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.
Explore your search results using the filter checkboxes, or amend your search or start a new search.
The government has put poachers at the Maasai Mara game reserve on notice after it emerged that five elephants and three giraffes were killed under mysterious circumstances over the past two months. Narok County Commissioner Isaac Masinde while addressing the Jamhuri day celebrations at Oldekesi Secondary School in Narok West Sub County said the three giraffes had their reproductive organs chopped off raising suspicion over the intention of the poachers.
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KEN_2022_12_ State Puts Mara Poachers on Notice_Journal of African Elephants.pdf | 194.29 KB |
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Amara Cherif, a/k/a "Bamba Issiaka," a citizen of Guinea, was sentenced to 57 months for conspiring to traffic in millions of dollars in rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory, both endangered wildlife species, which involved the illegal poaching of more than approximately 35 rhinoceros and more than 100 elephants. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods.
Quiçama Park administrator denounces that individuals with money have "encouraged" poachers. Lack of personnel and transport cited as a reason for poor enforcement. Park has just over 100 staff, but needs at least 600. In 2021, the Government presented a project to stop poaching in the country.
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ANG_2022-12_Illegal hunting in Quicama is spurred on by traffickers with financial power_NovoJornal.pdf | 298.79 KB |
Senior Resident Magistrate Wanangwa Nyirenda on Thursday, December 1st 2022, sentenced Zambian national Kelby Roy Malambo to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour for the three charges he faced in the MK53m wildlife crime case involving elephant ivory.
A 39-year-old man is expected to appear before the Calcutta Magistrate's Court in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, today after he was arrested by the Nelspruit Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation, the White River K9 Unit and Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Authority.
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SA_2022_12_Suspected poacher nabbed with two elephant tusks_IOL.pdf | 125.91 KB |
Altesaam 106 verdagtes is vanjaar vir stropery in hegtenis geneem. Intussen maak rolspelers gereed om wildbeskerming en wetstoepassingspogings teen wildmisdaad in Namibië hierdie feesseisoen op te skerp. Van hierdie 106 is 44 vir renosterstropery en 62 verdagtes vir olifantstropery in hegtenis geneem. Die ministerie van die omgewing, bosbou en toerisme se woordvoerder, mnr. Romeo Muyunda, het gesê wat ontstellend is, is dat 93 van dié verdagtes Namibiërs is - 'n groep wat volgens die ministerie die voortou in die stryd teen stropery behoort te neem.
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NAM_2022_12_Stropery_106 die jaar gearresteer_Republikein.pdf | 300.58 KB |
NAM_2022_12_Poaching_106 arrested this year_Republikein_Eng.pdf | 290.9 KB |
In January 2021, Nigeria seized pangolin scales and tusks and bones from endangered species hidden in a container of furniture materials. The seized materials are used in traditional Chinese medicine despite having no medicinal value. Studies have suggested that pangolins, the most-smuggled animals in the world, may have been an intermediate host of the coronavirus that was discovered in an outdoor farmers market in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. Customs officials said the contraband consisted of 162 sacks of pangolin scales and 57 sacks of mixed animal parts, including ivory and…
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SA_2021_12_COVID_19 clears pathway for poachers_Defenceweb.pdf | 441.45 KB |
Seven new wildlife crime cases have been reported recently, while 21 suspects were arrested. Seven suspects were arrested with regards to rhino poaching or trafficking cases and six were arrested for elephant poaching or trafficking. At Oshikango, two Namibians and three Angolan nationals were arrested on 5 December for being in the possession of a pangolin skin. In another incident at Okakarara, five Namibians were arrested on 5 December for conspiring to hunt a rhino.
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NAM_2021_12_21 nabbed for wildlife crimes_Namibian Sun.pdf | 246.1 KB |
Am vergangen Sonntag wurden zwei Verdächtige festgenommen, die im Oktober 2020 ein Nashorn gewildert haben sollen. Das geht aus einem Bericht des Umweltministeriums hervor. Den beiden Männern wird vorgeworfen, ein unter Artenschutz stehendes Nashorn gejagt, getötet sowie den Kadaver verkauft zu haben. Darüber hinaus wurden in der letzten Woche sechs weitere neue Fälle in Verbindung mit Wildtierkriminalität bekannt. Insgesamt 21 Personen wurden festgenommen. Darunter fallen eine Vielzahl an Personen, die im illegalen Besitz von Wildtierprodukten waren und damit Handel betrieben…
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NAM_2021-12_Polizei beschlagnahmt acht Stoßzaehne_Allgemeine Zeitung.pdf | 475.27 KB |
NAM_2021-12_Police confiscate eight tusks_Allgemeine Zeitung_Eng.pdf | 419.38 KB |
The US on Monday announced visa restrictions on eight DR Congo nationals involved in wildlife trafficking, in the latest whip on supposed illegal revenues fuelling conflict in the central African nation. The eight people, believed to be connected business and political players in the country, are accused of having a hand in trafficking of ivory, pangolin scales and rhino horn; products of endangered species.
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CON_2021_12_ US imposes visa ban on 8 linked to wildlife trafficking_allAfrica_com.pdf | 252.23 KB |
Police this year arrested about 1 306 people for illegally dealing in precious minerals and elephant tusks, recovering millions of dollars' worth of contraband, a senior officer said on Saturday.
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ZIM_2021_12_Ivory and precious minerals seized_Africa Sustainable Conservation News.pdf | 127.75 KB |
A 71-year-old man was arrested after allegedly being found in possession of four elephant tusks on Thursday. According to the police, the man was arrested at Nonidas River Plots at Swakopmund.
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NAM_2021_12_Man arrested over elephant tusks_The Namibian.pdf | 1.03 MB |
Volgens die polisie se naweekmisdaadverslag wat vandag uitgereik is, is 'n 71-jarige man Donderdagoggend by 'n restaurant by die Swakopmund-kleinhoewes in hegtenis geneem nadat hy na bewering tydens ‘n lokval vier olifanttande aan polisiebeamptes probeer verkoop het. In 'n onverwante voorval is 'n 48-jarige Angolese burger dieselfde namiddag by Kahenge in hegtenis geneem vir die onwettige besit van twee ietermagôvelle ter waarde van 'n geskatte N$100 000.
South African National Parks (SANParks) today (10 December) said its Environmental Crime Investigation Unit (ECI) in collaboration with the South African Police Service (SAPS) Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations (DPCI), conducted a series of intelligence driven operations which led to the arrest of eight suspected poachers in October and November in villages adjacent to the Kruger National Park (KNP).
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SA_2021_12_SANParks joint intelligence operations leads to arrest of suspected poachers_Defenceweb.pdf | 419.02 KB |
Eight elephants in the Lobéké National Park in eastern Cameroon have been shot. Cameroonian authorities report having arrested individuals involved in the trade of elephant tusks. As a result, new security measures were taken to ensure the conservation of wildlife.
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CAM_2021_12_Poachers kill 8 elephants in the Lobeke National Park_Afrik21.pdf | 361.81 KB |
The Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court on Wednesday re-sentenced "Queen of Ivory," Chinese Yang Feng Clan and two Tanzanians to 15 years imprisonment each for leading organized crime on 860 pieces of elephant tusks, which are government trophies, valued at over 13bn/-.
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TAN_2021_12_Court Re_Sentenced _Queen of Ivory to 15 Years in Jail_allAfrica_com.pdf | 162.18 KB |
Cameroon has deployed its military forces to help rangers crack down on poachers on its eastern border with the Central African Republic. Cameroon wildlife officials say poaching is again increasing after pandemic restrictions saw a drop in the number of animals being killed. Officials say in the last week alone, poachers have killed at least eight elephants along the border. Cameroon's Forestry and Wildlife ministry says several dozen armed poachers are attacking elephants along the CAR border.
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CAM_2021_12_Cameroon deploys military to assist rangers as poaching increases_VOA News.pdf | 30.21 KB |
South Africa is no stranger to wildlife crime as shown in Operation Thunder, an Interpol-led effort against environmental crime in the broadest sense of the words. The worldwide enforcement operation against wildlife and timber crime co-ordinated by Interpol and the World Customs Organisation (WCO) disrupted crime networks and saw hundreds of arrests internationally, the France-headquartered policing body said.
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SA_2021_12_Interpol Op Thunder nabs wildlife criminals_Defenceweb.pdf | 511.03 KB |