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The Chinese national who was arrested last month at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg after being caught with 18 rhino horns in his luggage has been denied bail. Ye Zhiwei, 28, appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrate''s Court in South Africa on Tuesday on a charge of dealing in rhino horn under the Endangered Spices Act. South African Hawks spokesperson Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu confirmed to Namibian Sun that Ye was denied bail and that his case was postponed to 17 January for disclosure of evidence and for further investigation.

South African police raided an illegal Vietnamese lion and tiger bone syndicate operating in the North West at the weekend, after at least 40 lions were reportedly killed at a lion farm near Klerksdorp. According to Hawks spokesperson captain Tlangelani Rikhotso, six foreigners and two South African men were nabbed in the multi-disciplinary operation conducted by members of the Potchefstroom Crime Intelligence unit, the Hawks and the Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp flying squads units.

FOUR Chinese nationals serving a 14-year jail term have approached the high court this week to appeal the sentence as it was "too severe", according to their lawyers. Wang Hui, 43, Li Zhibing, 57, Pu Xuexin, 53 and Li Xiaoliang, 34 tried to smuggle 14 rhino horns and a leopard skin out of Namibia in 2014. How they managed to get through security detection machines at the Hosea Kutako International Airport is to date a mystery.

A new project was launched last week that will assist Namibia in its efforts to fight wildlife crime. The International Consortium on Combatting Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit was launched by environment minister Pohamba Shifeta last week at a workshop organised by the Anti-Corruption Commission. The project provides the technical resources to assist governments in conducting a comprehensive analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of a country's response to wildlife crime.

If rhino owners are not allowed to harvest and legally sell horns, poachers will kill every last rhino in Namibia. This is according to environment minister Pohamba Shifeta, who was speaking last week at a meeting where the poaching situation in the country was discussed. Shifeta said the price of a rhino horn has skyrocketed and is currently about N$900 000 per kilogram. "It is going up every day." He said if rhino range countries could sell rhino horns, the price will go down because the demand would still be there.

A reward of N$30 000 is being offered for information that would lead to the arrest and prosecution of the people responsible for the poaching of a rhinoceros in Namibia's premier wildlife sanctuary, the Etosha National Park, about a week ago.

A black rhino has been killed and dehorned in the Etosha National Park, the first confirmed poaching incident in a national park this year. Minister of Environment and Tourism, Uahekua Herunga, yesterday confirmed that the carcass was found with 10 gunshot wounds and that the horn was removed. He said the ministry was alerted on Tuesday and currently there is not much information, as investigations are still ongoing at the scene. The rhino carcass was discovered in the southwest part of Etosha on Tuesday with its horn hacked off.

A Windhoek magistrate yesterday warned the prosecution not to paint a picture of laxity in the country's courtrooms and to expedite matters in courts. Magistrate Johannes Shuuveni was speaking at the Windhoek Magistrate's Court in Katutura when the State asked for another postponement in the case of three Chinese men accused of trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns worth more than N$2 million out of Namibia.

The Land of the Brave has been named the second best destination to visit in the world in 2015 by the prominent global travel company, Lonely Planet. Singapore was announced the world's number one country to travel to next year. Lonely Planet made specific mention that Namibia is celebrating 25 years of independence next year and the country has made groundbreaking progress in sustainable development. According to the travel company, Namibia was the first African country to include protection of its environment in its constitution. Namibia empowers local communities to contribute…

Cabinet has approved the Ministry of Environment and Tourism's proposal to de-horn rhinos in Namibia.

The three Chinese men accused of trying to smuggle two suitcases with rhino horns out of Namibia in March pleaded not guilty to all charges against them during their latest court appearance yesterday.

The three Chinese nationals who stand accused of trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns out of Namibia have pleaded not guilty to all charges. The case has in the meantime been referred to the office of the Prosecutor-General for a decision. Li Xiaoliang, Li Zhibing and Pu Xuexin appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court in Katutura yesterday on charges of possession and export of controlled wildlife products.