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Building on last year's donation of four Bat Hawk surveillance aircraft to South African National Parks (SANParks) to aid surveillance, conservation and anti-poaching efforts in the Kruger National Park, Anglo American Platinum this morning donated another Bat Hawk that will be going to SANParks' Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape. In addition, a Bat Hawk aircraft will be donated to Mapungubwe National Park, which is located on the border of South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

The Limpopo endangered species unit arrested three suspects after were allegedly found in possession of a pangolin in Bochum n Sunday. They were charged with wildlife trafficking and contravening the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, Members of the unit, acting on a tip-off arrested the three suspects who were trying to sell the pangolin.

Two former government officials have been sentenced for corruption and money laundering linked to the abalone trade, the Hawks confirmed on Saturday. The officials, Winston Mervin Busch and Nomvuyo Concellia Motloung, were among a group of 18 suspects arrested in a 2018 swoop on an abalone syndicate operating in the Western Cape. The group comprised several marine inspectors from the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, as well as several members of an abalone poaching syndicate, the Hawks said. Twelve of the group have now been sentenced.

A zebra was allegedly killed by a poacher at the Lion Park, outside Pietermaritzburg on Thursday evening. According to a statement by the Mi7 National Group, they received information at around 7 pm from a community member who reported having witnessed a zebra being poached and skinned in the park.

In a bid to strengthen safety and curb poaching in the country's national parks, SANParks, has added a small surveillance aircraft to its anti-poaching arsenal at the Addo Elephant Park in the Eastern Cape. The aircraft was donated by mining giant Anglo American Platinum. The park says the small aircraft will be used to curb poaching and maintain biodiversity. A Senior Section Ranger at Addo Elephant National Park, Anban Padayachee, says hunting and abalone poaching is very rife in the park.

Police Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga has called for the establishment of a database of all trespassers in national parks and nature reserves to establish whether there are links with poachers and possible buyers of rhino horns and elephant tusks. Ndeitunga made these remarks at the Etosha National Park while addressing Heads of Criminal Investigation, Operations, Special Branch and Special Field Force Directorates as well as regional commanders from the Oshana, Oshikoto, Omusati, Kunene and Otjozondjupa regions.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism has announced that 31 rhino carcasses have been found since April 8. In a statement issued over the weekend, Permanent Secretary Simeon Negumbo said the illegal hunting of rhino in Namibia must be brought under control rapidly. Negumbo said an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the deaths, as some carcasses were old and still had their horns.

The threat looming over Namibia's rhinoceros population is even bigger than previously thought, with 38 rhino carcasses having been discovered in the Etosha National Park so far this year. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism announced in a media statement on Friday that another 31 rhino carcasses have been found in the Etosha National Park since 8 April.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) said on Friday that a total of 31 rhino carcasses were discovered in the Etosha National Park during the course of last week. Most of the carcasses were found in the western part of Etosha.

An independent investigator found no evidence of suspicions of any of the Save the Rhino Trust Namibia (SRT) staff being involved in poaching, according to an official SRT statement released on Wednesday. Last December the SRT launched an internal investigation in response to newspaper reports that alleged that its staff was involved in rhino poaching in the Kunene region.

Suspicious accounts amounting to N$329 million were halted by the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) last year in the ongoing battle against money laundering. The possible offences that were identified during the analyses of the reports included corruption, fraud, tax evasion, contravention of exchange control regulations, rhino poaching, theft, diamond smuggling, illegal scams and illegal casino gambling.

Namibia continues losing rhinoceroses and elephants to the greed of poachers, with seven carcasses of poached rhinos having been discovered in the Etosha National Park so far this year. The discovery of the carcasses of seven poached rhinos in the Etosha National Park since the start of this year brings the number of rhinos killed by poachers in Namibia's premier wildlife refuge since October last year up to 11, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Simeon Negumbo, announced in a media statement on Friday.

The escalation of rhino and elephant poaching in Namibia continues unabated, with yet another case reported at the weekend. This follows the discovery of an elephant carcass in a village located in the Bwabwata National Park in the Kavango East Region.

While several new cases of rhino poaching have been discovered in Namibia the new Minister of Environment and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta, says he will not tolerate complacency from staff members, especially in areas where repeated poaching is happening. Five rhino carcases were discovered about two weeks ago during a rhino dehorning exercise in the Kunene Region. Four of these rhinos had been poached, the ministry confirmed. The rhinos were presumably shot last year already and the carcasses were found in the area of Omatendeka.