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United for Wildlife has established landmark agreements with one of Nigeria's leading law enforcement agencies as well as the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, as part of the organisation’s work to build a regional network to combat the Illegal Wildlife Trade in West Africa.

The Congo rainforest is home to one of Africa's least-known and most threatened monkeys: the golden-bellied mangabey. Golden-bellied mangabeys form extraordinarily large troops of dozens of individuals, and field observations reveal a complex social structure reminiscent of that of humans. The species faces significant threats from habitat loss, hunting and illegal trade, with experts pushing for stronger legal protections, including an upgrade from CITES Appendix II to Appendix I listing.

The ongoing drought that has its grip on most parts of Namibia has not spared wildlife either, the environment ministry says.  The drought is also severely impacting conservation efforts, but has not yet led to increased mortalities, reduction of wildlife numbers or any endangered species, environment ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda stated.  While responding to questions by New Era, revealed the scarcity of rainfall in the affected regions has resulted in a dire shortage of water and grazing resources for wildlife.

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

The Minister of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta, provided a detailed overview of ongoing efforts in wildlife protection and law enforcement at the 2024 Annual National Stakeholder Forum held this week. According to Shifeta, Namibia has long been recognized for its successful conservation strategies, which have significantly reduced poaching rates since the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly targeting iconic species such as rhinos and elephants.

The Namibian authorities arrested 654 people linked to 389 wildlife-crime cases registered in the country last year. This is according to a 2023 national report on wildlife protection and law enforcement in Namibia completed by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism. The report shows that 96 wildlife-crime court cases were finalised. Twelve cases involving pangolins, eight cases for elephants, four cases involving trees and an additional four cases involving rhinos were finalised in court.

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…

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.

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.

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.

The Year of the Tiger is not a good one for the creatures themselves, a global animal welfare report states. It also finds South Africa to be at the heart of the big cat crisis.