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Faced with an increase in cross-border wildlife offences over the past five years, Rwanda has adopted a technical toolkit to assist authorities in the judicial system to handle wildlife and other environmental crimes. Launched in early December 2022, the Rwanda Rapid Reference Guide on Wildlife and Environmental Crimes and Related Administrative Faults will help address the challenges of lack of evidence in prosecuting wildlife crimes, especially those committed in border communities.

The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DFFE) has reported that relentless pressure has forced rhino poachers to abandon parks in 2022.

The police in the Eastern Cape are searching for poachers who shot, killed, and dehorned two rhinos on a safari farm in Paterson on Wednesday evening, 1 February.

Eastern Cape police have arrested two suspects for possession of abalone worth R1.8m in Gqeberha.

Rhinos may look formidable, but their species have declined due to continuous poaching in Nambia and South Africa. Rhinos, mainly the black rhinos, have dealt with population declines due to threats of illegal trade, poaching, habitat loss and infrastructure development. The population of rhinos is critically endangered. Without immediate actions and protection efforts, it would lead to sudden extinction. The economic and political issues in places where Rhinos thrive make it more difficult for conservation efforts.

Two rhinos that survived a poaching attack at Schotia Safaris Private Game Reserve, near Nanaga, nearly 10 years ago were killed by poachers on Thursday. After disabling the pair of male and female white rhinos in the attack, the poachers hacked off their horns with pangas before making their escape.

Two rhinos were brutally shot and killed on a safari farm in Paterson late in the evening on Wednesday, earlier this week in the Sarah Baartman District. The poachers had managed to find a way into the farm before stalking, shooting and killing the adult rhinos, thereafter de-horning both of them. A police report told that the two rhinos, one male and the other female, were last spotted during an afternoon game drive. They were only found dead by game rangers the following afternoon while more tourists came through on another game drive.

A Mozambican man, convicted for poaching, will spend the next 18 years in prison. Santos Baloyi, 31, was arrested after a rhino was killed at Kruger National Park in September. He was also convicted on charges of trespassing, contravention of the Immigration Act, possession of a dangerous weapon.

A South African poaching kingpin linked to the killing of more than 22 rhinos valued at nearly N$22 million was rearrested shortly after a court appearance on earlier poaching charges in which a co-accused has been linked to Namibia. In the latest case, it has emerged that the same tranquilliser was used in a rhino killing spree for which professional hunter and game farmer Hugo Ras and two veterinarians were arrested more than two years ago.

The case against three Chinese nationals - accused of trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns valued at N$2 million out of Namibia - has been postponed for further investigations and the possible adding further charges. Li Xiaoliang, Li Zhibing and Pu Xuexin have been charged with the possession and export of controlled wildlife products, after they were allegedly caught with the 14 rhino horns and a leopard skin in their suitcases at the Hosea Kutako International Airport on March 23.

International policing agency Interpol has joined hands with Namibia in its fight against escalating rhino and elephant poaching, including through teaching advanced crime scene investigation, probing transnational linkages and uncovering who the kingpins of the wild crime syndicates are. In what is a first for Namibia the Interpol Sub-directorate on Environment Crime has stepped in to train Namibian police officers, particularly members of the Protective Resources Unit, and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.

A new front has been opened in the battle against wildlife crime - a WikiLeaks-type website where people can report poaching and other activities to seasoned experts for investigation. The website known as WildLeaks has already received up 50 tip-offs in the last seven months from African countries such as Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Liberia, Malawi and Zambia.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism yesterday confirmed that 33 elephants have been poached in Namibia this year. In the most recent case, two suspects were arrested in the Divundu area of the Kavango East Region on Friday. They were arrested when they tried to sell elephant bone as ivory to unsuspecting people.