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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.

Displaying results 1 - 10 of 10
Monday, 16 December 2024
2025. Community trusts in global mafia network.

A number of Botswana Community Trusts are unwittingly part of a huge international wildlife criminal network - Sunday Standard investigations have revealed. Documents passed to the Sunday Standard have revealed how the trusts are used as "grey" nodes (legal players who participate in illegal activities) in criminal hunting schemes by the international wildlife mafia.

Wednesday, 4 December 2024
Menges W 2024. Ex-cop arrested for poaching loses appeal about dismissal.

A fromer police officer who was kicked out of the Namibian Police after being arrested on rhino-poaching and firearms charges has lost a Supreme Court appeal about his dismissal. Former detective inspector Wersimus Haipa’s appeal to the Supreme Court was dismissed in a judgement delivered on Friday. Haipa appealed against a High Court judgement in which an application by him to have his discharge from the police reviewed and set aside was dismissed in May this year.

Tuesday, 3 December 2024
Pinnock D 2024. Controversial tin mine in Namibia imperils conservation of endangered black rhino.

The blurb for an editorial in The Namibian newspaper on 9 November read: "From Kavango to Kunene, down south across the breadth and width of Namibia, the scramble for the country’s mineral, oil and energy sources is in overdrive." The article ended: "Government officials have turned Namibia into an unsustainable El Dorado with a vicious cycle of short-term searches for riches dishing out mining exploration licences to a select few." As you read this, graders, excavators and tipper trucks are hacking a road through three conservancies famous for their conservation of endangered,…

Monday, 2 December 2024
Schneider V 2024. Namibian conservancies fight to block mining threat to rhinos.

Two Namibian community conservancies and a tourism operator have turned to the courts to block development of a tin mine. The conservancies say the environmental impact assessments for the open-pit mine are flawed and will disturb wildlife, including critically endangered southern black rhinos. In a similiar case in the //Huab Conservancy, a copper mine disturbed wildlife in the area, forcing rhino-based tourism to shut down.

Saturday, 29 March 2014
Smit E 2014. Rhino recaptured after accident escape.

A team has recovered the last of the four rhino that escaped from a truck that overturned in the //Karas Region this past Saturday The truck was transporting five rhino from South Africa to Namibia, destined for a farm near Outjo. According to Deputy Commissioner Johannes Tsuseb, the truck overturned at 06:50 on Saturday about 60 km from Keetmanshoop to Tses. He said the right front wheel of the truck had burst. The driver then lost control, because he could not handle the heavy load.

Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Menges W 2014. Chinese men charged with rhino horn smuggling.

Three Chinese men appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court yesterday in connection with the discovery of 14 rhino horns in luggage at the Hosea Kutako International Airport on Monday.

Wednesday, 26 March 2014
2014. No bail for Chinese rhino horn suspects.

The three Chinese nationals who were arrested at the Hosea Kutako National Airport for trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns out of the country have been refused bail. The Chinese men appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court just before 17:00 on Tuesday. One of the men claimed that he had nothing to do with the crime and should be allowed out on bail. Li Xiaoliang, Li Zhibing and Pu Xuexin are charged with the possession and export of controlled wildlife products. The three were caught at the Hosea Kutako Airport on Monday morning with 14 rhino horns and a leopard skin in their…

Wednesday, 26 March 2014
2014. No bail for Chinese rhino horn suspects.

The three Chinese nationals who were arrested at the Hosea Kutako National Airport for trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns out of the country have been refused bail. The Chinese men appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court just before 17:00 on Tuesday. One of the men claimed that he had nothing to do with the crime and should be allowed out on bail. Li Xiaoliang, Li Zhibing and Pu Xuexin are charged with the possession and export of controlled wildlife products. The three were caught at the Hosea Kutako Airport on Monday morning with 14 rhino horns and a leopard skin in their…

Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Menges W 2014. Chinese men charged with rhino horn smuggling.

Three Chinese men appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court yesterday in connection with the discovery of 14 rhino horns in luggage at the Hosea Kutako International Airport on Monday.

Monday, 24 March 2014
2014. Chinese arrested for rhino horns.

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