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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 - 19 of 19
Thursday, 30 March 2023
David M 2023. No more poaching in Etosha, says Sakaria.

Commissioner Naftal Lungameni Sakaria, the Oshana Regional Police Commander, was recently named the Gold Commander for the Etosha National Park Anti-poaching Safety and Security squad. Sakaria was named on March 23 and will, for the next six months, be in charge of directing the joint Nampol/NDF operational work in the Etosha National Park. He said that he will concurrently be in charge of the Oshana Region and also the anti-poaching operations in Etosha. "I have already been to Etosha, rotated the personnel and properly briefed them," he said.

Thursday, 30 March 2023
Ndeyanale E 2023. I can't guarantee you will leave Etosha alive.

Oshana police commissioner Naftal Sakaria says armed poachers found in the Etosha National Park should surrender to the police or they will be shot. Police inspector general Joseph Shikongo last week appointed Sakaria as the commander of the anti-poaching unit in Etosha National Park for a period of six months. While in this position, he will also remain the Oshana regional commander. Sakaria is tasked with commanding the police and military forces deployed in the flagship park to protect animals, especially iconic animals such elephants and rhinos, from being poached.

Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Moyo-Ndlovu T 2023. Two arrested for possessing ivory.

Two Bulawayo men have been arrested for allegedly possessing ivory with a market value of over US$2 000.

Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Manyinyire T 2023. Private rangers recover 24 pangolins, 118 elephant tusks from poachers.

Akashinga rangers, domiciled in Zimbabwe's Zambezi Valley have recovered 24 pangolins and 118 elephant tusks from raids on poachers since last year in Mashonaland West.

Monday, 27 March 2023
Jindanji G 2023. Angolan authorities arrest two suspected suspected elephant poachers.

Angola's Criminal Investigation Service (SIC) in Bengo Province bordering the capital city Luanda, detained two poachers for killing an elephant in the municipality of Pango Aluquém. The detention took place this Monday due to complaints from people who saw the accused consuming and selling meat from the great mammal. The two, José Sebastião and Malambo Castro, aged 28 and 30, respectively, countered the accusations by saying that they found the animal already dead and that they only enjoyed the meat and ivory in the company of other people from their community.

Tuesday, 21 March 2023
2023. Luanda: SIC detém caçador furtivo que se instalou no Parque Nacional da Quissama e vivia da venda dos animais que abatia.

O Serviço de Investigação Criminal deteve um caçador furtivo que se tinha instalado no Parque Nacional da Quissama e abatia animais como elefantes e gazelas, que depois comercializava no mercado informal da Mutamba, em Luanda.

Luanda: SIC detains poachers who settled in the Quissama National Park and lived off the sale of the animals they slaughtered The Criminal Investigation Service detained a poacher who had settled in the Quissama National Park and killed animals such as elephants and gazelles, which he then sold at the informal market of Mutamba, in Luanda.

Monday, 20 March 2023
Taylor D 2023. Chinese, South African 'mafia' decimating wildlife in Kruger National Park.

A new report from the European Union-funded international crime response group, Enact, says organized crime groups from South Africa and China - in collaboration with corrupt wildlife officials - are "decimating" big game animals in one of the world's premier game reserves. 

Monday, 20 March 2023
2023. Vietnam seizes 7 tonnes ivory in largest wildlife smuggling case in years.

Vietnamese authorities on Monday seized seven tonnes of ivory smuggled from Angola, the largest seizure of wildlife products in years, the government said.

Tuesday, 14 March 2023
2023. 3 suspected poachers arrested with 6 elephant tusks in northern Tanzania.

Three suspected poachers have been detained by Tanzanian police after they were found in possession of six elephant tusks in the country's northern region of Manyara, police said on Saturday.

Friday, 25 February 2022
2022. Volle Gerichte auf Grund von Wilderei.

Nahezu 80 Namibier erschienen diesen Monat wegen Wilderei vor Gericht. In den ersten drei Februarwochen wurden neun neue Fälle von Wildtierkriminalität registriert und Verdächtige festgenommen. In diesem Zeitraum fanden außerdem insgesamt 33 Gerichtsverhandlungen zu Fällen von Wildtierkriminalität statt, an denen 79 Namibier und sieben Ausländer beteiligt waren. Dies geht aus statistischen Berichten über Wilderei hervor, die von der Abteilung für Schutzressourcen innerhalb der Sicherheitsabteilung und der Geheimdienst- und Ermittlungseinheit des Umweltministeriums…

Thursday, 24 February 2022
Dube-Matutu S 2022. Man arrested after being found with elephant tusks.

A man has been arrested for unlawful possession of ivory after he was found with two elephant tusks. Police confirmed the arrest which occurred in Victoria Falls on February 21.

Sunday, 20 February 2022
2022. Mozambique: Eleven elephant tusks seized in Tete.

Officers of Mozambique's National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) have seized eleven elephant tusks in a house in the western city of Tete, according to a report in Sunday's on-line issue of the independent daily "O Pais".

Saturday, 19 February 2022
Chikoti M 2022. UN says wildlife crime in Malawi needs to be fully addressed.

United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator Malawi Rudolf Schwenk says the increased trends in poaching of animals such as elephants and pangolins in Malawi is very worrying and if left unaddressed, wildlife trafficking will continue to be a threat to achievement of sustainable development in the country.

Thursday, 17 February 2022
Ghai R 2022. Single criminal syndicate could be behind ivory poaching in east, southern Africa: Study.

A single transnational criminal network may be poaching elephants across southern and eastern Africa, a new study has claimed. The criminals may be trying to shift base to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from east Africa, warned the report published February 14, 2022, in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. Such criminal networks may be seeking to use porous borders of the DRC as well as the weak rule of law there to their advantage, the study said.

Wednesday, 16 February 2022
Masika C 2022. Man in court for trying to sell Sh300,000 tusks to cops.

The charge sheet says the tusks weighed three kilograms, worth Sh300,000.

Tuesday, 15 February 2022
Siamilandu O 2022. Zimbabwe join forces with other southern Africa countries in combating wildlife crime.

Zimbabwe has partnered four other states in the Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) in an agreement which will see them joining forces to combat wildlife crime. The four states that will work with Zimbabwe to defend their borders against wildlife threats are Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia.

Tuesday, 15 February 2022
Dunham W 2022. Elephant tusk DNA sleuthing reveals ivory trafficking networks.

DNA testing on seized ivory shipments that reveals family ties among African elephants killed for their tusks is helping to identify poaching areas and trafficking networks at the centre of an illegal trade that continues to devastate the population of earth's largest land animal.

Thursday, 10 February 2022
Onyenucheya A 2022. Nigeria: Customs intercepts N3.1bn pangolin scales, elephant tusks enroute Asia.

The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), in collaboration with the Wildlife Justice Commission, has intercepted pangolin scales and elephant tusks worth N3.1billion being transported through Nigeria to Asia. The Controller General of Customs, Hameed Ali, who disclosed this yesterday while displaying the seized items to journalists at the Customs Training College, Ikeja, Lagos, said 15 sacks of pangolin scales (839.4kg) and four sacks of elephant tusks (145kg) were intercepted in a Toyota Sienna bus with registration number KRD 541 HH at Lekki on February 2, 2022.

Friday, 4 February 2022
2022. Zimbabwe records progress against wildlife crimes.

There has been a great improvement in the handling of wildlife crimes in the country's courts of law following an accelerated mentorship drive for prosecutors and magistrates on the subject, a wildlife rights proponent has said.

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