This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:
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.
4 ivory traffickers arrested with 3 tusks in Congo in a crackdown on judicial corruption. One of them is the head clerk of the high court of Dolisie who used his position to traffic seized ivory from the court’s evidence room. He was denounced by the other traffickers and a raid was carried out his home the following morning when he arrested. Two of the tusks bear markings corresponding to our operation from 2021. This is an important step in combatting corruption in the judicial system. 2 traffickers arrested with 3 elephant tusks, 41 ivory statues, and 13 hippo teeth in Togo.…
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
AFR_2024_10_Wildlife law enforcement briefing_EAGLE Network.pdf | 235.2 KB |
The country has recorded a decrease in arrests related to the poaching of rhinos, elephants, and pangolins, but authorities say more work is needed to combat the ongoing threat from international poaching syndicates. Speaking at a handover of donated vehicles last week, the Minister of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta said combined arrests for rhino and elephant poaching dropped from 143 last year to 91 this year. Pangolin-related crimes also saw a decline, with 30 cases recorded this year compared to 60 last year, Shifeta added.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2024_10_Wildlife poaching arrests decline_Namibia Economist.pdf | 1.17 MB |
A total of 46 rhinos, including 35 black and 11 white rhinos, have been killed in the Etosha National Park by poachers so far in 2024, minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism Pohamba Shifeta has said. He made the announcement in the capital last week during the donation of 22 vehicles and information technology (IT) equipment, valued at N$19.8 million to the ministry by the Integrated Wildlife Protection Project. The donation was co-financed by the German state-owned KfW Development Bank.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2024_10_46 Ethosha rhinos poached in 2024_New Era Namibia.pdf | 189.9 KB |
A dehydrated pangolin was rescued from the captivity of alleged traffickers in Morningside at the end of September. Sandton SPCA's senior inspector Ronald Ramalata acted swiftly following being tipped-off about the endangered animal on September 29.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2024_10_Pangolin rescued by Sandton SPCA in Morningside_Sandton Chronicle.pdf | 156.39 KB |
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has taken another bold step in the global fight against wildlife trafficking, seizing 9,493 kg of pangolin scales in one of the largest wildlife crime busts in recent years. The Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed these developments at a press briefing held at the Customs Training College in Lagos on Wednesday, 16 October 2024, as part of the service’s ongoing enforcement activities.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NIG_2024_10_Customs seizes 9493 kg of Pangolin Scales_Vanguard.pdf | 92.63 KB |
Two Botswana nationals, Rhine Morgan Kemsley, 35, and Mothusi Malcom Lefa, 49, suspected of illegally possessing and dealing pangolin, an endangered species, have had their day in court. An all-encompassing law enforcement team, according to Captain Lloyd Ramovha of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), made the arrest.
’n Man (25) is laas Woensdag in Windhoek in hegtenis geneem met ’n beseerde ietermagô glo in sy besit. Volgens die ministerie van die omgewing, bosbou en toerisme was die ietermagô in ’n stresvolle toestand en met beserings op die lyf.
A 25-year-old man was arrested in Windhoek on Wednesday with an injured pangolin in his possession.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2020-05_Beseerde ietermago by man gevind-Republikein.pdf | 322.84 KB |
NAM_2020-05_Injured pangolin found in mans possession_Republikein_Eng.pdf | 229.08 KB |
South African traders with China are illegally selling thousands of wild animals threatened with extinction and endangered, under the guise of legal exports, according to an investigation. Monkeys have been stolen from the wild, and together with cheetahs, tigers, rhinos, lions and meerkats, they have been trafficked to circuses, theme parks, laboratories, zoos and "safari parks", researchers found.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2020-05_South Africa wildlife trade_Journal of African Elephants.pdf | 175.93 KB |
A Kuruman man was convicted for being in possession of R250,000 worth of pangolin scales and the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition by the Kuruman magistrate's court on Friday. John Henry Rautenbach, 25, was arrested by the Hawks’ serious organised crime investigation unit in August last year after the unit received information that an illegal firearm was being kept at an address in the Northern Cape.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2020-05_Kuruman man convicted of having R250k worth of pangolin scales_Sowetanlive.pdf | 191.92 KB |
Police say a tip-off led to the arrest of the suspect who was allegedly trying to sell the pangolin in the Musina CBD.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2020-05_Suspect arrested for selling dead pangolin in Limpopo_The Citizen.pdf | 394.21 KB |
‘n Man (25) is gistermiddag in Windhoek in hegtenis geneem met ‘n beseerde ietermagô glo in sy besit.
A 25-year-old man was arrested in Windhoek on Monday afternoon with an injured pangolin apparently in his possession.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2020-05_Man met beseerde ietermago vas_Republikein.pdf | 320.7 KB |
NAM_2020-05_Man arrested with injured pangolin_Republikein_Eng.pdf | 228.29 KB |
Wild animals are back. Kangaroos bounding through the streets of Melbourne, elephant herds passing through Indian villages, jackals in Johannesburg, leopards in Mumbai, wild boar in Bergamo and Verreaux eagles catching thermals above a silent Cape Town. And of course, inevitable cartoons of humans in surgical masks staring forlornly at animals playing on the sidewalk. Is lockdown good news for creatures - or for poachers?
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2020-05_How the Coronavirus changes poaching strategies_Daily Maverick.pdf | 457.64 KB |
Poaching incidents could increase during the lockdown period as criminal networks try to take advantage of the closing of parks, perceiving a reduced presence of law enforcement now dealing with the Covid-19 emergency. “We are in receipt of intelligence that known poaching organisers operating across southern Africa intend taking advantage of the current situation,” said Sarah Stoner, director of intelligence at the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC).