This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:
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.
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Last year ended with one of the highest rhino poaching figures recorded in almost a decade. A total of 77 rhinos were poached in 2022 compared to 2021 when 45 rhinos were killed for their horns. Last year's figure is the third highest recorded since 2013, only surpassed by the 97 rhinos poached in 2015 and 84 killed by poachers in 2018.
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NAM_2023_01_77 rhinos and 4 elephants poached in 2022_Namibian Sun.pdf | 350.46 KB |
Verlede jaar het geëindig met een van die hoogste renosterstroperysyfers in byna 'n dekade. Altesaam 77 renosters is verlede jaar gestroop - 32 meer as in 2021. Volgens die jongste statistieke wat deur die ministerie van die omgewing, bosbou en toerisme bekend gemaak is, is verlede jaar se syfers die derde hoogste sedert 2013. Die twee hoogste syfers is in 2015 en 2018 aangeteken met onderskeidelik 97 en 84 renosters wat in daardie jare gestroop is.
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NAM_2023_01_77 renosters en 4 olifante in 2022 gestroop_Republikein.pdf | 349.9 KB |
NAM_2023_01_77 rhinos and 4 elephants poached in 2022_Republikein_Eng.pdf | 365.02 KB |
According to media reports, five Germans, two Americans, one Australian and four South Africans came under gunfire attack on a double-decker tour boat on Wednesday, in a broader drama involving the recent slaughter of about 25 elephants from a wandering herd. The tourists were attacked shortly after 10.30am on the eastern shores of the Jozini/Pongolapoort Dam on the southern border between SA and eSwatini.
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SA_2023_01_Jozini Dam_ANC and DA condemn gunfire attack as poaching conflict rises_The Citizen.pdf | 331.66 KB |
A Gqeberha man was arrested for suspected abalone poaching in the early hours of January 11, after vigilant Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Metro (NMBM) Police officers spotted a suspicious vehicle, a red Toyota Condor, which was leaking water from the rear end. The man was found travelling with eight bags of de-shelled abalone at around 3.45am in the Summerstrand and Humewood area.
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SA_2023_01_Gqeberha man arrested for possession of 1 620 units of protected abalone_IOL.pdf | 338.94 KB |
t's a grim and all too common sight for rangers at some of Africa’s nature reserves: the bullet-riddled carcass of an elephant, its tusks removed by poachers. African elephant populations have fallen by about 30% since 2006. Poaching has driven the decline. Some reserves, like Garamba in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Selous in Tanzania, have lost hundreds of elephants to poachers over the last decade. But others, like Etosha National Park in Namibia, have been targeted far less.
The Pongola Lake in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, has erupted into an elephant poaching 'slaughterhouse', says the DA, as it calls again for national intervention. "Armed groups of poachers have now completely laid siege to the eastern shores of the lake, with several elephant carcasses recently found while dozens of gunshots have also been reported in the region. “Guards near the eSwatini border have allegedly also come under attack and infrastructure damaged and torched by the armed gang."
Namibia was commended for its efforts to address the challenges trafficking in wild fauna and flora pose to the country's natural resources and its social and economic development.
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NAM_2019-03_Namibia commended for efforts against fauna and flora trafficking_The Namibian.pdf | 362.73 KB |
Six suspected poachers were arrested in Zambezi region after they were found in possession of four elephant tusks, two elephant tails and one zebra skin yesterday.
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NAM_2019-03_Six in for possession of tusks_zebra skin_The Namibian.pdf | 284.23 KB |
There are worrying signs that Namibia’s legendary wild game numbers may be plummeting. Four years ago the Namibian Professional Hunters Association raised an alarm about the lack of huntable elephant bulls in the Caprivi region, where the number of communal conservancies had grown from one in 1997 to 15 today.
A wild car chase through the streets of Okahandja that ended in a minor motor vehicle accident resulted in the arrest of the 50-year-old Frieda Goses, a well known stock theft suspect from Otjimbingwe.
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NAM_2019-03_Well known stock theft suspect arrested in Okahandja_Informante.pdf | 2.82 MB |
A protected black rhino in the Erongo Mountain Rhino Sanctuary nearly lost a foot after it was caught in a snare set by poachers recently.
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NAM_2019-03_Erongo rhino sanctuary targeted_The Namibian.pdf | 186.65 KB |
The Ministry of Environment has recorded nine poaching incidents since January this year, six involving rhinos and three involving elephants, a government spokesperson said last week, as reported by Xinhua. Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Romeo Muyunda, said the poaching incidents mainly occurred in private and custodian farms; no poaching was recorded in the national parks.
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NAM_2019-03_Nine poaching cases recorded since January_Namibia Economist.pdf | 2.13 MB |
Officials from the Ministry of Environment assisted by police reservists from Walvis Bay discovered the carcasses of several poached Oryx when they went looking for poachers operating in the Namib Naukluft National Park. According to the official police report provided by Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Gurirab, acting Erongo Regional Crime Investigations Coordinator, a team comprising of environment ministry officials and Namibian Police Reservists, came across three to five suspects, while they were slaughtering illegally hunted Oryx.
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NAM_2019-03_Hunt still on for fleeing desert poachers_Informant.pdf | 964.37 KB |