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Poaching endangers the populations of endangered species worldwide, and species native to Namibia also suffer from illegal hunting. A key problem that keeps poaching persistent and growing is the continued demand for wildlife products from wildlife crime. And this demand is being fed - among other things by TikTok. TikTok is booming - and the platform is also being misused for the illegal sale of bushmeat. A recent study shows that public TikTok accounts in Africa advertise meat from wild animals, even from highly endangered species such as pangolins.

Africa's lions have always lived on the edge of human worlds. They roam landscapes shaped by farms, roads, villages and borders - admired, feared and contested in equal measure. They face shrinking habitats, declining prey and conflict with people living alongside them. But a new danger is emerging - one that could undo hard-won conservation gains if it is not confronted quickly.

South Africa's natural heritage is under siege from organised crime, weak regulation and murky legal markets. From vaults holding rhino horn stockpiles to pens of captive-bred lions, and from the elusive pangolin to plundered seas, an expanding illicit wildlife economy is eroding biodiversity, undermining sustainable livelihoods and fuelling transnational criminal networks.

Chinese national Lin Yunhua, the notorious kingpin of a wildlife trafficking syndicate convicted in 2021 for smuggling 2.6 tons of ivory, rhino horns, and pangolin scales worth millions, entered a not-guilty plea Monday to seven corruption-related counts before High Court Judge Redson Kapindu, capping a saga marked by a controversial presidential pardon, international outcry from conservation groups, and allegations of deep-rooted bribery within Malawi's justice and prison systems, writes Winston Mwale.

A cross-border investigation is underway following a devastating wildlife poisoning incident near Amboseli National Park that has left at least six lions and 34 vultures dead. The animals are believed to have died after feeding on a cow carcass deliberately laced with poison in the Kitenden area along the Kenya–Tanzania border. The incident, which occurred two days ago, has shocked conservationists and authorities, who describe it as one of the most serious poisoning cases ever recorded in the Amboseli ecosystem.