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The netizens were reacting to the arrest of five men caught harvesting the endangered 424 Clavias marebelius plants in Nieuwoudtville, Northern Cape. The SAPS reportedly pounced on the unsuspecting culprits on 27 June 2024 after receiving information about the alleged plant poaching. The men, aged between 21 and 30, had allegedly harvested about R2.7 million worth of the protected plant.

The recent seizure in Thailand of 48 lemurs and more than 1,200 critically endangered tortoises endemic to Madagascar underscores the global scale of wildlife trafficking networks that use Thailand as a transshipment hub. The operation was aided by intelligence from a joint transnational investigation between Thai law enforcement agencies and international antitrafficking organizations working to dismantle global wildlife trafficking networks spanning Asia, Africa and South America.

On June 3, a man was arrested at the Bangui Mpoko Airport in the Central African Republic (CAR) for illegal transport of ivory. This is the second case of ivory smuggling in Bangui in the span of just one week. The arrested man is a Central African Citizen who didn’t have any identity document with him despite his intention to travel abroad. The police confiscated several suitcases filled to the brim with ivory from this Central African citizen.

Tanzania is home to wild herds of buffalo, wildebeest, hartebeest, and impala that have been hunted for meat by generations of indigenous communities. In 2019, Tanzania’s late President called on the country’s authorities to establish a mechanism that will allow Tanzania's to access wild meat, counter rampant poaching and illegal bushmeat trade through a pioneering set of national laws. By early 2020, the Game Meat Selling Regulations (GMSR) - new legislation for the legal sourcing, selling, and consumption of wild meat - had come into force.

Four suspected rhino poachers died in two separate incidents in South Africa's internationally renowned Kruger National Park this month (June). The park on South Africa's eastern boundary is bordered by Mozambique and Zimbabwe and for the first time was last year overtaken by KwaZulu-Natal as the apparent venue of choice for armed poachers seeking rhino horn.

In January 2019, the arrest and imminent prosecution of several Vietnamese wildlife traffickers in Kampala excited wildlife conservationists in Uganda and abroad who saw it as an opportunity to disrupt a cartel that had been growing and widening in eastern Africa over two decades. But, the conservationists' excitement soon turned to despair, if not disappointment as they watched the case get smothered and eventually dismissed from Uganda's Anti-Corruption Court, reports Ronald Musoke. Five years on, there are more unanswered questions as to why this case collapsed.

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism (MEFT) this week expressed deep sorrow following two separate fatal elephant attacks on 17 June within the country. The first incident involved the tragic death of Gert Van der Walt, a renowned professional hunter, during a hunting expedition. The ministry identified the elephant involved as a problem-causing animal and issued a trophy hunting permit accordingly. Van der Walt, known for his adherence to hunting ethics and his pivotal role in resolving human-wildlife conflicts, was highly respected within the conservation…

South Africa, where 79% of the world's rhinos live, said it aims to come up with a plan by the end of 2030 to dismantle an almost half-century ban on trading the endangered animals' horns. The proposal, contained in a draft of the country's first rhino biodiversity-management plan released late Tuesday, is controversial because poaching of the animals for their horns has decimated their populations across Africa. The horns are ground into powder and sold in east Asia where they are falsely believed to cure cancer and other ailments.

The recent discovery of poaching at a restoration site has stunned the conservation community, leaving it in a state of disbelief and anger. This viral TikTok video showcases a conservationist's dismay as he uncovers the theft of valuable plants. "This beach restoration site in the Bay Area used to be all invasive ice plant, and it should be covered in native succulent flowers. But people are poaching the Dudleya and picking their flowers for profit," Dickson explains in the video caption.

There was barely a dry eye in the Kwale courtroom last Monday afternoon, June 10th, 2024, when Augustine Odwori Malingo and Nancy Akoth Owino were sentenced by Principal Magistrate Lillian Lewa. They had been found guilty of possession of wildlife trophies that included 4 ivory tusk pieces weighing 500 grammes and 1 hippo tooth weighing a similar amount from their 2019 arrest.

The ownership of the Henties Bay Seal Products Factory is again being disputed after the company failed in its bid to reclaim 501 boxes of seized seal products The bid to reclaim the products was dismissed in the Katutura Magistrate's Court recently. Seal Products is harvesting and processing a seal quota in their Henties Bay and Lüderitz factories. The controversy began on 10 January when the Namibian Revenue Agency (NAMRA) conducted a coordinated intervention at a warehouse in Sun Industrial Park, Windhoek, shared by Seal Products and Golden Lion Investment CC.

Wildlife organisation, Wild Africa Fund has welcomed the news of the decline in elephant poaching but warns that the threat to Africa's elephants persists. This, as a new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has revealed that elephant poaching is on the decline. The reduction of cases has been linked to the closure of key domestic ivory markets which has significantly reduced demand.

A wildlife warden on Wednesday raised alarm over the increase in poaching and the cutting down of trees at the Badingilo National Park. Speaking to reporters at the park, acting Warden, Maj. Butrus Simon, said the killing of the wildlife and deforestation have been exacerbated by the economic hardship in the country. "The poaching activities inside the park are due to the current situation. You will find that many poachers kill the animals and cut the trees," Simon said.

Police and wildlife authorities in Malawi have arrested two men suspected of having killed an elephant in Kasungu National Park. Residents of villages just outside the park's boundaries informed police about two men selling elephant meat, who were subsequently found in possession of 16.6 kg (36.6 lbs) of ivory.

Southern African nations are at it again. Nyasha Chingono reported in late May that those “hosting the largest elephant populations in the world made a fresh pitch…to be allowed to sell their $1bn ivory stockpiles”, purportedly to allocate it towards conservation. How they derive this figure is unclear, and the report doesn’t question its veracity. Current ivory prices are around US$400/kg in illicit markets in the East and averaging about $92/kg across Africa (except for Nigeria which has now become the continent’s major export hub).

Poaching and illegal coal mining threaten the future of Matabeleland's elephant population. Nokuthaba Mathema investigates Ivory stockpile: The elephant herds of Matabeleland are primary targets of ‘sponsored poaching’ with the collusion of state officials, says one expert. Photo: AP/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi In the shadows of Zimbabwe’s environmental management lies a devastating truth: environmental crimes, such as poaching, illegal wildlife trade and illicit coal mining continue to afflict Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland province in the south-west of the country.

Environmental history was made on Friday 7 June 2024 when the last of 120 white rhinos was released into the network of private and communal reserves on the western border of the Kruger National Park. The operation was carried out under a strict veil of secrecy to ensure its security.

In diesem Jahr wurden in Namibia schon insgesamt 47 Nashörner gewildert, von denen 32 Kadaver im Etoscha-Nationalpark gefunden wurden. Nach Angaben des Sprechers des Umweltministeriums, Romeo Muyunda, handelt es sich bei 33 um Spitzmaulnashörner und 14 um Breitmaulnashörner. "Von den 47 Nashörnern, die in diesem Jahr bisher gewildert wurden, wurden zusätzlich zu den 32 in Etoscha acht Spitzmaulnashörner auf Farmen, die Teil des Nashornschutz-Projekts sind, gewildert. Davon sechs auf privaten Farmen und eines in der Kunene-Region", sagte Muyunda. Vor weniger als einem Monat, am 13…

Altesaam 47 renosters is al vanjaar in Namibië gestroop waarvan 32 karkasse in die Etosha Nasionale Park gevind is.Volgens die woordvoerder van die ministerie van die omgewing, bosbou en toerrisme, Romeo Muyunda, is 33 swartrenosters en 14 witrenosters gestroop. 

A total of 47 rhinos have been poached in Namibia this year, of which 32 carcasses were found in the Etosha National Park. According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of the Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Romeo Muyunda, 33 black rhinos and 14 white rhinos were poached.

Altesaam 47 renosters is al vanjaar in Namibië gestroop waarvan 32 karkasse in die Etosha Nasionale Park gevind is. 

A total of 47 rhinos have been poached in Namibia this year, of which 32 carcasses have been found in the Etosha National Park.

Environment and tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta has come out strongly against CITES' decision to ban ivory from being sold on international markets. In an interview with New Era on the sidelines of the just-ended KAZA summit in Livingstone, he said if the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) refuses member states to sell off ivory stockpiles, they will withdraw their membership. "If CITES refuses, we have some alternatives and plans. We can go for arbitration.

In early May, the environment ministry's forestry directorate raided farms in the Kunene Region where protected mopane trees are being harvested and exported for charcoal and firewood. Trucks carrying loads of wood and charcoal - without permits to do so - have already been seized, the directorate confirmed. An outraged charcoal producer in the Outjo district, who preferred to remain anonymous, claimed a forestry official threatened him and demanded a bribe from him to not stop his charcoal business.

The Namibian police in the Otjozondjupa Region have arrested a 19-year-old suspect who was allegedly found in possession of a warthog carcass and was unable to explain how it came into his possession. The arrest was made at Farm Euros in the Kombat area on Saturday morning. It is alleged that the suspect entered the farm without the owner's permission and "unlawfully and intentionally" slaughtered a warthog worth N$7,000, which was then found in his possession. Retrieved from the Facebook Site of Informanté.

Rhino horns, popular for centuries in Asia as an aphrodisiac, are worth an astounding $450,000 each on the black market. Poaching is rife, well-organised, and difficult to stop due to endemic corruption in many African nations. South Africa's Kruger National Park has lost about 7000 rhinos to poaching in recent years - poachers kill the animal, making it easier to take the horn.

In the shadows of Zimbabwe's environmental management lies a devastating truth: environmental crimes, such as poaching, illegal wildlife trade and illicit coal mining continue to afflict Zimbabwe's Matabeleland province in the south-west of the country. In May this year, a tip-off by locals ended in one death, two arrests and the discovery of endangered animal parts. Detectives from the Crime Investigation Department confronted three alleged poachers on the outskirts of the capital city, Bulawayo, on May 18 - Jabulani Chamiti (34), Philani Ndlovu (23) and Cosmas Sebele (56).

People who are shooting birds of prey should be prosecuted, says FreeMe Wildlife, who are on a mission to protect the raptors amid a rise in their killings. Tammy Caine, a raptor specialist at FreeMe Wildlife, said they have recently had two birds of prey - an African harrier hawk and a spotted eagle owl - come in with pellets in their wings. "While the African harrier hawk is still in care, the spotted eagle owl sadly had to be euthanised.

At least five elephants were shot and stripped of their tusks in early April 2023 in southern Chad. Shocked by this wildlife crime, the organisation SOS Elephants of Chad is calling on the government to act firmly against the resurgence of poaching of Chad’s endangered elephants.

Vietnam has seized 11.8 kilograms of rhino horns and 4.7 kilograms of elephant ivory in checked-in luggage on a flight from Qatar, Vietnam News Agency reported on Thursday. Customs officers at Noi Bai international airport in Vietnam’s capital of Hanoi found the smuggled rhino horns and ivory in 41 packages wrapped in aluminum foil in two sets of luggage of a Vietnamese man who had traveled from Angola, transited through Doha, Qatar, and arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday. The seizure came after a random check, and the luggage owner claimed that a person had paid him 50…

The functional forces have just discovered a package containing 11.82 kg of rhino horn and 4,712 kg of smuggled ivory transported on a flight from Doha (Quatar) to Vietnam. When scanning the above 02 pieces of luggage through a portable scanner, the Import Baggage Procedure Team discovered suspicious images of rhino horns and ivory, so they invited Ninh Ba Dien passenger to the headquarters. for fact check. According to the inspection results, in addition to his carry-on luggage, Mr.

A 40-year-old man has been arrested in possession of a leopard skull and skin, the National Criminal Investigation Service of Mozambique (Sernic) has announced. "The man was caught red-handed on April 22," Sernic spokesman Alfeu Sitoe said at a press conference in the city of Beira. The suspect claimed to have received the product from a friend, now a fugitive, who intended to sell it to a foreigner in Beira’s Alto da Manga neighbourhood for 60,000 meticais (€856).

Five rhino horns, one hunting rifle with a silencer, fourteen live rounds, two knives and five mobile phones were recovered from the car. The Skukuza Regional Court on Tuesday sentenced rhino poachers to 34 and 39 years in prison following following their arrest in November 2019. According to Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, two of the three suspects who were arrested for rhino poaching and other related crimes were sentenced to 34 years' imprisonment. The third suspect was sentenced to 39 years' imprisonment.

Zwelithini Mathebula 37, and Lucky Mhlongo 39, were sentenced to 34 years' imprisonment while their co-accused Teddy Dlamini 37, was sentenced to 39 years' imprisonment. NPA regional spokesperson Monica Nyuswa, said that the three culprits were arrested in November 2019, along with their two co-accused who absconded after they were granted bail. The three were convicted of killing three rhinos, possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of a firearm, conspiracy to commit a crime, possession of ammunition, and possession of a dangerous weapon.

Cape Town - Swift response by the Hawks National Intervention Unit (NIU) following a tip-off has led to the arrest of six suspects in connection with the discovery of abalone worth more than R2.8 million. The suspects, aged between 26 and 60, were expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate's court on Tuesday morning facing charges relating to possession of abalone and managing a drying facility.

During a time in which South Africa's wildlife is under attack by poaching, a new study has shown that popular anti-poaching technologies could be an easy target for cyber-attacks. Stellenbosch University student Christelle Steyn, who is part of the Orange Cyberdefence Academy, conducted research that shows that various technologies, such as tracking tags, CCTV, mobile apps and drones could increase the risks of cyber-attacks.

In 2022 Kruger lost 124 rhinos, a figure David Bryant, shadow forestry, fisheries and environment minister, believes will rise because SANParks filled just five of 87 vacant ranger posts in the Kruger Park.

The Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport, Angola's capital city Luanda, has recently been the gateway for many disguised tourists, with the clear intention of illicit trafficking of ivory and rhino horn. In the last three months alone, the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC), coordinating with other forces in the airport's security system, detained two Vietnamese citizens in possession of 26 kilograms of ivory worked into jewellery; four kilograms of raw ivory; rhino horns, weighing 6.6 kilograms; and five rolls of elephant tail yarn, weighing eight grams.

A 38-year-old citizen is currently detained in the city of Beira, Sofala province, accused of killing and possession of prohibited species. At the time of his arrest, the suspect had four lion teeth and 14 lion claws in his possession.

Maputo - The authorities have detained for the second time a notorious Mozambican poacher, Simon Ernesto Valoi, known in the world of crime as "Boss Navarra". Valoi has been held in a Mozambican prison since July 2022. According to a report in the Maputo daily "Noticias', Valoi refused to name his accomplices, who remain at large. Investigators set a trap for Valoi. Pretending to be corrupt, they provided him with a mobile phone through which he could contact his relatives and other members of the poaching ring.

Mindestens acht Verdächtige wurden über das Osterwochenende bei zwei verschiedenen Vorfällen im Zusammenhang mit der Wilderei von Nashörnern festgenommen. Nach Angaben des Sprechers des Umweltministeriums, Romeo Muyunda, wurden zwei Verdächtige am 6. April auf der Straße zwischen Tsumeb und Otavi an einer mobilen Straßensperre festgenommen, weil sie illegal in den Etosha-Nationalpark eingedrungen waren, um Nashörner zu jagen. In ihrem Besitz wurden zwei frische Nashornhörner gefunden, die von den Strafverfolgungsbehörden unter der Leitung des Blue Rhino Task Team beschlagnahmt…

Eight suspects were netted over the long easter weekend for crime related to rhino poaching in two separate incidences, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism announced on Thursday.

The Ministry of Environment Tourism and Forestry has arrested eight suspects on charges related to rhino poaching over the Easter long weekend, in two separate incidents. "Last week two suspects that illegally entered the Etosha National Park to hunt Rhinos were arrested during a mobile roadblock on the Tsumeb and Otavi road, two fresh rhino horns were found in their possession and confiscated by Blue Rhino Task Team," the environment Ministry's Chief Public Relations Officer, Romeo Muyunda said in a statement.

At least eight suspects were arrested over the Easter Weekend for rhino poaching-related crimes in two separate incidents. According to the spokesperson of the environment ministry Romeo Muyunda, two suspects were arrested on 6 April on the Tsumeb/Otavi road at a mobile roadblock for illegally entering the Etosha National Park to hunt rhinos. Two fresh rhino horns were found in their possession and confiscated by the law enforcement agencies led by the Blue Rhino Task Team.

Agt verdagtes is oor die Paasnaweek vir renosterstropery-verwante misdade in twee afsonderlike voorvalle in hegtenis geneem. Volgens die woordvoerder van die omgewingsministerie Romeo Muyunda, is twee verdagtes op 6 April op die Tsumeb/Otavi-pad by 'n mobiele padblokkade in hegtenis geneem omdat hulle onwettig die Etosha Nasionale Park binnegegaan het om renosters te jag. Twee vars renosterhorings is in hul besit gevind en deur die wetstoepassingsagentskappe onder leiding van die Blue Rhino-taakspan op beslag gelê.

Die Strafverfolgungsbehörden in Namibia, Mosambik und Sambia werden immer aufmerksamer, wenn es um den illegalen Schmuggel von u. a. Abalonen (Meeresschnecken) durch ihre Länder geht. Denn es mehren sich die Hinweise, dass dieselben Unternehmen und Personen, die in diesen Schmuggel verwickelt sind, auch an der Ausfuhr anderer illegaler Wildprodukte und weiteren illegalen Aktivitäten beteiligt sind. Demnach scheinen verschiedene Formen der Kriminalität mit dem illegalen Handel von Wildtieren zusammenzuhängen.