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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 - 20 of 20
Friday, 25 August 2023
2023. Black rhino carcass found at Grootfontein.

Otjiwarongo - A carcass of a female black rhino was discovered with a bullet wound in the stomach, on 18 August 2023 at a waterhole inside a game farm in the Grootfontein district of the Otjozondjupa region.

Thursday, 24 August 2023
David M 2023. Police search for rhino poaching suspects.

A case of hunting of specially protected game without a permit is being investigated by the police in Otjozondjupa after a carcass of a female black Rhinoceros was found at a water hole.

Tuesday, 22 August 2023
Smit E 2023. FIC vital in fight against organised wildlife crimes.

The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) plays a vital role in countering organised wildlife crime in Namibia. With a renewed spike in rhino poaching in 2022, the FIC's role underlines the extent to which rhino poaching is driven by organised criminal gangs and the extensive criminal networks that facilitate horn trafficking. This is according to the National Namibia Wildlife Protection Report for 2022, which found that poaching and trafficking of live plants also appear to be coordinated via well-organised online platforms…

Friday, 11 August 2023
2023. South Africa's winning formula to rhino poaching.

"On August 1, South Africa's Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment released an update that rhinoceros (rhino) poaching dropped 11% in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year. Between 1 January and 30 June 2023, poaching trends also continued to show a move away from the Kruger National Park to provincial and private reserves," the report stated.

Friday, 4 August 2023
2023. East Rand man arrested with rhino horn worth R170,000; three more arrested in North West for rhino horn theft.

A man was arrested in the East Rand after being found in possession of a rhino horn worth an estimated R170,000. The Hawks, working in collaboration with the Benoni K9 Unit, stopped a suspicious Toyota Etios during a routine patrol along the R21 highway near Atlas Road. Upon searching the vehicle, officers discovered a 1.6-kilogram rhino horn concealed in a yellow plastic bag under the driver's seat. The driver, identified as 47-year-old Hlulani Baloyi, was arrested on the spot and subsequently appeared in the…

Wednesday, 2 August 2023
Engel K 2023. Parliament hears how 'sophisticated syndicate' stole 51 rhino horns from a state facility.

The head of the North West Parks and Tourism Board has told Parliament that the thieves who stole 51 rhino horns from its guarded facility in June must have had intimate knowledge of its security system.

Wednesday, 2 August 2023
2023. IFP calls for urgent action to curb rhino poaching in KZN, Kruger.

Durban - The IFP in KwaZulu-Natal said it was concerned about the rhino poaching incidents taking place in KZN and the Kruger National Park.

Tuesday, 1 August 2023
Carnie T 2023. More than 60% of rhino killings now in KwaZulu-Natal as poachers shift from 'battered' Kruger Park.

Fifteen years after South Africa was hit by an unprecedented wave of rhino-horn poaching, the slaughter rate remains relentless - with one rhino shot almost every day in KwaZulu-Natal, the historic heartland of global rhino conservation. More than 60% of the rhinos killed in South Africa so far in 2023 drew their last breaths in KwaZulu-Natal as poachers continue to shift more of their deadly firepower and axes to the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, one of the world’s last strongholds of wild rhino conservation. Latest poaching …

Tuesday, 1 August 2023
2023. Kruger Park records 'steady decline' in rhino poaching.

Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy briefs media regarding the Rhino situation in the parks of South Africa at SANPARKS head office in Pretori, 1 August 2023. The government said on Tuesday its world-famous Kruger park had witnessed a steady decline in rhino killings as better patrols and the onslaught it suffered in recent years pushed poachers elsewhere. The government said 42 of the park's rhinos were killed for their horns from January to June this year, almost half the numbers poached in…

Tuesday, 1 August 2023
Magubane P 2023. 231 rhinos killed in South Africa since January.

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment says 231 rhinos have been killed thus far this year in South Africa. This figure is from 1 January to 30 June 2023.

Tuesday, 31 March 2020
2020. Twee mans probeer glo renoster stroop.

Twee Namibiese mans wat na bewering 'n renoster probeer stroop het, is verlede Woensdag met 'n jaggeweer en ammunisie in hegtenis geneem. Volgens die weeklikse wildmisdaadverslag van die Namibiese polisie se eenheid vir beskermde hulpbronne en die ministerie van die omgewing, bosbou en toerisme se intelligensie- en ondersoekeenheid, is mnre. Mbakondja Tjatindi en Matias Kaurikengererua by Oshakati in hegtenis geneem.

Monday, 30 March 2020
2020. Twee vermeende renosterstropers vas.

Twee verdagtes wat glo 'n renoster in die Etosha Nasionale Park gestroop het, is vasgetrek. Die woordvoerder van die ministerie van die omgewing, bosbou en toerisme, mnr. Romeo Muyunda, het vanoggend aan Republikein bevestig dat twee vermeende renosterstropers die naweek in hegtenis geneem is.

Two suspects who allegedly poached a rhino in Etosha National Park were arrested. The spokesman for the Ministry of the Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Mr. Romeo Muyunda confirmed to Republikein this morning that two suspected rhino poachers were arrested over the…

Monday, 30 March 2020
Namibia loses 9 rhinos, 1 elephant to poaching since January.

Namibia has lost nine rhinos and one elephant to poaching since the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism said Monday. Ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said poaching took place inside private owned farms and the country's national parks, with the latest incident taking place last Friday when one elephant was poached. Two suspects have since been arrested.

Friday, 27 March 2020
Uupindi K 2020. Sixteen arrested for poaching.

The Namibia Police Force arrested and charged 16 suspects on charges of rhino or elephant poaching and conspiracy of elephant poaching last week. Police also confiscated five firearms, rounds of ammunitions and a motor vehicle. Among other items which were recovered during the anti-poaching operation  are;  varied wild life products  such as  four elephant tusks, a pangolin skin , two duiker carcasses, one waterbuck carcass and one warthog carcass.

Monday, 23 March 2020
Amukeshe L 2020. Namibia launches new N$30 note.

On the flip side, among other features is the black rhino which faces extinction. Namibia is one of the vestiges of the black rhino, one of the world's most endangered animal species.

Thursday, 19 March 2020
2020. Naturschutzunion: Population des Spitzmaulnashorns erholt sich Wilderei und illegaler Handel setzen Nashörnern in Afrika weiter zu. Aber es gibt einen Lichtblick.

Die Population des Spitzmaulnashorns in Afrika hat sich nach den dramatischen Einbrüchen seit den 70er Ja Zahl der Tiere in der Wildnis von geschätzten 4845 auf 5630 Exemplare, wie die Weltnaturschutzunion (IUCN) am Donner (Diceros bicornis) vom Aussterben bedroht.

Thursday, 19 March 2020
Netsianda M 2020. Three suspected rhino poachers found with pesticide denied bail.

Three suspected rhino poachers who allegedly strayed into Bubye Conservancy in Mazunga area in Beitbridge district, where they intended to poison wildlife were on Thursday denied bail by the High Court.

Thursday, 19 March 2020
Denker H 2020. Rhino poaching and the inside job.

The term 'poacher' is often used for anyone involved in wildlife crime. In reality, wildlife crime functions through a complex web of criminals, where the poachers – the people carrying out the illegal killing of an animal to initiate the trade in its parts – are at the lowest level.

Friday, 13 March 2020
Maclennan S 2020. Poaching trial to resume in May.

The trial of six men facing rhino-poaching charges continued in the Grahamstown High Court this week. East London residents Francis Chitiyo, Trymore Chauke, Misheck Chauke, Simba Masinge and Nhamo Muyambo, and  Abraham Moyane were arrested in July 2018 during Operation Full Moon – the Eastern Cape Rhino Task Team’s code name for its anti-poaching operations. All six have since been in custody. They are accused on four counts.

Monday, 9 March 2020
2020. Rhino Conservation Botswana: Media Release: Rhino poaching in Botswana .

Despite significant anti-poaching efforts, the rhino poaching onslaught continues unabated in Botswana with 47 rhinos lost to poachers over the last 12 months. This has devastated Botswana’s rhino populations and significantly set back the work of Rhino Conservation Botswana. For the past two decades we have worked with the Government of Botswana and private sector partners to bring rhinos from high poaching areas in South Africa and Zimbabwe into Botswana’s Okavango Delta.

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