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.
When it comes to protecting our rhinos from poachers, there's not a one-size-fits-all solution. There are several ways that national parks, game reserves and organisations are fighting rhino poaching, from fitting rhinos with tracking devices, having anti-poaching units on the ground actively monitoring them, rhino dehorning, education drives, and more. And these do not happen in isolation either, as often a combination of methods are needed to successfully deter poachers. Naturally, all of these hero organisations doing the hard work protecting our rhinos need funds to operate…
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
AFRICA_2022_03_Protecting our rhinos from poachers_Rhino Africa Blog.pdf | 699.37 KB |
Five people found guilty of rhino poaching and related charges were handed down sentences ranging from 16 years to 18 years behind bars.
Corruption is a key enabler of the illegal wildlife trade and its effects can be seen in every stage of this crime chain. This is according to a new report by the wildlife trade monitoring network, TRAFFIC, which said by reviewing past wildlife crime court cases, the relationship between these crimes and corruption can be better understood. It noted that thoroughly investigating corruption in these cases can potentially identify higher-level individuals for investigation, arrest, conviction and appropriate sentencing, disrupting organised criminal groups to a greater extent.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2022_03_Corruption reviewed in wildlife court cases_Namibian Sun.pdf | 562.07 KB |
Aiming an immobilizing dart at a rapidly moving animal while leaning out of an airborne helicopter seems like an absurd undertaking, but this is how wildlife veterinarians are able to sedate a charging rhino. It's hair-raising work, but can save the rhino's life. Once the rhino lies down, the helicopter lands and a team of experts from Mozambique Wildlife Alliance (MWA) race towards the immobilized animal. They gently cover its eyes with a cloth, keeping it calm.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
MOZ_2002_03_Mozambiques new conservation_Wildlife Conservation Network.pdf | 886.33 KB |
Cape Town - Poaching continues to decimate the rhino population with 451 rhinos poached in South Africa last year, 327 of them from government reserves and 124 from private property.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_03_Rhino poaching_the trade and the convictions_IOL.pdf | 382.22 KB |
South African National Parks (SANParks) today, 19 March 2022, welcomed the sentence meted out by the Skukuza Regional Court to a man convicted on 12 counts associated with poaching. The accused, Mike Nyathi, a 39 year old Mozambican man with a South African citizenship, faced 14 charges relating to two separate cases of rhino poaching.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_03_Rhino Poacher in Kruger Park Handed 53 Years Jail Sentence_SAPeople.pdf | 401.03 KB |
Rural communities in the Okavango Delta in Botswana have accused the country's government of not engaging them in efforts to combat rampant poaching in the area. Since 2018, more than 100 rhinos have been gunned down by poachers in the Delta and communities in the region say the situation might have been better had the government engaged them in anti-poaching work.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
BOT_2022_03_Botswana residents want to be included in anti_poaching efforts_The Independent.pdf | 1.72 MB |
Pretoria - Sixty dogs have been dispatched across the Kruger National Park to help curb poaching. The almost 2 million-hectare park has a major problem with poachers targeting rhinos, lions and elephants.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
SA_2022_03_Sixty dogs dispatched across Kruger National Park to help curb poaching_IOL.pdf | 397.74 KB |
Our analysis of wildlife crimes data, supported by numerous interviews, finds evidence of systematic failure by Nigerian law enforcement and the judicial system to hold wildlife poachers and traffickers accountable.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NIG_2022_03_Inside Nigerias shocking wildlife crimes and how culprits escape justice_allafrica_com.pdf | 515.28 KB |
Pretoria - The Tembisa Regional Court has convicted and sentenced 49-year-old Ping Wu to five years direct imprisonment for money laundering. Spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, said in April 2019, the Hawks serious organised crime investigation team based in Middelburg registered an undercover investigation into allegations of illegal trade in rhino horn. "The scope of the project was to address a syndicate in Gauteng who were illegally dealing in rhino horns," said Sekgotodi.
The case involving four Chinese men accused of smuggling 14 rhino horns worth more than N$2 million out of Namibia has been postponed to today. Li Zhibing, Li Xiaoliang and Pu Xuexin were caught with 14 rhino horns worth N$2.3 million as well as a leopard skin worth about N$50 000 in their luggage on March 24 last year at Hosea Kutaku International Airport. Wang Hui was arrested later this year at the Windhoek Country Club and Resort.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2015-07_Chinese rhino horn case postponed_Namibian Sun.pdf | 47.28 KB |
One of the Chinese men accused of trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns out of Namibia in March last year admitted yesterday that he knew he was carrying controlled wildlife products in two suitcases which he was planning to take to China.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2015-07_Chinese man admits smuggling rhino horns_Namibian.pdf | 543.73 KB |
One of the Chinese men arrested for trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns worth more than N$2 million out of Namibia has taken full culpability for the crime, saying his three co-accused knew nothing about it. The trial started yesterday at the Regional Court in Katutura. Li Zhibing pleaded guilty to the unlawful export or attempt to export rhino horns and a leopard skin.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2015-07_Chinese man pleads guilty in rhino horn case_ Namibian Sun.pdf | 93.12 KB |
A 10-month-long investigation by John Grobler uncovers the political and commercial agendas driving the world’s largest black rhino population towards extinction.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
Oxpeckers_Caught in the crossfire_how cattle and Chinese mining interests are killing off Namibia.pdf | 759.26 KB |
The Tourism minister has accused some traditional leaders and businesspeople of being used as middlemen by poaching syndicates.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2015-07_Poaching syndicates use locals_The Namibian.pdf | 687.89 KB |
The police have made significant progress in their investigation of the recently discovered mass killings of rhino in the Etosha National Park. The death toll is expected to rise, if information at the sites of buried carcasses prove to be correct. A large number of suspects have been arrested and the list includes employees within the park. The Oshana police regional commander, Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa, is heading a team of investigators permanently deployed in Etosha since June 1.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NAM_2015-07_Syndicates exposed in Etosha rhino poaching_Namibian Sun.pdf | 84.24 KB |