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Minister of Environment Barbara Creecy today released the latest rhino poaching statistics for South Africa, whilst also paying tribute to SANParks' rangers, including those rangers who tragically died over the past year. Minister of Environment Barbara Creecy today released the latest rhino poaching statistics for South Africa, whilst also paying tribute to SANParks’ rangers, including those rangers who tragically died over the past year.

There was a 50% increase in the number of rhinoceroses killed in the first six months of 2021 in South Africa compared to the same period last year, but the figure is still lower than pre-pandemic years, the country's government announced Saturday. Barbara Creecy, the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, said 249 rhinos have been poached for their horns from Jan. 1 through the end of June. That's up from the 166 poached in the same time period in 2020, but still a marked decline from 2019, which saw 318 rhino poaching.

Prophet Jackson Babi has been remanded in custody again after High Court Judge Harald January dismissed his bail appeal. The judge did not make available the full judgment, saying it will only be available later after it has been edited. Babi has been in custody since last year after he was arrested on poaching charges.

Judgement in the matter where Prophet Jackson Babi is appealing a decision that denied him bail will be handed own later this week. Babi is appealing a judgment handed down by a magistrate in the lower court.

SANParks and security partners in the Greater Kruger Region are jointly implementing a range of interventions as part of an integrated wildlife management approach to counter the effects of wildlife crime, in particular rhino poaching.

Namibia has lost nine rhinos to poaching in various national parks this year, according to the environment ministry. The statistics show three black, and six white rhinos were poached this year alone. The three black rhinos were killed in the Etosha National Park, while six rhinos were poached for their horns at private-owned white rhino reserves. Environment spokesperson Romeo Muyunda also issued national elephant poaching statistics per year from 2014 to 2021.

This year to date only four elephants have been poached in comparison to the 12 elephants that were poached last year. In 2014, when poaching started to increase in Namibia, 78 elephants were killed, peaking at 101 poached elephants in 2016.

Environment Ministry press secretary Romeo Muyunda announced the latest rhino and ivory poaching figures yesterday. According to this, the safety of the animals has improved somewhat over the past few years.

Rhino and elephant poaching has declined significantly this year in Namibia, home to the only free-roaming black rhinos left in the world, government data showed on Monday. Nine rhinos have been illegally killed by hunters so far in 2021, the lowest number in eight years for the period, according to the figures from the ministry of environment and tourism. Four elephants have been killed this way, a five-year low

Poaching has risen sharply in the recent years across Africa, fueled by rising demand in Asia for ivory and rhino horns, coveted as traditional medicine and a status symbol and acquisition and adaptation of advanced technologies in the fight against poachers is not yielding the desired results.

The men were arrested on Wednesday afternoon for the illegal possession of 19 rhino horns.

Twee mense is op Katima Mulilo en Kahenge met altesaam sewe olifanttande in hul besit betrap, terwyl nog twee mense gevang is toe hulle onderskeidelik luislangvelle en krokodilvelle van die hand wou sit.

Two people were caught on Katima Mulilo and Kahenge with a total of seven elephant tusks in their possession, while two more people were caught trying to dispose of python skins and crocodile skins respectively.

A local game breeder has earlier today been charged with the illegal possession and the selling of rhino horns after a combined intelligence operation involving several law enforcement units.

Two suspects, aged 19 and 48, who were found allegedly in possession of 19 rhino horns, are expected to appear at the Nelspruit Magistrate’s court in Mpumalanga, on Thursday. The horns are estimated to have a value of R2.6 million.

The two men who were arrested for the illegal possession and selling of rhino horns on Wednesday, appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Thursday afternoon. They are Schalk Abraham Steyn (48), better known to Lowvelders as AB, and Limpopo game farmer, Dawid Groenewald (52).

A bail appeal by three men accused of smuggling rhino horns failed in the Oshakati High Court when acting Judge David Munsu dismissed their appeal against the refusal of bail, by the Opuwo magistrate's court.

Last Monday, four men with nose horns were arrested in their car between Kamanjab and Opuwo. The Namibian Police (Nampol) issued a statement yesterday afternoon that the four suspects on the C35 were stopped at 3 p.m. at a roadblock with four rhino horns. The value of the horns has not yet been disclosed. The men are between 20 and 46 years old and the police investigation has yet to clarify where the nasal horns came from. 

Four people were arrested in the Kamanjab area after they were found with rhino horns.

A former Brave Warriors chiropractor, who was later charged with murder as well as poaching, has died in custody. Kandjii was being held in custody with two others suspected of killing two adult white rhinos on the farm Khainas near Gobabis in December 2016. They have also been accused of wounding two more rhinos

Vier mans tussen 20 en 46 jaar is in hegtenis geneem nadat die polisie Maandag op vier renosterhorings beslag gelê het toe 'n minibus onderweg na Opuwo by 'n padblokkade deursoek is. Die minibus is kort ná drieuur die middag by 'n padblokkade op die Kamanjab-Werda-pad afgetrek. Die polisie sê in 'n misdaadverslag vier mans is vir die besit van beheerde wildprodukte in hegtenis geneem. Die oorsprong van die renosterhorings en die waarde daarvan is nog nie bekend nie. Die polisie se ondersoek na die voorval duur voort.

The Protected Resources Sub Division of the Namibian Police has launched an investigation into the origin of four rhino horns found in possession of four suspects during an impromptu roadblock in the Kunene Region. According to a success report provided by NamPol’s Public Relations Division, the four men were travelling in a minibus taxi from Kamanjab to Opuwo when they were found in possession of four horns wrapped in tinfoil.

Customs officers of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) seized 32 pieces of rhino horn, weighing 160kg, at a cargo transit shed at the OR Tambo International Airport on Saturday, 17 July.

They were bust with about R500,000 worth of rhino horn. The regional court in Gqeberha sentenced Jonathan Jeremy Perring, 37, Keanon Terblanche, 28, and Christo Shaun Swartz, 30, on Thursday.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), most of the poachers come from poor communities and are just looking for food. Such ones use snares, wire traps, poisoned watermelons or nails to catch elephants, and spears as weapons to kill the trapped animals.

In Namibia ging die Zahl der Wildtierverbrechen im vergangenen Jahr laut dem Umweltministerium leicht zurück. Dennoch bleibt dies weltweit ein Problem mit schwerwiegenden finanziellen Konsequenzen, so der jährliche Bericht des Internationalen Konsortiums zur Bekämpfung der Wildtierkriminalität (ICCWC).

Die Namibiese polisie het verlede week op vyf olifanttande en een elk renosterhoring, ietermagôvel en ‘n voertuig beslag gelê.

Last week, Namibian police seized five elephant tusks and one rhinoceros horn, a pangolin skin and a vehicle.

Der Prozess gegen den der Nashorn-Wilderei beschuldigten Prediger Jackson Babi und dessen mutmaßlichen Komplizen Friza Dumeni, hat gestern eine Wendung genommen, als die Staatsanwaltschaft auch gegen einen Anhänger des selbsternannten Propheten formal Anklage erhoben hat.

The trial of preacher Jackson Babi, accused of poaching rhino and his alleged accomplice Friza Dumeni, took a turn yesterday when the prosecution also formally charged a supporter of the self-proclaimed prophet.

An attempt by Prophet Jackson Babi to bribe the detective investigating poaching charges against him to bear false testimony in court during his formal bail application, has caused the man of God to sink deeper into legal trouble. Besides an amount of N$13 000 in cash police officers searching the cells during the past weekend also found two mobile phones in the possession of the accused persons while they were incarcerated at the Windhoek Police Station which added even more charges to the accused persons’ charge sheets.

Die vermeende renosterstroper, pastoor Jackson Babi en een van sy kerkvolgelinge, mnr. Ananias Ananias, het vandag in die Windhoek-landdroshof op twee klagte van die oortreding van die teenkorrupsiewet verskyn. 

The alleged rhino poacher, pastor Jackson Babi and one of his church followers, Mr. Ananias Ananias, appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court today on two charges of violating the anti-corruption law.

While only two new cases of wildlife crimes were reported recently, eight suspects were arrested and charged. At Katima Mulilo, Roster Mazila Mukendwa was arrested on 14 June for the illegal hunting of protected game. He was found in possession of a duiker carcass and charged with contravening the Nature Conservation Ordinance Act. In a separate incident, Gerhard Iyambo was arrested on 17 June at Okahao in connection with an old case, dating back to February, regarding conspiring to hunt a rhino. 

A ministerial panel is reviewing policies on international trade in rhino products. Any move to legalise this trade would be a disaster - for the remaining population of wild rhinos, for South Africa's tourism and for
impoverished people living near our wildlife reserves.

The Rhino Files are periodic articles exploring the complexity of rhino conservation in Namibia.

The regulatory measures apply to all sub-species of black rhino found in South Africa, including the Eastern black rhino, and the white rhino.

Botswana began removing the horns from its rhinos and moving them away from the iconic Okavango Delta as an unprecedented poaching crisis threatens their survival in the country. The government said that at least 56 of the animals had been killed by poachers in the past two years, marking the worst onslaught since Botswana’s black rhino population was wiped out in 1992 and the number of white rhinos dropped to just 27.

Umweltministerium setzt auf Nachhaltigkeit und bekämpft erfolgreich die Wilderei. Obwohl der Sektor als maßgebliches Wirtschaftsstandbein gehandelt wird, steht das Ministerium für Umwelt, Forstwirtschaft und Tourismus mit seinem Ausgabenplan im namibischen Haushalt für 2020-21 gerade Mal an 16. Stelle von insgesamt 33 Ausgabenposten. Der Minister verlässt sich indessen auf viel Hilfe aus Deutschland und von weiteren Entwicklungspartnern.

Lubango, Angola, June 16 (Xinhua) - Two men have been arrested on Tuesday by the National Police of Angola while they were heading towards the central Huila province with 28 kg of ivory.

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism has allocated 36% of its budget to wildlife and protected area management. This was announced by minister of environment, forestry and tourism Pohamba Shifeta during his budget motivation in the National Assembly on Thursday.

Botswana's Wildlife Department had embarked on an operation to relocate and dehorn all rhinos to tackle poaching in the country. According to a statement issued by the department on Monday, the Okavango Delta rhino population had been hard hit with 56 animals reported poached as of May 4.

Namibia has managed to arrest more than 1,790 suspected poachers of high valued and iconic species such as rhino and elephant at the end of 2018 up to May 2020, an official said this week.

The Chinese Academy of Engineering claims that the 'legal' wildlife industry is valued at $74 billion. South Africa is the largest exporter of live wild animals to Asia. At least 5 035 live wild animals were exported from South Africa to China between 2016 and 2019, according to The Breaking Point report published by the EMS Foundation and Ban Animal Trading (BAT).

A rhino horn, two elephant tusks, a pangolin skin and a crocodile skin were seized by the police last week. Thirteen suspects were arrested in connection with rhino poaching or trafficking and two for elephant poaching or trafficking. Five wildlife products were seized: a rhino horn, two elephant tusks, a pangolin skin and a crocodile skin.

The police suspect that two rhino horns, allegedly found at the Windhoek house of religious preacher Jackson Babi, had been kept in a refrigerator before Babi handed the horns and a firearm over to a police officer two weeks ago.

Pastoor Jackson Babi (30) van die House of Joy Ministries het Maandag in die landdroshof op Gobabis op nóg 'n klag van renosterstropery verskyn. Dit volg nadat die selfverklaarde profeet verbind word met 'n sindikaat van minstens agt beskuldigdes wat glo verantwoordelik is vir die stropery van vier renosters op twee verskillende plase in die Gobabis-distrik.

Der selbsternannte Prophet Jackson Babi, der des illegalen Besitzes von zwei Rhinozeros-Hörner angeklagt ist, wird bis auf weiteres in Haft bleiben, nachdem sein Prozess gestern am Magistratsgericht in Gobabis auf den 15. September vertagt wurde.

Self-proclaimed prophet Jackson Babi, who is accused of illegally possessing two rhinoceros horns, will remain in custody until his trial commences at the Gobabis magistrate's court on September 15.

An urgent application by self-proclaimed prophet Jackson Babi to, amongst others, review and set aside his arrest in connection with rhino poaching was withdrawn yesterday. The High Court application was filed by his lawyer Kadhila Amoomo on 4 June. However, Magistrate Linus Samunzala last week ordered Babi to be transferred to the Gobabis Magistrate's Court to appear on a charge of hunting specially protected game.

Flamboyant preacher Jackson Babi yesterday withdrew an urgent application that his lawyer Kadhila Amoomo had filed in the High Court last week to have his arrest and the search at his house declared as unlawful. 
Just as Judge Harald Geier was ready to hear evidence, Amoomo filed the request to withdraw the matter and offered costs to the lawyers of the prosecutor general, the inspector general of the Namibian Police and the magistrate of the district of Gobabis, who had indicated that they would oppose the application. 

Serious crimes are being committed in Namibia - crimes against our precious wildlife, our natural heritage and, ultimately, our people. The criminal syndicates behind poaching are highly organised, professional and very clever. They are growing rich by stealing Namibia’s natural heritage, using poor Namibians to do their dirty work for them in return for less than 10% of the product’s market value. Those poaching on the ground thus bear all the risks associated with illegal activities, yet see precious little of the profit.

Ten wildlife products were seized, which included six rhino horns, two elephant tusks and two giraffe carcasses. A total of seven new wildlife crimes were reported recently, while 16 suspects were arrested. Eleven of the suspects were arrested in connection with rhino poaching and/or trafficking cases, while two others were arrested for elephant poaching and/or trafficking.

Religious preacher Jackson Babi, who is facing criminal charges after rhino horns were allegedly discovered in his house in Windhoek, is claiming the police's search of his home and also his second arrest last week were unlawful.

According to a police report compiled after his death, Brighton Munkombwe, 30, of Douglasdale in Bulawayo, collapsed at the entrance of the police charge offce last Friday. He was arrested after he was found with three kilogrammes of the deadly cyanide granules in a bag when he was cornered by an anti-poaching reaction team of police and rangers. The reaction team had received a tip-off that Munkombwe wanted to buy ivory from some villagers and laid an ambush in Gwayi. Four villagers who Munkombwe was suspected to have been trading with…