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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 - 13 of 13
Friday, 28 June 2024
Cowan C 2024. Madagascar lemurs, tortoises seized in Thai bust reveal reach of wildlife trafficking.

The recent seizure in Thailand of 48 lemurs and more than 1,200 critically endangered tortoises endemic to Madagascar underscores the global scale of wildlife trafficking networks that use Thailand as a transshipment hub. The operation was aided by intelligence from a joint transnational investigation between Thai law enforcement agencies and international antitrafficking organizations working to dismantle global wildlife trafficking networks spanning Asia, Africa and South America.

Wednesday, 26 June 2024
Hilton P 2024. The hidden ivory trade: hippos under threat amidst rising demand.
When we think of ivory, elephants come to mind. Yet, hippos are also victims of the relentless ivory trade, with their teeth coveted as a legal and cheaper alternative. Investigative photojournalist Paul Hilton ventured to Uganda, uncovering the grim reality: hippo populations are dwindling due to the soaring demand for ivory, primarily trafficked through Hong Kong.
Wednesday, 26 June 2024
Musoke R 2024. From bush to butchery: The game meat value chain in northern Tanzania.

Tanzania is home to wild herds of buffalo, wildebeest, hartebeest, and impala that have been hunted for meat by generations of indigenous communities. In 2019, Tanzania’s late President called on the country’s authorities to establish a mechanism that will allow Tanzania's to access wild meat, counter rampant poaching and illegal bushmeat trade through a pioneering set of national laws. By early 2020, the Game Meat Selling Regulations (GMSR) - new legislation for the legal sourcing, selling, and consumption of wild meat - had come into force.

Friday, 14 June 2024
Musoke R 2024. Wildlife warden decries rise in poaching.

A wildlife warden on Wednesday raised alarm over the increase in poaching and the cutting down of trees at the Badingilo National Park. Speaking to reporters at the park, acting Warden, Maj. Butrus Simon, said the killing of the wildlife and deforestation have been exacerbated by the economic hardship in the country. "The poaching activities inside the park are due to the current situation. You will find that many poachers kill the animals and cut the trees," Simon said.

Tuesday, 4 June 2024
Ndalikokule P 2024. Chinese and Vietnamese transport groups unite in fighting cross-border wildife trafficking.
In an unprecedented event, two major logistics groups from two of the largest exporting countries, the China Express Association (CEA) and the Viet Nam Automobile Transportation Association (VATA), came together to pave the way for greater industry collaboration, especially to work together to curb cross-border illegal wildlife trade.
Sunday, 2 June 2024
2024. Teenager arrested for illegally hunting a warthog.

The Namibian police in the Otjozondjupa Region have arrested a 19-year-old suspect who was allegedly found in possession of a warthog carcass and was unable to explain how it came into his possession. The arrest was made at Farm Euros in the Kombat area on Saturday morning. It is alleged that the suspect entered the farm without the owner's permission and "unlawfully and intentionally" slaughtered a warthog worth N$7,000, which was then found in his possession. Retrieved from the Facebook Site of Informanté.

Saturday, 1 June 2024
2024. Concern over targeting of birds of prey.

People who are shooting birds of prey should be prosecuted, says FreeMe Wildlife, who are on a mission to protect the raptors amid a rise in their killings. Tammy Caine, a raptor specialist at FreeMe Wildlife, said they have recently had two birds of prey - an African harrier hawk and a spotted eagle owl - come in with pellets in their wings. "While the African harrier hawk is still in care, the spotted eagle owl sadly had to be euthanised.

Friday, 30 April 2021
2021. Two notorious poachers nabbed in Kajiado.

The team acting on an intelligence tip off managed to waylay the two suspects, David Musyimi and Mwendo Mumba while in possession Zebra and dik dik meat weighing approximately 180 kilograms and half a kilogram respectively. Other items recovered were two knives and a machete used by the suspects to kill the animals.

Tuesday, 27 April 2021
Nyika L 2021. Vic Falls City Council driver arrested for poaching.

A Victoria Falls City Council driver who hit a warthog while driving a municipal vehicle, skinned it and took the meat home for consumption has been arrested for poaching.

Tuesday, 27 April 2021
2021. Man arrested for hunting of protected game at Outjo.

A 29-year-old man was arrested for hunting specially protected game at Outjo on Friday, the Namibian Police Force (NamPol) has reported. In its weekend serious crime report issued Sunday, NamPol said the suspect was arrested after allegedly shooting an impala.

Thursday, 22 April 2021
Smit E 2021. Eight arrested for wildlife crimes.

On 12 April, Haita Paulus Tjambiru was arrested at Orupembe in connection with an old case dating back to October 2015 in which a rhino was illegally hunted. He was charged with contravening the Nature Conservation Ordinance. In another incident at Ondangwa on 13 April, Phillipus Alfeus was arrested for being in possession of two python skins.

Wednesday, 14 April 2021
Smit E 2021. Namibians arrested for 90% of wildlife crimes.

Although wildlife crime is ultimately driven by demand in consumer countries, Namibians continue to make up over 90% of arrested wildlife crime suspects in country. This according to the environment ministry and police’s Annual Wildlife Crime Report for 2020. A massive 91% of the 304 suspects arrested for wildlife crimes of high value species in last year were Namibians. Suspects from neighbouring countries made up the rest of the arrests and included Angolans (5%), Zimbabweans (4%) and Batswana (0.4%).

Saturday, 3 April 2021
Muvundisi J 2021. Worry over increased poaching of painted dogs.

Painted dogs, also known as wild dogs, face extinction as a result of increased illegal hunting by poachers, a conservation centre has revealed. The Painted Dogs Conservation Centre in Dete, which is located at the foot of the Hwange National Park, said snares set up by poachers, mostly villagers, have become a huge threat to the population of painted dogs.

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