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Disturbing revelations pertaining to the plunder of our natural resources have come to the fore, not for the first time either, but it is the trend that is beginning to ruffle the sustainable feathers of our flora and fauna. Concerted efforts are being made in order to win the battle against the poaching of our endangered rhino and elephants as sophisticated poaching syndicates seem to have taken advantage of the loopholes and weaknesses in the anti-poaching strategies currently in place.

The highest office in the country has joined the outcry against the spate of poaching and plundering of wildlife resources currently experienced in the country. President Hage Geingob, during the opening of the 2017 legal year, called upon parliament to send him the necessary amendments to the relevant laws to increase penalties so that he can sign them into law for the courts to enforce them.

Foreigners who are found guilty of wildlife crimes should serve out their sentences, be deported and should not be allowed back in Namibia. This is the view of environment minister Pohamba Shifeta, who says the Nature Conservation Ordinance Act is outdated and far too lenient in its sentencing of poachers. According to Shifeta, the ministry is in the process of amending the Act and proposed fines for poaching will range from N$100 000 to N$25 million.

How long before rhino, pangolin and even elephants are wiped out in Namibia? An avalanche of poaching stories, of arrests and deaths, continue to flood the frontpages of Namibian newspapers.

Three suspects were arrested on Tuesday evening at Tjova village in Kavango East after being found in possession of 13 elephant tusks by a joint police and ministry of environment patrol. Police spokesperson Kauna Shikwambi yesterday said police arrested a Namibian and two Angolans, aged 27, 42 and 50, respectively, during an intelligence-led investigation.

While the poaching spotlight is intensely focused on rhino in Namibia, official poaching statistics released by the environment ministry this week show that rhino poaching declined in 2016 while elephant poaching doubled compared to 2015. In total, 216 black and white rhinos have been killed over the past four years, while 266 elephants have been killed by poachers since 2013. According to official figures released by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism this week, poachers killed 63 black and white rhinos in 2016, compared to 91 killed during the previous year and…

It will be an exaggeration to say that Namibia has turned the tide against wildlife poaching. The situation on the ground clearly suggests that there is no end in sight, and that the country is experiencing a catastrophic rhino and elephant poaching crisis. These illegal killings appear to be part of an international criminal syndicate, with rustlers quick to recruit willing poachers, with the ultimate aim of exporting our precious ivory and rhino horn to Eastern Asian markets.

Local environmentalists warn Chinese nationals. About 40 environmental organisations have issued a stern warning to Chinese nationals involved in criminal activities in the country.

A shootout in Bwabwata National Park has left one poacher dead with three that got away and the public is warned they are armed and dangerous. A poacher was on Monday fatally shot during crossfire between an anti-poaching unit and a group of poachers in the Bwabwata National Park.

Police Chief Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga says poaching activities in the country should not be downplayed as it is costing the country millions per day. Ndeitunga was addressing the Chinese business community in Windhoek on Thursday following the recent arrests of several Chinese nationals carrying various illegal wildlife products.

The poaching of rhinos and elephants in Namibia is not a crisis because only about 1,2% are poached per year, said environment minister Pohamba Shifeta.

The Chinese embassy in Namibia said it will not allow a few of its nationals who have been arrested in connection with poaching to tarnish their country's image.

Namibians should unite against organised and serious environmental crimes such as poaching which involve foreign nationals cooperating with locals for the illicit operations to be successful, police Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga said at the Force's Christmas carols' event for the Kavango East region on Friday.

Elephant and rhino poached, poachers arrested. In what marks a bloody few days for Namibia's wildlife, authorities have scored some major successes with busts and arrests.

Two Chinese nationals who were caught at the roadblock to the Hosea Kutako International Airport with pieces of elephant tusk will appear in court today. The two were arrested at the Kapps Farm roadblock on Wednesday afternoon when alert police officials searched their vehicle. According to the spokesperson of the Namibian police, Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi the two men were arrested between 12:00 and 14:00 at the roadblock.

Suspected rhino and elephant poachers have gone missing in Etosha National Park after an alleged shootout with the anti-poaching unit of the Namibian police.

Namibia is a country hit by devastating poaching there is certainly no doubt about that. Activists and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism have particularly turned the tide against this surge for rhino horns and elephant ivory and while it has led to a number of arrests, there is still no end in sight to this disturbing phenomenon.

Depending on your views about legal trade in wildlife products, the past week was either a good week or a very good week for Namibian conservation, writes John Grobler.

The environment minister, Pohamba Shifeta, described the latest rhino and elephant poaching figures as "a pity", saying his ministry will do all it can to keep these figures from rising further. According to figures released by the minister yesterday, three more rhino carcasses, possibly poached for their horns, were recently discovered in the Etosha National Park, pushing the figure of known rhino mortalities up to 37 this year, which brings the total rhino deaths since last year to 162.

Two men, aged 32 and 40, were arrested by members of Namibian police’santi-poaching unit in Etosha. They were found in possession of unlicensed firearms. The police reacted to a tip-off from a member of the public who said the men were planning an incursion into the park.

Environment and tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta is concerned about the increasing poaching and illegal trafficking of wildlife products. He told visiting Interpol secretary general Jurgen Stock in Windhoek on Tuesday that Namibia could use more help and support from the international community to end the poaching and trafficking of wildlife products.

The Namibian Police is offering a reward of N$60 000 for any reliable information which could lead to the arrest of people suspected to be involved in poaching. Suspected poachers are mainly targeting Namibia's rhino and elephant population for horns and tusks respectively, which fetch lucrative sums, particularly in Asian countries.

Oxpeckers Associate Shi Yi set out to investigate Chinese links in Namibia’s poaching crisis, and ended up in the middle of a sting operation that nabbed a former policeman.

THE Namibian government has made great strides in combating the poaching of endangered animals in recent months, the minister of environment and tourism (MET), Pohamba Shifeta, has said.

The head of the Namibian Police, Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga, said he would dismiss with contempt any claim that the government does not have a real commitment to root out the poaching of Namibia’s wildlife. “Cabinet has allocated a lot of resources to combat and eradicate poaching. It is a costly exercise. This is an indication of how serious government is,” he stressed. Ndeitunga said it is clear that the poaching of rhinos and elephants in Namibian national parks is a well-orchestrated and well-funded transnational organised crime.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the Namibian Police have requested evidence from Namibia Media Holdings (NMH) as well as the executive director of Namrights, Phil ya Nangoloh, to substantiate allegations of political leaders’ involvement in rhino and elephant poaching. At a joint press briefing on Wednesday, Minister Pohamba Shifeta and police chief Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga requested ya Nangoloh to submit the said evidence before the end of December.

Environment minister Pohamba Shifeta says he is not aware of any ministers or former members of parliament involved in poaching. Meanwhile, police Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga says he cannot deny that ministers or members of parliament were involved in poaching, but he wanted to know who they are so he can lay his hands on them. The minister and the police chief were reacting to reports in the Namibian Sun that NamRights executive director Phil ya Nangoloh had allegedly submitted a report to Ndeitunga in which political leaders are accused of involvement in…

At one of Hanoi's priciest restaurants, a group of Vietnamese businessmen meet their new American partners to celebrate their latest venture. “A toast!” someone exclaims.

Namibia has already lost three times the number of rhinos in 2015 compared to that of last year. A total of 77 rhinos and 37 elephants have been poached so far this year. This was confirmed by the Director of Parks and Wildlife Management in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Colgar Sikopo on Friday. Namibia has experienced a sharp increase in cases of rhino poaching over the past five years. Namibia lost one rhino to poaching in 2009 and 2010 respectively; two rhinos were illegally killed in 2012, four in 2013 and 25 last year.

The Government has warned against poaching, as this may jeopardize the Namibian economy and also lead to the extinction of wild animals. The Minister of Information and Communication Technology Tjekero Tweya said poaching has negative consequences for the economy as it depletes the country’s wildlife and if there is no wildlife, no income would be generated through hunting. “This is the hunting season, and if we do not have wildlife, lodges and game reserves won’t be able to generate income as there would be no animals which could be hunted. It is not good if there…

The arrest of a Chinese national suspected of co-ordinating rhino horn smuggling from Namibia is among the major successes that has been achieved by an international law-enforcement operation combating wildlife crime. The operation - codenamed ‘Operation COBRA III’ - was conducted during May and involved a series of raids conducted across Asia, Africa and Europe, resulting in more than 300 arrests of suspects, including kingpins, and over 600 seizures of assorted wildlife contraband. There have also been more tip-offs leading to the unearthing of criminal networks and their…

In a move to control rhino poaching, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism started constructing a proper boundary fence to protect animals in the Etosha National Park. The fencing is expected to cost an estimated N$700 000 per kilometre. Etosha measures 824 kilometres, and the ministry would need about N$576 million to fence it all. The ministry, however, does not have enough funds for the project and has requested an additional N$167 million during this financial year. It was allocated about N$643 million in the 2015/2016 national budget.

Poachers should be ashamed of themselves for killing innocent animals, said deputy minister of environment and tourism Tommy Nambahu. Just a week ago, Nambahu explained that the ministry was aware that local people are being used in the poaching of elephants and rhinos. "Shame on them for doing what they are doing to innocent animals. I have never heard of a rhino destroying a mahangu field or killing anyone. Why must it be killed because someone wants its parts?" he asked.

Deputy minister of environment and tourism Tommy Nambahu says his ministry is aware that local people are being used in the poaching of elephants and rhinos. He said this during a sponsorship handover by the Environmental Investment Fund (EIF) of Namibia to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, and the wildlife crime prevention unit of the Namibian police force yesterday.

Suspects have been identified in the ongoing Etosha National Park poaching spree and arrests are expected soon. This is according to Tourism and Environment Minister Pohamba Shifeta, who also announced that the reward money for information leading to the arrest of the poachers had been doubled from N$30 000 to N$60 000. The minister said there had already been breakthroughs in the north-eastern regions, including Zambezi, where six suspects had been arrested.

Police Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga has called for the establishment of a database of all trespassers in national parks and nature reserves to establish whether there are links with poachers and possible buyers of rhino horns and elephant tusks. Ndeitunga made these remarks at the Etosha National Park while addressing Heads of Criminal Investigation, Operations, Special Branch and Special Field Force Directorates as well as regional commanders from the Oshana, Oshikoto, Omusati, Kunene and Otjozondjupa regions.

The escalation of rhino and elephant poaching in Namibia continues unabated, with yet another case reported at the weekend. This follows the discovery of an elephant carcass in a village located in the Bwabwata National Park in the Kavango East Region.

A parliamentary standing committee has urged the ministries of Justice and Home Affairs to initiate an extradition agreement with the government of Angola to combat cross-border wildlife crimes effectively. Poaching has become a serious problem in Namibia, particularly in the Kunene Region, where poachers appear to operate with impunity. The Kunene Region borders southern Angola. So far this year, 14 rhino carcasses and 33 elephant carcasses have been found in Namibia.

Ben Simasiku, a 31-year-old suspected ivory smuggler, has been arrested in Zambia after the first-ever Interpol public appeal, dubbed to track down nine environmental fugitives.

International policing agency Interpol has joined hands with Namibia in its fight against escalating rhino and elephant poaching, including through teaching advanced crime scene investigation, probing transnational linkages and uncovering who the kingpins of the wild crime syndicates are. In what is a first for Namibia the Interpol Sub-directorate on Environment Crime has stepped in to train Namibian police officers, particularly members of the Protective Resources Unit, and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism yesterday confirmed that 33 elephants have been poached in Namibia this year. In the most recent case, two suspects were arrested in the Divundu area of the Kavango East Region on Friday. They were arrested when they tried to sell elephant bone as ivory to unsuspecting people.

Namibia has enjoyed a good reputation for its nature conservation, but there is evidence the illegal trade in wildlife products is thriving. The smuggling hotspot is the Zambezi border region, where five Southern Africa countries intersect. Hongxiang Huang travelled to Zambezi to investigate.

The Protective Resources Unit (PRU) of the Erongo Police are investigating two incidents of alleged elephant poaching near Khorixas after two carcasses were discovered in the area – one of which the tusks have been removed.

Over 72 elephants were poached in the Caprivi Region last year alone while six cases have been reported so far this year.

Faced with poachers who are ravaging elephant and rhino populations, African nations could do worse than look to Namibia for a game plan to combat the scourge.

While South Africa battles with increasing rhino poaching, Namibia has been rocked by the discovery of 18 elephants killed for their ivory in the Caprivi Region.

The document takes reporting on wildlife crimes, protection and law enforcement to the next level. It covers data from the past 10 years, and reflects a level of transparency and analytical sophistication that most other countries can only dream of achieving in this sector. It looks at some of the data in new and more revealing ways. Indeed, it is a case study on how things should be done. It reflects advanced levels of collaboration and integration of organisations, not only within government, but also with NGOs, communities, the private sector and development partners.

A new investigative report has laid bare the scale and complexity of wildlife trafficking across southern Africa, exposing a tangled web of corruption, organised crime and systemic failures that are eroding conservation efforts and fuelling illicit markets. Disruption and Disarray: An analysis of pangolin scale and ivory trafficking, 2015-2024 by the Wildlife Justice Commission is one of the most comprehensive examinations to date of how legal loopholes, political interference and institutional weakness have allowed the illegal trade in endangered species to flourish.

The wildlife crime cases over the last two years have mostly involved antelopes, pangolins, small mammals, rhinos and elephants.

The illegal wildlife trade (IWT) has developed into a diverse and lucrative form of transnational organized crime, placing serious pressure on fauna and flora worldwide. The hidden costs include lost ecosystem services (such as carbon storage and water filtration for example), the loss of potential revenue from the sustainable use of natural resources and depriving local communities of resources they rely on for their livelihoods. Wildlife crime erodes rule of law and undermines governance, especially in remote areas and border crossings, but also at key ports.