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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
Tuesday, 25 January 2022
Kriel H, Pinnock D 2022. Beyond its exceptional beauty, Kruger National Park is on the ropes and hurting.

The Kruger National Park has a major rhino-poaching crisis, but that's just one of many mounting problems - and it's extremely worrying.

Monday, 24 January 2022
2022. Ivory, rhino horns, pangolin and tiger parts seized in transit from Africa to Asia.

Singapore - An eight-week INTERPOL operation against wildlife crime and trafficking resulted in arrests and seizures across Asia and Africa. Codenamed Golden Strike, the operation - which ended late last year - targeted the criminals and networks smuggling wildlife protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) from Africa to Asia.

Thursday, 20 January 2022
2022. Kruger rhino poaching update: 75% population reduction in 10 years.

Despite back-breaking work from a dedicated and passionate SANParks team, Kruger National Park rhino populations have continued to plummet - as per the latest population count from 2020. Recently published research estimates that there are about 2,607 white rhinos remaining in the Kruger National Park, while black rhinos are estimated to number just 202. This represents a population decline of 75% for white rhinos since 2011 (from 10,621) and 51% for black rhino since 2013 (from 415).

Wednesday, 19 January 2022
Williams C 2022. Mozambique court sentences poaching boss to 30 years.

A court in Mozambique has sentenced the leader of a poaching gang to 30 years in prison on Wednesday. The man was convicted of the crimes of poaching, illegal possession of weapons and association to commit offences, the ministry said in a statement, noting that he had also been sentenced to pay a fine of 1 percent of minimum wage for 28 years, news website Club of Mozambique wrote. The accused was arrested on May 3, 2021, "when he was returning from an attempt to hunt rhinoceros for the second time illegally", authorities said.

Tuesday, 11 January 2022
2022. Wildlife vet says it's rhino "murder" not poaching.

Rhino poaching in South Africa is at a critical level despite a "deafening" silence from official government communications and mainstream media, one of southern Africa’s most dedicated and respected wildlife vets Dr Dave Cooper maintains. Referring to the violent killing of rhino as "murders" rather than the mild, mundane "poaching", he issued a massive cry for action before it's too late, begging the world to wake up, see and stop what is happening in South Africa, according to Rhino Review. His plea comes days after witnessing possibly the "worst…

Wednesday, 25 November 2020
Ngema T 2020. Poachers evade KZN park's high-tech security and kill four rhinos for their horns.

The artificial intelligence (AI) cameras installed in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park failed to detect poachers after four dehorned rhinos were found last week. The carcasses were found on different days and appeared to have been killed a few days earlier.

Tuesday, 24 November 2020
2020. South Africa - Kruger rhino dehorned to keep poachers at bay.

As part of its many anti-poaching efforts, the Kruger National Park (KNP) dehorns some of its rhinos to make them a less attractive trophy for poachers.

Sunday, 22 November 2020
Phong H 2020. Man gets 6 years for smuggling rhino horns from Mozambique.

A HCMC court Friday sentenced a man to six years in jail for illegally transporting rhino horns weighing over six kilograms from Mozambique.

Tuesday, 17 November 2020
Amakali M 2020. Preacher takes bail fight to High Court.

Self-proclaimed prophet Jackson Babi has approached the High Court to appeal against a decision by the Windhoek Magistrate's Court to deny him bail. The flamboyant Babi claims magistrate Linus Samunzala misdirected himself in law and fact when he denied him bail. In September, the lower court refused to release Babi on bail, citing he failed to give convincing evidence to be released pending his trial. The court also ruled there was a likelihood Babi would interfere with the investigations.

Sunday, 15 November 2020
2020. Uganda's rhino population grows after years of extinction.

The rhino population at Uganda's Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary has been growing steadily, from nearly extinction in the 1970s to 32 at present, due to increased security and protection.

Friday, 13 November 2020
Nakale A 2020. K9 unit helps sniff out poachers.

Etosha - Although poaching of endangered species such as rhino and elephant have been reported to be minimal in the Etosha National Park, environment minister Pohamba Shifeta has called on law enforcement officials to do ballistic testing among communities adjacent to the park. Shifeta made the call Wednesday when he was briefed on the security situation cluster on antipoaching operation 'Yes Ongava' phase 18 in the Etosha National Park.

Friday, 13 November 2020
Leuschner E 2020. Beritten gegen die Wilderei.

Das Ministerium für Umwelt, Forstwirtschaft und Tourismus greift hart und konsequent gegen die Wilderei durch. Im Etoscha-Nationalpark wurde vor einiger Zeit eine spezialisierte Hundeeinheit stationiert, nun soll noch eine berittene Einheit dazukommen. "Der Etoscha-Nationalpark ist Namibias Aushängeschild. Touristen reisen in den Park und wollen die Artenvielfalt bewundern und beobachten - und genau das müssen wir schützen", stellte Umweltminister Pohamba Shifeta am Mittwoch bei Okaukuejo klar.

Friday, 13 November 2020
2020. Mozambique: Vietnamese arrested with rhino horns, lions' teeth and claws.

A Vietnamese woman was arrested at Maputo International Airport on Monday, found in possession of ve pieces of rhino horn and 162 assorted lions' teeth and claws. It can be inferred that three rhinos and 12 lions, both species protected by law, were slaughtered in the amassing of the haul.

Thursday, 12 November 2020
Atieno W 2020. Kenya: Rhino numbers go up as efforts to fight poaching pay off.

Kenya's black rhino population has doubled from less than 400 in 1985 to 794 by the end of 2019. Kenya is home to the last remaining two Northern White Rhinos in the world. "But, the Northern White Rhinos are endangered. There are only two existing in the world that are only found at the Ol Pejeta conservancy. We are making sure the white rhinos are saved and we produce more. We must protect these animals," said Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala during a webinar commemorating World Rhino Day last month.

Monday, 9 November 2020
Menges W 2020. Preacher denies bribery charge.

An evangelical preacher who has been in jail since May after being arrested over the possession of rhino horns and the poaching of a rhino in the Gobabis district on Friday denied guilt on a charge of bribery in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court.

Thursday, 5 November 2020
Denker H 2020. Conservation in a crisis.

Namibian conservation efforts have faced a number of major crises over the past half century.

Wednesday, 4 November 2020
Pieterse C 2020. Alleged rhino poachers granted bail.

The three Kruger National Park employees who were arrested for possession of rhino horns were granted bail in the Bushbuckridge Magistrate's Court last Thursday.

Tuesday, 3 November 2020
2020. Independence anniversary note grows unexpected windfall for rhino conservation.

The Thirty Namibia Dollar banknote that was issued by the Bank of Namibia during the lockdown to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Independence, has proven so popular with collectors that a recent auction of only a few notes garnered proceeds of N$480,000.

Tuesday, 3 November 2020
2020. Knapp eine halbe Million für den Artenschutz.

Die Bank of Namibia (BoN) hat gestern dem Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) eine Spende in Höhe von 480000 N$ übergeben. "Das Nashorn ist eins der schönsten prähistorischen Tiere auf der Erde, jedoch ist es auf dem Weg der Ausrottung aufgrund des unverantwortlichen Verhaltens von Menschen" so der stellvertretende BoN-Gouverneur, Ebson Uanguta (r).

Tuesday, 3 November 2020
2020. Support for SRT.

The Bank of Namibia (BoN) joined the fight to preserve Namibian rhinos by supporting the Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) Namibia through a donation of N$480 000.

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