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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.
Explore your search results using the filter checkboxes, or amend your search or start a new search.
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.
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| NIG_2024_07_United for Wildlife strengthens fight against the illegal wildlife trade.pdf | 150.65 KB |
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.
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| CHINA_2024_07_China Fortifies Anti_Wildlife Trafficking Efforts at its Borders_traffic.pdf | 166.51 KB |
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.
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| NAM_2024_07_Wildlife not spared by drought_ Ministry_game meat for drought_hit communities_New Era.pdf | 812.75 KB |
The wildlife crime cases over the last two years have mostly involved antelopes, pangolins, small mammals, rhinos and elephants.
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| NAM_2024_07_Over 1 300 arrested for wildlife crimes in two years_Namibian Sun_0.pdf | 241.14 KB |
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.
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| NAM_2024_07_654 suspects arrested for poaching_The Namibian.pdf | 375.22 KB |
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| UG_2024_07_Is Ugandas Wildlife Court a paper tiger_newvision.pdf | 665.15 KB |
A void left by illegal horn income may now be driving neighbouring communities to snare and shoot species such as African buffalo in the park's southwest sector. Despite the lowveld’s searing heat, thorny canopy and tough terrain, Kruger's staff and honorary rangers say they are fighting back - on foot.
In spite of the surge in snaring of animals in the Kruger National Park officials are scrambling to come up with ways to curb the emerging onslaught to the game for bush meat. With less than two months left until the end of the year field and honorary rangers claim to have removed more than 3 000 snares that were placed across the park to trap the animals. According to the statistics, this ruthless form of poaching has been on the increase in recent years claiming more than 7 000 snares in last year as opposed to 4 000 in 2021. According…
The recent sentencing of three wildlife poachers has been hailed as a success in the anti-poaching efforts of the Greytown community. Farmers, SAPS and security companies working together to curb poaching in the Greytown area have welcomed the sentences handed down to three men aged between 27 and 42 years old, who were found guilty of illegal hunting by the Greytown Magistrate's Court. The three men were each sentenced to eight months' imprisonment or a R2 000 fine.
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| SA_2023_10_Sentencing of three wildlife poachers hailed as a success_The Witness.pdf | 406.05 KB |
Since 2020, snaring has tripled in the crown jewels of South Africa's Big Five reserves. This suggests economic hardship, although it is not the sole factor to blame. Responding to questions by the Democratic Alliance’s Hannah Winkler on the park’s snaring trends, Environment Minister Barbara Creecy reported the removal of thousands of snares: In 2020, 2,407 snares were removed; In 2021, 4,454 snares were removed; In 2022, 7,270 snares were removed.