (AGT) seized more than 500 pieces of rhinoceros horns and elephant teeth at the 4 de Fevereiro International Airport in Luanda, camouflaged inside three suitcases that were bound for Vietnam.

Elephants need water - lots of it. Depending on their size, they must drink 100 to 200 litres at least every two to three days to avoid potentially severe dehydration. In hot weather, an elephant can lose as much as 7.5% of its body mass daily due to dehydration. So, water availability, particularly in dry seasons and drought, is critical to elephant survival. Water dictates where elephants roam, limiting their foraging range to areas close to rivers, lakes, pans, and other wetlands. For example, elephant herds with calves stray no further than 10 kilometres from water.

Customs officials at Geneva Airport discovered an elephant tusk in the luggage of a 68-year-old US citizen. The protected ivory was confiscated. A fine was also imposed. The American was stopped by customs officials last week as he was about to board a flight from Geneva airport, as the federal customs authorities announced on Wednesday. The employees of the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security had been alerted by the airport security service. Airport employees had reportedly discovered the ivory while x-raying luggage.

Like the menace of farmer-herder clashes and kidnapping for ransom affecting many rural communities across Nigeria, the destruction of crops by elephants has become a significant problem for many farmers in Nigeria's tropical rainforest and savanna ecological zones. These elephants' activities are fueling hostile behaviours among locals and posing significant threats to the population of the elephants. The farmers who spoke to our correspondent did not admit to killing elephants, perhaps because they know that the law prohibits this.

The draft strategy is skewed in favour of anthropocentric benefits - economic, spiritual and cultural - and cannot function in practical terms. South Africa's Draft National Elephant Heritage Strategy, which closed to public comment at the end of February, demands that South Africa's elephants must depend on human social and economic development for their future survival.

Vietnam has launched a public awareness campaign highlighting the illegality of ivory trade, specifically targeting international tourists, as part of its broader efforts to combat wildlife trafficking. The campaign is spearheaded by the Vietnam Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Management Authority, in collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature in Vietnam (WWF-Vietnam).

Two Windhoek High Court judges have reduced an effective prison term of nine years to which a Zambezi region resident was sentenced for dealing in elephant tusks to five years’ imprisonment. Sipangule Kushonya's sentence was lowered in an appeal judgement delivered by judges Naomi Shivute and Philanda Christiaan yesterday. Kushonya (39) was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment, of which three years were suspended for a period of five years, in April 2022, after he had been found guilty in the Katima Mulilo Magistrate's Court on a charge of dealing in two elephant tusks.

Spanning three countries, the vast W-Arly-Pendjari Complex is being used to facilitate organised crime, terrorism and local conflicts. The W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) Complex is a vast wildlife sanctuary spanning the intersecting borders of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. With one of the most diverse ecosystems in West Africa's savanna belt, it is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site and shelters threatened species such as cheetah, giraffe, wild dog, elephant, lion and leopard.

With rising cases of human-wildlife conflict across Namibia, a recent report has recommended that the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism introduce annual culling of problematic wildlife in all regions. This measure, determined by each region's carrying capacity, aims to reduce conflicts and safeguard both human lives and livelihoods. This recommendation is part of a report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources on the Motion on Human-Wildlife Conflict.

On 31 December 2017, the ban on legal ivory trade in China, which represents the world's largest market for ivory, finally came into effect! This is the greatest single step toward reducing the brutal poaching which kills on average 100 elephants every day in Africa. Until recently South Africa had escaped ivory poachers trying to cash-in on the illicit global trade, which is estimated to be worth more than one billion dollars.

Surveying elephants is hard, risky work. Dedicated biologists have been doing this challenging task across Africa for decades. Systematic surveying started in the late 1960s but has been sporadic, as access to remote areas takes logistical planning, funding and well-trained teams. Surveys can easily be derailed by civil unrest or lack of available survey teams. Consequently, the information on the numbers of elephants across Africa is spotty. Even for a single population, survey effort and coverage can change over the years.

According to the report, three Namibians were arrested on 15 October at Katima Mulilo for being in the possession of a live pangolin. Chika Ilukena, Mayuni and Nicky Mundia were charged with illegal possession and dealing of controlled wildlife products. At Witvlei, three Namibians were arrested on 16 October when they were caught with an oryx carcass.

Environment, forestry and tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta has revealed that Namibia's elephant population has grown to an estimated 23 736 since independence.

Two Mbire poachers were yesterday sentenced to a combined 20-year jail term by Guruve magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa over possession of 34,12kg of elephant tusks.

Poaching has been the greatest threat to wildlife and might cause its extinction in different African countries including Zimbabwe, a wildlife expert has said. Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe president Emmanuel Fundira yesterday said, while game meat production can contribute to economic growth in the country, there was need to curb poaching activities. In a survey conducted in eastern Madagascar, it was revealed that 95% of those interviewed said they had eaten at least one protected species.

A 37-year-old man of Toteng village was on Friday last week acquitted and discharged of unlawful possession of elephant tusks. It was alleged that on August 20th, Kangootui Kangootui was found in possession of two elephant tusks weighing 16.8kg valued at P27,513.55 wrapped in old blankets along Kunyere River. According Magistrate Keneilwe Kgoadi, the state has failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt.

At the peak of the rhino poaching war in South Africa in 2015 and 2016, poachers slaughtered nearly three rhinos a day. Although that rate has declined, the numbers are still disheartening and unsustainable, with poachers killing at least one rhino every day. Some conservationists have looked to drones as a potentially powerful tool in anti-poaching efforts, with the technology continuing to evolve. But experts say it isn’t at the level yet where it can meet the challenge, and that while it can be helpful, conservation efforts must continue to engage and educate local…

The connections between poaching and human-wildlife conflict in conservancies are a significant local conservation concern. Meanwhile, poaching is compromising the ability of local communities to legally use natural resources to support local livelihoods, and reduces wildlife available for local economic development. This is according to the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Alka Bhatia. She was speaking at a signing ceremony of the 'integrated approach to proactive management of human-wildlife conflict and wildlife crime in hotspot landscapes in Namibia' project…

The poaching of endangered species such as rhinos and elephants in Namibia has significantly decline this year. This is according to data provided by Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism on Thursday. So for, a total of 14 rhinos and five elephants were killed by poachers this year in Namibia.

Monrovia, Liberia - Two men have been arrested for killing two protected elephants in northern Liberia, the head of a national park said on Monday.

At least 369 alleged poachers have been arrested in the last nine months, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism says. "Of these cases, 100 are related to pangolin poaching and trafficking, 64 to elephant poaching and trafficking, while 113 are related to rhino poaching and trafficking," ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda says. Over the last five years, elephant poaching has declined from 50 cases in 2017 to five thus far this year, while rhino poaching declined from 81 cases in 2018 to 14 this year. Ministry officials last week discovered two carcasses…

Two men have been arrested in Bulawayo after they were found in possession of 18,25kg of ivory worth thousands of dollars.

Kenya Wildlife Service wardens in Laikipia on Wednesday evening arrested four suspected poachers and recovered four pieces of elephant ivories weighing 76 kilogrammes.

Poaching incidents in the country continues to decline, with only 14 rhinos and 5 elephants having been killed so far this year, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism indicated this week. According to statistics from the ministry’s spokesperson, Romeo Muyunda said, seven white rhinos plus one black rhino were poached from private farms, while six black rhinos were poached from the Etosha National Park. The five elephants poached were from the Zambezi, Kavango East and Otjozondjupa regions, Muyunda added.

Police in Bungoma town over the weekend arrested two men who were found with an elephant tusk. The two suspects, James Wandili and Moses Crusho, are suspected to be part of a syndicate engaging in poaching and selling wildlife trophies on the black market. Police said the two were found in possession of elephant tusk weighing 1kg with an estimated street value of Sh100,000. Bungoma South Sub-County Police Commander Benjamin Kimwele told journalists that a team of officers who were on patrol confiscated the illegal cargo in Bungoma town after a tip off from the public.

Once the world gets the Covid-19 pandemic under control, poaching of elephants could skyrocket again because of the accumulated demand for ivory in the world's black markets. Daniel Stiles, an independent investigator who specialises in illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products, warns that a recent rise in black-market prices for ivory in Vietnam and China are disturbing signs. He says this in a report that forms part of a series by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC).

Stakeholders of the Tsavo Landscape Multi-Agency Wildlife Security Hub in Taita Taveta have agreed to establish wildlife security hubs to tackle human-wildlife conflicts, illegal trafficking and poaching. The two state of the art centres will be located at Kenya Wildlife Services office in Voi and at the Kasigau wildlife corridor. Wildlife insecurity in Kenya is characterised by poaching, illicit trade, commercial poaching for bush meat and destruction of habitats.