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The country has has lostt eight rhinos to poaching syndicates between January and April, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism revealed this week. According to the Ministry, seven rhinos were poached in the country's flagship Etosha National Park, while one poaching case occurred on a private farm. In a direct response to the continual poaching cases, the Ministry said last year it immobilized and dehorned 147 rhinos as part of a broader strategy to combat poaching.

The Federal Government has arrested a suspected wildlife trafficking kingpin, Shamsideen Abubakar, in a joint enforcement operation involving the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC). Abubakar, who had been declared wanted by the Federal High Court in Lagos, was apprehended after years on the run over his alleged role in large-scale wildlife trafficking.

A new report from the Environmental Investigation Agency analyzed more than 250 rhino horn trafficking cases prosecuted in China between 2013 and 2025 to understand smuggling routes and trends within the country. Chinese courts have convicted more than 500 traffickers, who received an average of 4.5 years in prison and fines of about 92,322 yuan ($13,540). Most rhino horns smuggled into China came from South Africa and Mozambique, entering by land across the border from Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos.

A disturbing new global report has pulled back the curtain on a booming illegal wildlife trade that is no longer confined to remote markets or hidden backrooms, but operating openly on Facebook. South Africa has been flagged as one of the countries caught in this growing digital trafficking network, where endangered animals and wildlife products are being advertised, bought, and sold with alarming ease.

A man accused of dealing in rhino horns and money laundering made his first court appearance before Magistrate Nelao Ya France, where he indicated that he will conduct his own defence. The accused, Paulus Panduleni Nikodemus, appeared in the Ondangwa Magistrate’s Court this morning on charges of contravening the Controlled Wildlife Products and Trade Act and the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. According to the charge sheet, he allegedly dealt in two rhino horns valued at N$165 000 near Etosha National Park in November 2025.

Hugo Ras, according to the state the mastermind behind a large-scale rhino poaching syndicate, appeared briefly in the High Court in Pretoria on Monday on more than 130 charges that include extortion, theft, money laundering, the illegal transport, possession and sale of rhino horns, the illegal possession and sale of elephant tusks and the illegal possession of a firearm. He stands trial alongside Trudie Ras, Magagula Mandla Maxwell, Willie Adriaan "Oosie" Oosthuizen and Abraham Johannes "Arno" Smit.

Three former employees of Kruger National Park have been convicted of rhino poaching and conspiracy, exposing the critical role insiders can play in enabling wildlife crime. The case underscores both the scale of organised poaching networks and the profound breach of trust when those tasked with protecting wildlife become complicit.

Three former employees of Kruger National Park have been convicted of rhino poaching and conspiracy, exposing the critical role insiders can play in enabling wildlife crime. The case underscores both the scale of organised poaching networks and the profound breach of trust when those tasked with protecting wildlife become complicit.

Seven rhinos - two black and five white - were poached over the past four months in the Dinokeng Game Reserve outside Pretoria, and another four were injured. In the latest incident, a suspected poacher was fatally wounded. This incident occurred on the evening of 12 March. It is said that the reserve's anti-poaching unit engaged in a follow-up operation after shots were heard. One poacher was fatally wounded, and a firearm and rhino horn were recovered at the scene.

While Namibia continues to record successes in conservation and revenue, the increasing frequency of severe conflicts between humans and wildlife is putting a strain on rural village communities in particular. In the 2025/2026 financial year, 1,442 incidents were reported, in which 10 people died. The government paid N$1.4 million in compensation and provided additional assistance to the bereaved. Tourism Minister Indileni Daniel reported this as part of her budget justification. For 2026/2027, her ministry received 7% less than in the previous year, with an 8% cut in operational…

South Africa won world acclaim in the 1960s for rescuing the white rhino from extinction. Known as Operation Rhino, the project involved multiplying their numbers gradually and translocating them to former wild living spaces across Africa. But our reputation as a global leader in rhino conservation began to unravel in 2008 when criminal syndicates launched an unprecedented horn-poaching spree in this country. Now, after 18 years of relentless killing, the initial sense of shock seems to have worn off.

At least 110 countries are now involved in illegal trade in wildlife - more than doubling from 49 in 2000. Trade connections jumped by more than 400%, according to a recent analysis of global wildlife seizure data. Asia, rather than Europe, is now the centre of illegal trade for most species, the study found, sparked by extensive trading, business and diplomatic connections with Africa - the source for many wildlife products.

What began as an audacious racket to launder rhino horns has unravelled into the biggest wildlife trafficking bust in years, dragging the Department of Home Affairs into the spotlight and exposing Vietnam's shadowy passport and visa processes. Investigations and reports by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC and other conservation bodies have revealed disturbing evidence of organised crime in South Africa, including the frequent involvement of transnational Vietnamese syndicates in wildlife trafficking.

For the first time in more than four decades, rhinos have returned to Uganda's Kidepo Valley National Park, where poachers once wiped them out for their horns and meat. On Tuesday, two southern white rhinos became the first of eight animals intended to re-establish a population in the park. The last rhino there was killed in 1983, the Uganda Wildlife Authority, which is responsible for the relocation, said.

Not a single rhino was poached in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in January (compared with about 30 a month just three years ago). But the poaching assault in KwaZulu-Natal's most famous rhino reserve is far from over. Bleached by years of sun and rain, the skulls of hundreds of rhinos have been piling up steadily in the "boneyards" of Africa’s oldest game reserve. Most skulls have an aluminium identity tag fixed to them with a ring of steel wire passing through empty eye sockets.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has achieved a historic milestone with zero rhino poaching incidents recorded in KwaZulu-Natal provincial parks in January 2026. KZN Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) MEC Musa Zondi said this demonstrated that the province is "not merely participating in conservation success, but living in it," marks a decade-best. The trend is in line with recent poaching stats. According to stats released in February by Environment Minister Willie Aucamp, there was 97 rhinos poached in KZN in 2025, a decline from 232 killed in 2024.

A South African facing 1,600 criminal charges at home has been ordered out of a lucrative Botswana hunting concession by the community. He doesn't want to go anywhere. Dawie Groenewald - convicted in the US in 2010 for smuggling a leopard skin into the country, and facing 1,600 charges in South Africa related to rhino poaching, trafficking, racketeering and money-laundering - has been ordered to leave a lucrative trophy-hunting concession in Botswana's Okavango Delta by the community whose ancestral land it is.

The U.S. Ambassador to Namibia, John Giordano, recently hosted a high-level counter wildlife trafficking roundtable at the United States Embassy in Windhoek, to strengthen cooperation against transnational environmental crime. The meeting brought together local conservation leaders and U.S. government officials. Participants discussed progress in arrests and convictions, regional coordination efforts, investigative capacity-building, and the intersection between wildlife trafficking and other transnational crimes, including narcotics and human trafficking.

United States (US) ambassador to Namibia John Giodarno hosted a discussion to combat wildlife trafficking in Windhoek on 24 February. The meeting brought together Namibian conservation leaders and US government officials to discuss progress in arrests and convictions, regional coordination efforts and investigative capacity building when it comes to wildlife crimes. "As a former United States attorney, I have seen first-hand how criminal networks try to exploit gaps in enforcement and governance.

On paper, Zimbabwe is winning the fight against poaching. In places such as Hwange National Park, the numbers tell a hopeful story. Elephant poaching has fallen sharply. In the past five years, recorded cases dropped from roughly 100 elephants killed annually in and around Hwange to about 20 animals poached outside the park in 2025, with none killed inside the park for two consecutive years. These are not small gains.

The Mpumalanga government is stepping up its fight against rhino poaching with stronger measures and extra support, after the province saw a sharp rise in the number of rhinos killed last year. This new push comes as conservationists and local communities grow more worried about the future of these iconic animals. The increase in poaching has hit hard, especially in areas close to Kruger National Park, and officials say they are now working harder than ever to protect the province’s rhinos and the tourism jobs that depend on them.

A 60-year-old Chinese man was sentenced to 24 months in prison today for illegally importing 41 pieces of rhino horn valued at about HK$3 million, hidden in his luggage at Hong Kong International Airport. The man arrived from Dhaka, Bangladesh, on June 29 last year. Customs officers discovered the suspected rhino horns concealed in his baggage during inspection. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) staff confirmed the black-painted, plastic-wrapped items were genuine rhino horn fragments totaling 7.7 kilograms.

A controversial Vietnamese national was arrested trying to flee South Africa while on wildlife trafficking charges. Huy Bao Tran is linked to the 'staged' theft of 98 rhino horns and a vast global syndicate.

Tulani Ngwenya investigates how US dollars and hi-tech security have turned South Africa's game parks into a fortress frontier on the operations room monitors, a Black Mamba ranger works with a software platform that tracks and manages activity across the reserves in real time.

Gondwana Collection Namibia and ERP Conservation Foundation recently completed an intensive anti-poaching training programme to bolster security ahead of the new Black Rhino Sanctuary’s opening. The specialised training brought together a group of in-house rangers and trainees, equipping them with advanced skills required to protect one of Africa's most endangered species.

The EMS Foundation today releases its latest investigative report, Rhinos on a Knife Edge (No.3 in the Where Have All the Rhinos Gone? series), warning that South Africa's remaining rhino population is caught in a dangerous convergence of policy uncertainty, organised crime, corruption, and renewed pressure to legalise international rhino horn trade. The report reveals that approximately 2,300–2,500 rhinos remain in South Africa's state-owned national parks, with just 2,000 rhinos left in the Kruger National Park - once considered the stronghold of the species.

South Africa has reported a significant victory against rhino poaching in 2025, with national figures reflecting a 16% decline. Leading the charge is KwaZulu-Natal, where poaching losses at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP) dwindled by 68%. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (Ezemvelo) welcomed the encouraging 2025 national rhino poaching statistics, crediting Minister Willie Aucamp’s statement on anti-poaching progress. Rhino losses in the HiP notably dropped by 68% (from 198 in 2024 to 63 in 2025), reflecting a province-wide decrease from 232 to 97 total losses.

Despite a modest 16% decline in rhino killings countrywide during 2025, the number of these animals poached in Kruger National Park has doubled compared with the previous year. Significantly, the dramatic surge in rhino poaching in Kruger was mirrored by an equally significant drop in killing rates in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal, which has been a poaching hotspot for several years.

Accused rhino poacher and former regional ranger Rodney Landela - once heralded as the "Crown Prince of the Kruger" - insists he was framed. The former Kruger regional ranger, tipped for a top post at the national park before his arrest, has testified that a wildlife observation mission went disastrously wrong in the Kingfisherspruit section of the Kruger National Park on 27 July 2016. Landela, alongside former state veterinary technician Kenneth Muchocho are accused of killing a white rhino early that morning.

Thai wildlife authorities have arrested a Vietnamese man at Suvarnabhumi Airport and seized 11.75 kilograms of rhino horn, disrupting a transnational wildlife trafficking operation that used Thailand as a transit point en route to Laos. Sadudee Phanphakdee, director of the Office of Wildlife and Plant Protection under the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said the arrest followed joint operations with C.I.Q. agencies and the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division police to curb cross-border wildlife trafficking.

South Africa's anti-poaching and anti-trafficking efforts have yielded a 16% overall decline in rhino poaching last year when compared to 2024. This is according to the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Willie Aucamp, who attributes the decline to dedication and tactical, swift coordination. "From January to December 2025, 352 rhinos were poached in South Africa, with 266 being killed on State property and 86 on privately owned parks, reserves or farms. This was a decrease of 68 in comparison to 420 rhinos poached in 2024," the Minister said on Tuesday in a…

In a relentless fight against illicit wildlife crime including rhino poaching, South African National Parks (SANParks) confirms two recent anti-poaching incidents in the Kruger National Park, underscoring the bravery of our rangers. Rangers came into contact with suspected poachers. on Thursday, 5 February 2026 at the Malelane section of the park, while no arrests were made, a high-caliber rifle and bags were recovered at the scene. The seizure of these items represents a significant disruption to poaching activities.

The Supreme Court of Appeal has been asked to untangle a complex knot of legal questions that have emerged in a controversial court case about rhino horn trading. The ruling opens the door for South African rhino breeders to sell their horns internationally - despite a 50-year ban on such sales. Northern Cape rhino breeder and hunting lodge owner Hendrick "Wicus" Diedericks will have to delay his plan to sell rhino horns to foreign buyers, despite winning two court cases that pave the pathway towards this goal.

Rhinos were once a common sight in Uganda's savannahs - particularly in regions like Murchison Falls National Park, Kidepo Valley, and Ajai Wildlife Reserve. However, by the early 1980s, rampant poaching and prolonged political instability had wiped rhino populations from the wild. In the face of this loss, conservationists refused to accept permanent extinction. The turning point came in the mid-1990s and early 2000s with the establishment of dedicated programs to restore rhinos within Uganda's protected areas.

A total of 40 rhinos were poached last year in Namibia, while four elephants were killed, marking a significant decline compared with previous years. The poaching figures were confirmed by Bennett Kahuure, director of wildlife and national parks. He said that so far this year only one rhino poaching case has been reported, with no elephant poaching incidents recorded. "Overall, there has been a decline in poaching numbers over the past few years," Kahuure said. In 2024, Namibia recorded 81 rhino deaths at the hands of poachers.

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. Legal loopholes, under-resourced enforcement agencies and the high value of wildlife products have created fertile ground for trafficking syndicates, allowing them to move endangered animals and derivatives across borders with alarming efficiency.

Illegal wildlife trade is a growing global crisis and the largest direct threat to the future of many of the worl's most threatened species. Recent UN data (2015-2021) shows around 4,000 species impacted, including 3,250 listed under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). With an estimated annual value of up to $20 billion, it is the fourth most lucrative criminal enterprise in the world.

South Africa's newly released professional hunting statistics tell a story that is rarely stated plainly: trophy hunting is not a conservation tool, nor a reluctant compromise at the edges of wildlife management. It is a large, industrialised system of wildlife extraction, normalised through regulation, sanitised by conservation language and sustained by political accommodation.

During the early hours of this morning, members of the Ficksburg Visible Policing Unit carried out crime prevention operational concepts in the Ficksburg policing precinct. Police pulled over a white Toyota Alphard in Einde Street near a filling station at about 02:15. A search was conducted, and members found a parcel wrapped with brown sticky packaging tape inside the boot of the vehicle. The 39-year-old driver was asked to account for the parcel, and he informed the police that he had been requested to transport it from Johannesburg to Maseru.

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.

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.

It started with a man from Maua Town in Meru County in possession of an extremely rare item and ended a few weeks ago in the Kajiado Town jail. How he found it is a mystery, but the tiny, palm-sized keratin pyramid came from a rhino. The man thought he could make considerable cash from selling this rhino horn, but he needed a buyer. He started asking around in Malili, a town along the Mombasa Road, where he thought he’d fly under the radar. Instead, our informer network was tipped off. He needed to be caught trying to sell the rhino horn to be arrested, but there were no takers…

Insiders describe why, and how, rangers sworn to protect wildlife collude with poaching syndicates slaughtering rhinos. Tulani Ngwenya investigates On guard: Former ranger trainer Hendrick Sithembiso carves through dry wood with twin tactical knives, demonstrating 'bushcraft' to students during an advanced training programme in Kruger in 2024.

Black rhinos have increased to 6,788 from the last count of 6,195 in 2022. The number of Indonesia's Javan rhinos has dropped due to poaching. By the end of 2024, the number of white rhinos in Africa dropped to 15,752, down from 17,464 in 2023. Greater one-horned rhinos have been making use of improved habitats and wildlife corridors, and their numbers have increased to 4,075 from 4,014 in 2022.

Kruger National Park, South Africa: When Singapore airport officials investigated a suspicious shipment of furniture fittings last month, a pungent smell led them to something far more sinister. Inside the cargo from South Africa were 20 rhino horns weighing 35.7kg and worth around S$1.13 million (US$870,000), along with 150kg of other animal parts including bones, teeth and claws.

INTERPOL recently executed the largest-ever edition of its annual series of coordinated of raids to dismantle criminal shipments and networks of trafficked and poached wildlife. Called Operation Thunder, some 30,000 live animals were seized in 4,620 raids across 134 countries, 30% more than last year. INTERPOL identified 1,100 suspects and issued 69 notices of criminal activity to participating nations’ police forces. Operation Thunder took place between September 15th and October 15th.