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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.
A South African woman leaving the country for Dubai was nabbed this week with 12 rhino horns in her luggage at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, according to the SA Revenue Service (Sars).
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| SA_2022_04_SA woman bound for Dubai nabbed with a dozen rhino horns at OR Tambo_TimesLive.pdf | 399.4 KB |
Durban - A total of 61 rhinos were killed for their horns in KwaZulu-Natal between January 1, 2022, and March 25, 2022.
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| SA_2022_04_61 rhinos butchered for their horns in three months in KZN_IOL.pdf | 401.69 KB |
Rustenburg -Two field rangers were arrested for allegedly sharing tactical information with rhino poaching syndicates in exchange for large sums of money, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), better known as the Hawks, said on Sunday.
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| SA_2022_04_Game rangers arrested for allegedly helping poaching syndicates with information_IOL.pdf | 970.27 KB |
Poachers have since January killed 106 rhinos in the South African KwaZulu-Natal province, surpassing numbers for the whole of 2021, claims a poaching report partially released last week.
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| SA_2022_05_Rhino Poaching on the Rise in South Africa_OCCRP.pdf | 564.83 KB |
Pretoria - The Skukuza Regional Court has sentenced two rhino poachers to an effective 19 years in jail, after the two Mozambican nationals were arrested last month inside the Kruger National Park.
Additionally, 770 suspects were arrested for wildlife crimes. Wildlife products confiscated included 108 elephant tusks, 117 pangolins and 59 rhino horns, while 42 unlicensed firearms used in the commission of wildlife crimes were seized.
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| NAM_2022_04_38 000 suspects arrested in 2021_Namibian Sun.pdf | 494.34 KB |
Community participation is key to reducing wildlife crimes amid concerns that the country is losing revenue as a result of poaching. Poachers kill elephants for their tusks and rhinos for their horns. The official value of ivory is US$250 per kilogramme yet poachers can sell it for as little as US$50 per kilogramme.
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| ZIM_2022_04_Zim losing forex to poaching_The Chronicle.pdf | 380.12 KB |
Poverty around protected parks is not the main reason rhino poaching thrives, argues researcher Ian Glenn.
Two men have been sentenced to 44 years' imprisonment for rhino poaching. They have also been found guilty of possession of four rhino horns. Their sentences will run concurrently.
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| SA_2022_04_Two men sentenced to 44 years imprisonment for rhino poaching_News24.pdf | 366.92 KB |
Moving rhinos from South Africa to Botswana's Okavango Delta without properly involving local people meant key chances to protect the animals from poaching were missed, scientists and community leaders have said. As the Delta reels from a surge in rhino poaching, which has killed close to 100 of the animals in the last three years, the authorities have taken the unusual step of evacuating all remaining both black and white rhinos from the region.
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| BOT_2022_04_Botswanas imported rhino poaching crisis_Independent.pdf | 637.21 KB |
Limpopo game farmer Dawie Groenewald and his co-accused were arrested about 12 years ago on a multitude of rhino poaching-related charges, yet their criminal trial has yet to start.
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| SA_2022_04_Rhino horn trade case delayed again 12 years after arrest of suspects_IOL.pdf | 669.78 KB |
A report by the South African government reveals a worrisome increase in the number of rhinos poached in 2021, as the decline attributed to the COVID restrictions is now being threatened with reversal. But is it too late to turn the tide?
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| SA_2022_04_It is too late to save South Africas rhinos_Fair Planet.pdf | 334.73 KB |
Both of the convicted rhino poachers had entered the Kruger National Park, and one of them was found to be in the country illegally.
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| SA_2022_04_Rhino poaching_Two men sentenced for seperate incidents_The South African.pdf | 383.2 KB |
At least 71 rhino have been poached this year alone in Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife parks, putting KZN on the road to the species facing extinction in the region within the next five years!
Just as the barbarity of war in Ukraine or the global climate crisis gradually lose their shock value, the unrelenting massacre of South Africa’s rhino has all but drifted from public view. Behind the scenes, however, at least 75 rhinos have been butchered for their horns in KwaZulu-Natal in the opening months of 2022.
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| SA_2022_04_Rhino bloodbath in KZN as poachers gun down 75 animals this year_DailyMaverick.pdf | 1.04 MB |
The reopening of the Skukuza Regional Court is producing positive results, with a 100% conviction rate for rhino poachers over the past two years. The court had been closed by the Mpumalanga Regional Court president Naomi Engelbrecht in August 2019, who wanted it to be moved to Mhala Court about 100 kilometres from Skukuza. However, this decision was overruled and the court was reopened again in April 2021.
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| SA_2022_04_Poachers face full might of the law in Skukuza court_Lowvelder.pdf | 526.82 KB |
Wildlife crimes remain a severe threat to the economy and biodiversity as well as to local livelihoods, the recently released Second National Integrated State of the Environment Report for Namibia showed. According to the report, a large number of wildlife crime cases are related to poaching for meat while rhinos currently represent the most valuable and sought after wildlife crime target. "Between 2018 and 2019, there has been an increase in registered wildlife cases related to high-value species growing from 115 to 174 cases.