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Die minister van justisie, me. Yvonne Dausab, het agterdog oor die verdwyning van 'n dossier in 'n saak waarin 'n Chinese burger van wildmisdaad beskuldig word, in die kiem gesmoor. Xuecheng is na bewering in 2014 vasgetrek met 'n jagluiperd- en luiperdvel in sy besit en is aangekla van die onwettige handel in vier olifanttande. Hy is maande later weer in hegtenis geneem nadat 'n ietermagovel, 'n luiperdkop en sewe sebravelle glo in sy besit by die China Town-inkoopkompleks in Windhoek gevind is.

Prosecutor general Martha Imalwa has responded to articles published in the New Era and The Namibian about the trial of a Chinese businessman, Hou Xue Cheng, and his Namibian co-accused Hamutenja Hamutenya, whose cases were struck from the court roll recently. The reason the charges on dealing in controlled wildlife products were dismissed was that neither the witnesses nor the docket was before the court. According to the PG, the information contained in the articles was incorrect.

Regional Court Magistrate Leopoldt Hangalo yesterday struck the case of a Chinese businessman, Hou Xue Cheng and his Namibian co-accused Hamutenja Hamutenya on a count of dealing in controlled wildlife products, from the court roll. The reason was that no docket nor witnesses were before the court. The magistrate said the matter has been coming from 2014, and the State failed to get their affairs in order for it to start. He cancelled the bail of N$100 000 for Cheng and N$5 000 for Hamutenya, and ordered it to be refunded to the depositors.

A Chinese businessman who has been facing charges of dealing in controlled wildlife products over the past eight years left the Windhoek Magistrate's Court as a free man yesterday, after his case was struck from the court roll. The state alleged that the five men illegally dealt in four elephant tusks in Windhoek on 11 June 2014.

Poisons like cyanide can be a deadly weapon for poachers, allowing them to kill dozens of animals without needing access to firearms or the backing of criminal syndicates. Wildlife poisoning is on the rise across Africa, targeting elephants as well as pushing endangered vultures toward extinction. A new study says Zimbabwe, which a decade ago witnessed some of the deadliest mass poisonings of elephants, has developed a sound basis for curbing poisonings by tightening laws to criminalize intent to use poison to kill wildlife.

Rising demand for bush meat during Covid-19 lockdowns has decimated wild animals that used to roam the streets of Zimbabwe’s prime resort town of Victoria Falls, conservationists say. The Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit (VFAPU) said animals such as warthogs that used to roam the city were now hard to come by because they were killed by poachers, who use snares. VFAPU said between January and April, it apprehended 59 suspected poachers around Victoria Falls. The anti-poaching unit removed 163 snares and another 309 snares were identified by Zambezi Horse Safaris.

The Itezhi Tezhi Magistrates Court has found a farmer guilty of unlawful possession of game meat and sentenced him to three years in prison. The details of count three are that Mafuta unlawfully hunted and killed a game animal, namely a warthog, without a hunting license on the same date, jointly and with others unknown.

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism (MEFT) last week on Friday received equipment and vehicles to assist in the fight against poaching and the illegal wildlife trade as the country continues to battle with a surge in cases. The donation from the U.S. government which included two Toyota Landcruiser and two Hyundai Game Viewer Trucks as well as anti-poaching equipment all valued at N$9 million Namibia dollars was handed over to the MEFT officials by a senior leader delegation from the U.S. Africa Command.

The carcasses of bushbuck and porcupines, together with a shotgun, a pistol and ammunition, were found in the possession of three men and a fourth driving a Toyota Fortuner, on a farm on the south bank of the Tugela River in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Das US-Verteidigungsministerium hat vergangene Woche zwei Geländefahrzeuge an das namibische Umweltministerium (MEFT) gespendet. Einer der beiden Toyota Land Cruiser soll von dem Polizeischulungszentrum am Waterberg verwendet werden. Der andere Land Cruiser ist für Einsätze der Antiwilderei-Hundeeinheit im Kampf gegen organisierte Umweltverbrechen vorgesehen.

Poachers beware, local wildlife law enforcement has just taken a big leap with the acquisition of two Land Cruiser bakkies, courtesy of the American army, to bolster existing anti-poaching measures. The two bakkies were presented to conservation officials in the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism by Lieutenant Colonel John Lacy, the United States Defence Attaché in Namibia. The vehicles were donated by the US Department of Defence as part of the US Foreign Military financing programme for biodiversity.

North West District Council Chairperson, Kebareeditse Ntsogotlho is likely to face a poaching charge after being discharged from hospital, The Voice has learnt. Ntsogotlho was recently attacked and injured by a buffalo in his home area, Khwai during an alleged incident of illegal hunting and killing of a protected wild animal. He is currently nursing thigh wounds at Nyangabwe referral hospital in Francistown.

Sixteen suspects who were arrested will appear in the Hofmeyr magistrate's court on Tuesday to face a charge of illegal hunting. The 16 suspects, who range between the ages of 23 and 48 years, were arrested on Sunday for illegal hunting on the farm Gruisheuwel, in the Hofmeyr district.

Between 11 and 17 May, only one new case of wildlife crime was registered with four suspects arrested and charged, according to the latest wildlife crime statistics compiled by the Intelligence and Investigation Unit within the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism and Protected Resources. Two of the suspects were arrested on rhino poaching/trafficking, including conspiracy of rhino poaching. One springbok horn was seized.

The coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic has created a profound crisis for conservation efforts in eastern and southern Africa as a result of the sudden cessation of all international travel in a region where nature-based tourism and conservation are closely interdependent.  The region’s unique wildlife populations and other natural assets — centered on spectacular landscapes such as the Serengeti and Okavango — underpin a multi-billion dollar 'wildlife…

Conservationists' fears that poachers have been taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to roam and
hunt for endangered species have been confirmed after two recent sting operations by CapeNature and the SAPS stock theft unit led to arrests. Poachers were caught in illegal possession of an estimated 11000 endangered succulent plants destined for the illegal plant trade.

Nyaradzo Hoto was just 20 when, with no money and nowhere to go, she was forced to drop out of school and get married. Over the next two years, she suffered at the hands of her violent husband; enslaved by his family, forced into hard labour, and used as a punch bag during his drunken fits of rage. But while she feared she may never escape her 'prison', Nyaradzo told LADbible how she gained the courage to find her voice and is now part of an elite squad in Zimbabwe, fighting to protect the world’s most endangered animals from extinction.

South African traders with China are illegally selling thousands of wild animals threatened with extinction and endangered, under the guise of legal exports, according to an investigation. Monkeys have been stolen from the wild, and together with cheetahs, tigers, rhinos, lions and meerkats, they have been trafficked to circuses, theme parks, laboratories, zoos and "safari parks", researchers found.

One of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s sons, Kudakwashe, has been implicated in the poaching of wildlife in Nyangambe, in the Save Valley Conservancy, Chiredzi, located in the south-eastern part of the country.
Legal representative of the Nyangambe Community Wildlife Project, Farai Chauke made the allegations in his defence to the fraud charges he is facing for allegedly forging title deeds to the project, which is run by Nyangambe villagers. Chauke, who is a practising lawyer in the capital Harare, also hails from the Nyangambe area.

Four suspects believed to be part of a rhino poaching gang were granted N$5 000 bail each last week. Three suspects were arrested last week for wildlife crimes in two separate cases. Two of the suspects were arrested in connection with elephant poaching and/or trafficking cases. This is according to information provided by the intelligence and investigation unit in the environment ministry and the protected resources division in the safety and security ministry. During operations, police also seized one firearm and four rounds of ammunition.

Law enforcement agencies last week seized 119 wildlife animal products from two suspects arrested in connection with wildlife crime. Two Angolan nationals were arrested at Rundu on Thursday last week and six elephant tusks, one kudu skin and 112 porcupine quills were seized from them.

Wild animals are back. Kangaroos bounding through the streets of Melbourne, elephant herds passing through Indian villages, jackals in Johannesburg, leopards in Mumbai, wild boar in Bergamo and Verreaux eagles catching thermals above a silent Cape Town. And of course, inevitable cartoons of humans in surgical masks staring forlornly at animals playing on the sidewalk. Is lockdown good news for creatures - or for poachers?

COVID-19 has brought the world to its knees and is believed to have been caused by the consumption of an endangered animal. Now, South African Government is proposing an amendment to the Meat Safety Act which expands the list of animals that may be legally consumed by humans.
The proposed amended list classifies animals for slaughter, consumption, import, export and sale. This list now includes many threatened species in South Africa including rhino, elephant and giraffe. It also includes undefined birds, reptiles and fish.

Sestien vermeende stropers in hegtenis geneem. Die Namibiese polisie het ná ’n jaagtog van ongeveer 70 km op ’n grondpad drie mans in hegtenis geneem en op vier gemsbokkarkasse, ’n bakkie, twee jaggewere, messe en ’n byl beslag gelê.

Namibia police have arrested three men on a gravel road for about 70km and seized four deer carcasses, a pickup truck, two hunting rifles, knives and an ax.

Poaching incidents could increase during the lockdown period as criminal networks try to take advantage of the closing of parks, perceiving a reduced presence of law enforcement now dealing with the Covid-19 emergency. “We are in receipt of intelligence that known poaching organisers operating across southern Africa intend taking advantage of the current situation,” said Sarah Stoner, director of intelligence at the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC).

Resettlement farms and other government owned land in rural areas of Namibia have become the secure staging ground from where syndicates can perpetrate serious crimes such as murder, poaching and stock theft with seeming impunity. As a result, members of the farming community have had to take on the added responsibility of continuously safeguarding animals and property against the relentless onslaught of criminals.