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.
Pretoria - At least four people have been arrested by the Hawks in North West while they were selling two pangolins at a mall. Spokesperson for the Hawks in North West, Captain Tlangelani Rikhotso, said the two pangolins were being sold for R200 000.
Four men were arrested for allegedly attempting to sell two endangered pangolins for R200 000 in Mahikeng, North West.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2023_05_Hawks pounce on pangolin peddlers_four arrested_The SouthAfrican.pdf | 438.91 KB |
Two Mozambicans have been arrested in Mchinji after being found with a Pangolin. Public relations officer for Mchinji Police Station Limbani Mpinganjira has identified the two as Jackson Yakobe, 40, and Selemani Felix, 46. They were arrested on May 26, 2023 at around 7:00pm after officers from Department of Wildlife and Parks tipped Kamwendo Police that the two were offering for sale a live pangolin at Kadziyang’ane Trading Centre. Upon interrogations, the suspects revealed that the animal was taken from Mozambique and they were searching for a possible market in…
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
MAL_2023_05_Two Mozambicans found with pangolin in Malawi_Malawi24.pdf | 610.85 KB |
Pretoria - A man was arrested in Limpopo for possession of a pangolin, valued at R150 000, while he was on his way to sell the endangered animal.
Government is working around the clock to fight wildlife crime and corruption, especially in the Kruger National Park, says Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister, Barbara Creecy.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2023_05_Work underway to fight wildlife crime_Bizzcommunity.pdf | 345.25 KB |
The non-profit called on Nigerians to protect Nigeria's endangered species while urging the federal government to pass the Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill as the world marks Endangered Species Day, an annual event to celebrate and take action to protect threatened and endangered species. Nigeria is home to numerous wild animals such as pangolins, lions, chimpanzees, elephants, gorillas, vultures, manatees, and parrots.
Hidden in the boot inside a bag, police found a pangolin estimated to be worth R150 000. In a collaborative operation involving the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation and other enforcement agencies, police arrested a 59-year-old suspected pangolin dealer in Gravelotte, near Tzaneen, on Wednesday, 17 May 2023.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2023_05_Suspected pangolin trafficker arrested in Gravelotte_The Citizen.pdf | 309.83 KB |
"There are conservation policies in the Ministry that deal with those illegal actions of poaching. Rhinos are protected by the Controlled Wildlife Products and Trade Act Nine (9) of 2008, which still contains penalties widely viewed as being woefully inadequate in light of the value of the illegal trade in animal products such as elephant tusks, rhino horn and pangolin scales", Muyunda stressed.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2023_05_Killing of rhinos remains illegal_Windhoek Observer.pdf | 274.48 KB |
A man has been arrested in Hazyview for being in possession of a Pangolin, following a tip-off from a local community member. On Tuesday September 27, a private game reserve near Hazyview received the tip-off that a white Bantam bakkie was driving around town looking for a buyer for the Pangolin which is the world's most trafficked animal species.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_09_Hazyview man arrested in possession of endangered Pangolin_Lowvelder.pdf | 399.63 KB |
Die minister van justisie, me. Yvonne Dausab, het agterdog oor die verdwyning van 'n dossier in 'n saak waarin 'n Chinese burger van wildmisdaad beskuldig word, in die kiem gesmoor. Xuecheng is na bewering in 2014 vasgetrek met 'n jagluiperd- en luiperdvel in sy besit en is aangekla van die onwettige handel in vier olifanttande. Hy is maande later weer in hegtenis geneem nadat 'n ietermagovel, 'n luiperdkop en sewe sebravelle glo in sy besit by die China Town-inkoopkompleks in Windhoek gevind is.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2022_09_Dausab se oor verlore dossier_Republikein.pdf | 617.92 KB |
NAM_2022_09_Duasab says about lost dossier_Republikien_Eng.pdf | 499.5 KB |
Law enforcement agencies globally must address rhino horn trafficking as transnational organised crime, with an increased focus on the higher-level actors in the supply chain. This was the main message that emerged from a joint webinar hosted by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) SA and the Wildlife Justice Commission to mark World Rhino Day on Thursday. Malaysian customs officials say they have seized a stash of rare animal parts worth $18 million thought to have come from Africa, including elephant tusks, rhino horns and pangolin scales.
A businessman whose case involving alleged wildlife crimes was struck off the court roll last week has been summoned to return to the Windhoek Regional Court on the same charges in November.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2022_09_PG revives wildlife crimes case_The Namibian.pdf | 638.18 KB |
Prosecutor general Martha Imalwa has responded to articles published in the New Era and The Namibian about the trial of a Chinese businessman, Hou Xue Cheng, and his Namibian co-accused Hamutenja Hamutenya, whose cases were struck from the court roll recently. The reason the charges on dealing in controlled wildlife products were dismissed was that neither the witnesses nor the docket was before the court. According to the PG, the information contained in the articles was incorrect.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2022_09_PG explains missing dockets case_New Era.pdf | 366.5 KB |
A federal court in Lagos on Friday sentenced a Vietnamese, Nguyen Huy, to three months in prison for trafficking in 200 kiogrammes of Pangolin scales.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NIG_2022_09_Nigerian court convicts Vietnamese for trafficking in Pangolin scales_Premium Times.pdf | 348.63 KB |
Two Mutoko men have been jailed nine years each for illegal possession of a pangolin.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
ZIM_2022_09_2 Mutoko men jailed over pangolin_NewsDay.pdf | 329.92 KB |
A Chinese businessman who has been facing charges of dealing in controlled wildlife products over the past eight years left the Windhoek Magistrate's Court as a free man yesterday, after his case was struck from the court roll. The state alleged that the five men illegally dealt in four elephant tusks in Windhoek on 11 June 2014.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2022_09_Accused man off hook on wildlife charges_The Namibian.pdf | 656.14 KB |
Regional Court Magistrate Leopoldt Hangalo yesterday struck the case of a Chinese businessman, Hou Xue Cheng and his Namibian co-accused Hamutenja Hamutenya on a count of dealing in controlled wildlife products, from the court roll. The reason was that no docket nor witnesses were before the court. The magistrate said the matter has been coming from 2014, and the State failed to get their affairs in order for it to start. He cancelled the bail of N$100 000 for Cheng and N$5 000 for Hamutenya, and ordered it to be refunded to the depositors.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2022_09_Chinese nationals docket disappears_New Era.pdf | 400.12 KB |
The owners of two cars that were used to transport pangolin skins are set to lose their vehicles to the state, following an order given in the Windhoek High Court yesterday. In terms of an order given by judge Shafimana Ueitele, a Nissan NP200 bakkie and Nissan Tiida sedan seized by the police in the Grootfontein district four years ago have now been declared forfeited to the state.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2022_09_Owners to lose cars over wildlife crimes_The Namibian.pdf | 503.14 KB |
Strides made with hefty sentences and fines for criminals endangering game rangers and animals. When Jimmy Mashopane of Winterveld, north of Pretoria, was arrested for shooting, killing and mutilating nine white rhino in a Free State game reserve, taking 14 horns estimated at more than R500,000, veteran prosecutor Antoinette Ferreira threw the book at him. That one of the rhino was a month away from giving birth "only enhances one's sense of abomination", judge Phillip Loubser said.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_09_Courts fire shots across the bows of poaching syndicates_Business Live.pdf | 485.82 KB |