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Community-led antitrafficking networks are proving pivotal in helping authorities intercept poachers targeting critically endangered and endemic tortoises in southern Madagascar’s fast-disappearing spiny forests. Illegal hunting, both for their meat and to supply the pet trade, has decimated the species’ population in recent decades. Indigenous people living in the range of the imperiled species are motivated to protect them due to long-standing traditional beliefs that value and respect the tortoises.

Conservationists have raised the alarm about the rapid decline in Nigeria’s lion population, which now stands at fewer than 50 wild lions; a stark contrast to the thousands that roamed the country decades ago. They urged Nigerians to protect lions by reducing illegal bushmeat consumption, supporting better protection of their shrinking habitat, and championing anti-poaching measures. The experts also cautioned that losing these apex predators would have devastating consequences for Nigeria’s ecosystems and cultural heritage, as well as its tourism potential.

The Istanbul Airport seizure of a smuggled baby gorilla on Dec. 22, has led to significant developments in Thailand. Acting on information shared by Turkish authorities following the smuggling case, Thai police raided a farm in Nakhon Pathom province, uncovering 284 animals from 22 species, raising concerns about illegal wildlife trade.

South Africa and Nambia's biodiversity has given rise to a wave of illegal activities, orchestrated by organized crime groups. These groups have sprung up as a result of the demand for unique plants known as succulents. South Africa's biodiversity is being threatened by organized crime groups involved in illegal poaching of rare succulent plants. Succulents are found in the Succulent Karoo desert in South Africa and Namibia, known for their ability to retain water in harsh conditions.

South Africa has faced a surge in poaching of rare succulents by criminal syndicates since 2019. A recent spike in prices paid for a different kind of plant, a drylands-adapted lily, the miracle clivia (Clivia mirabilis), has drawn the attention of plant-trafficking syndicates to the lone reserve where it grows. Large numbers of clivias have been seized by law enforcement, raising fears that this rare plant is quickly being wiped out from the limited range where it’s known to occur.

Acting on a tip-off, Mpumalanga police nabbed two men with a stash of rifles near the Kruger National Park. The suspects, aged 37 and 38, were arrested on Monday, 16 December. Police received crucial intel that was swiftly acted upon by the Tactical Response Team. Brigadier Donald Mdhluli, Mpumalanga police spokesman, said: "An intelligence operation was immediately launched, leading us to two houses in Kabokweni and Pienaar, near the Kruger border."

Two men, aged 37 and 38, were arrested on Monday, December 16, in a coordinated operation targeting suspected poachers near the Kruger National Park. The arrests, carried out by the SA Police Service (SAPS) Tactical Response Team (TRT), followed intelligence from the police’s Crime Intelligence Structure said the Mpumalanga police spokesperson, Brigadier Donald Mdhluli.

A number of Botswana Community Trusts are unwittingly part of a huge international wildlife criminal network - Sunday Standard investigations have revealed. Documents passed to the Sunday Standard have revealed how the trusts are used as "grey" nodes (legal players who participate in illegal activities) in criminal hunting schemes by the international wildlife mafia.

An incident of illegal hunting involving protected game was reported to the police in Omaruru on Friday after the remains of a waterbuck and an ostrich were discovered on a farm in the area. The exact time of the crime is unknown, but the police suspect it occurred between 27 and 29 November. The head and intestines of the waterbuck, as well as the legs of the ostrich, were found at the scene of the crime. No arrests have been made yet.

The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, has condemned the illegal harvesting of the West Coast Rock Lobster and the indiscriminate targeting of its egg-bearing females. These illegal activities destroy millions of potential lobsters that could contribute to a sustainable marine ecosystem and could also provide much-needed economic opportunities to local communities.

Kanyaruchinya, Democratic Republic of Congo - Amid a circle of spectators, a troupe of performers takes center stage. Songs resound, accompanied by the beat of drums and lively dances. A large banner carries a powerful message: "The future of our environment depends on our behavior today." The drumming soon gives way to a play performed in Swahili. We're in Kanyaruchinya, in the Nyiragongo territory of North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some 200,000 people have sought refuge in the southern part of the province, seeing a conflict that has been raging since…

Judge Collins Parker on Monday in the High Court in Windhoek struck down the counter-application of Ottilie Ndimulunde to an urgent court application by two communal conservation areas in the Kunene region, a traditional authority and tourism company. "The first respondent came to play rugby, but the game is a football game, so to speak," Parker argued in the court order, declaring the four applicants' case regarding a new road to a tin mine urgent. The four applicants are the conservation areas of Doro !

A fromer police officer who was kicked out of the Namibian Police after being arrested on rhino-poaching and firearms charges has lost a Supreme Court appeal about his dismissal. Former detective inspector Wersimus Haipa’s appeal to the Supreme Court was dismissed in a judgement delivered on Friday. Haipa appealed against a High Court judgement in which an application by him to have his discharge from the police reviewed and set aside was dismissed in May this year.

The blurb for an editorial in The Namibian newspaper on 9 November read: "From Kavango to Kunene, down south across the breadth and width of Namibia, the scramble for the country’s mineral, oil and energy sources is in overdrive." The article ended: "Government officials have turned Namibia into an unsustainable El Dorado with a vicious cycle of short-term searches for riches dishing out mining exploration licences to a select few." As you read this, graders, excavators and tipper trucks are hacking a road through three conservancies famous for their conservation of endangered,…

Two Namibian community conservancies and a tourism operator have turned to the courts to block development of a tin mine. The conservancies say the environmental impact assessments for the open-pit mine are flawed and will disturb wildlife, including critically endangered southern black rhinos. In a similiar case in the //Huab Conservancy, a copper mine disturbed wildlife in the area, forcing rhino-based tourism to shut down.

Two men were arrested in possession of two elephant tusks and five pangolin scales at Magunje Growth Point.

Despite the fact that Namibia is one of African countries that experiences the least crime, much still needs to be done to improve law enforcement, among other things.

As two collectors walk down the South Korean nursery's humid aisles, they spot a magnificent specimen. Having collected South African succulents for over two decades, their greenhouse showcases many plants growing in what looks like their natural Succulent Karoo habitat. But they have never seen this species before, and judging from its size, the plant looks decades old. The nursery owner tells them the succulent is a new mother plant used for cultivation and is not for sale. But if they wanted an equally large plant, he could connect them to his broker.

A man has been arrested for contravening Act 04/1975, Section 30, related to the hunting of huntable game at Farm Hamis in the Khomas region. According to the police weekend report, it is alleged that two suspects entered Farm Hamis and shot a kudu bull without permission. The farm workers heard the gunshot and responded by alerting the Namibian police, who acted promptly and arrested one of the suspected poachers. The second suspect fled the scene with the hunting rifle and has not yet been apprehended. The kudu carcass was recovered and valued at N$6,000.

A total of 24 elephant tusks were confiscated, while one suspect was arrested and seven others fled the scene when their car was searched last Friday in the Zambezi Region. According to the environment ministry, the police, the defence force and ministry officials searched vehicles as part of an intelligence-led operation in pursuit of a syndicate of Zambian nationals who were embarking on transnational poaching of elephants in neighbouring Botswana using Zambezi as a transit root. It said security operatives intercepted the vehicle used to transport elephant tusks.

Namibian authorities seized 24 elephant tusks in an intelligence-led operation by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism (MEFT) and security officials targeting a Zambian syndicate involved in transnational elephant poaching in Botswana through the Zambezi region.

Laut Polizeibericht wurden Elefantenstoßzähne beschlagnahmt, ein Verdächtiger festgenommen und sieben weiteren Verdächtigten gelang es, zu flüchten, nachdem Polizisten und Mitglieder der Anti-Wilderei-Einheit des Umweltministeriums sowie namibische Soldaten ein Fahrzeug anhielten, das unter Verdacht stand, in den Schmuggel von Wildtierprodukten verwickelt zu sein. Der Vorfall ereignete sich früh am vergangenen Freitag. Der Einsatz war die Folge von eingegangenen Informationen, die zur Verfolgung sambischer Staatsangehöriger führte.

Zambezi regional police arrested two Zambian nationals for possession of 15 elephant tusks in the Kapani area of the Linyanti constituency on Sunday. The two Zambian nationals, aged 29 and 32, were part of a group of seven, however,

Insgesamt wurden 24 Elefantenstoßzähne beschlagnahmt, während ein Verdächtiger verhaftet wurde und sieben weitere bei der Durchsuchung ihrer Fahrzeuge am Freitag in der Sambesi-Region flüchteten.

A total of 24 elephant tusks were seized while one suspect was arrested and seven others escaped during searches of their vehicles in the Zambezi region on Friday.

A total of 24 elephant tusks were confiscated, while one suspect was arrested and seven others fled the scene when their car were searched on Friday in the Zambezi Region. According to the environment ministry, members of the ministry, the police and the defence force were searching vehicles as part of an intelligence-led operation in pursuit of a syndicate of Zambian nationals who were embarking on transnational poaching of elephants in neighbouring Botswana using the Zambezi Region as a transit root.

A total of 24 elephant tusks were confiscated, while one suspect was arrested and seven others fled the scene when their car were searched on Friday in the Zambezi Region. According to the environment ministry, members of the ministry, the police and the defence force were searching vehicles as part of an intelligence-led operation in pursuit of a syndicate of Zambian nationals who were embarking on transnational poaching of elephants in neighbouring Botswana using the Zambezi Region as a transit root.

One suspect has been arrested while seven suspects fled from the scene after officials discovered 24 elephant tusks in a car at Katima Mulilo on Friday.

In an operation led by Members of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism (MEFT), in collaboration with the Namibian Police (Nampol) and Namibian Defense Force (NDF), 24 elephant tusks were confiscated during an early morning interception on Friday in the Zambezi region.

Poaching in the Kruger National Park has seen a massive decrease in recent years attributed to the introduction of free-running hounds. The dogs were introduced almost eight years ago to arguably South Africa's number one visited national park to curb mostly the poaching of rhinos for their horns.

Police in the Zambezi Region apprehended a 37-year-old man found in possession of 24 elephant tusks during a joint operation with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism last night. The tusks are alleged to have come from Botswana, where the elephants were poached, and entered Namibia through the Batubaja Area in Linyanti Constituency. All 24 tusks were found loaded into a vehicle with an expired disc licence driven by a suspect who was allegedly called to provide transport after the car in which they were transported initially ran out of fuel.

The consequences for local ecosystems and communities are serious, [including the] deterioration of natural capital, social stability and cohesion; extinction of animal species; and erosion of sustainable economic development. South Africa is home to the world's largest rhino population and is a key source for the illicit supply chain. In the first six months of this year, 231 rhinos were killed in South African game reserves. Of these, 143 were in KwaZulu-Natal.

"Dis 'n outjie wat ons al lankal pla. Hy is al vantevore op Seeis toegesluit omdat ons hom met 'n gesteelde 5 000 liter-tenk gevang het en daar was nog gemsbokke agterop die voertuig ook," sê die bron. Volgens die persoon is hulle groep ingelig oor ses stropers wat bedrywig was tussen Vrydag en Sondag.

Nachdem eine Anti-Wilderer-Einheit zwei Wilddiebe gefasst hatte, stellt sich heraus, dass sich diese scheinbaren Gewohnheitsverbrecher für zahlreiche Wilderei-Fälle oder sogar wegen versuchten Mordes im Gericht verantworten müssen. Staatsankläger scheinen die schwerwiegenden Vorwürfe kaum zu beachten, sodass die Angeklagten oft ungeschoren davonkommen.

Traditional leaders in Kariba district have condemned wildlife poaching in the area, adding that the crime was detrimental to the development of tourism in the district. Kariba's tourism is anchored on wildlife, hence the need for conservation, but despite a significant drop in elephant poaching, the practice was rampant among other smaller animals.

Vietnamese court sentences 36-year-old man to 12 years in prison for drug trafficking rhino horns in Angola.

The two suspects were caught in the early hours of Friday morning with five goats in their possession which had been poached. The men also poached two kudus, two waterbucks and a gemsbok worth N$35 000 in the Khomas Region.

The Namibian police in the Otjozondjupa Region have arrested two suspected illegal hunters, thanks to a rental vehicle that exposed their whereabouts. The two suspects, aged 23 and 46, were found in possession of an unlicensed firearm as well as carcasses of two kudu bulls, two waterbucks, and an oryx, with an estimated total value of N$35,000. According to the police, the illegal hunting was uncovered accidentally through a rental vehicle they were travelling in.

A former field ranger, tasked with protecting wildlife, has been sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for killing a rhino in the Nwanetsi section of the Kruger National Park in 2020. Eckson Musa Matumbu was sentenced at the Skukuza Regional Court on Friday. According to the South African National Parks (SANParks), Matumbu was arrested in February 2020 for killing a rhino with an official firearm issued to him and using non-issued ammunition. He was initially granted bail, which was later cancelled; the case was remanded to October 2023 for conviction and…

A 52-year-old man has been arrested after he was found with 446 units of dried abalone in Brackenfell.

Snaring has surged 200% in the Kruger National Park, also causing lion extinctions elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.

A 42-year-old man has been sentenced to a decade behind bars at the Kuruman Regional Court after being nabbed with 2 850 endangered and protected plants worth more than R9 million. 

In recent years, succulent collecting has become a treasured pastime. These low-maintenance plants bring a lot of joy and camaraderie to those who collect, propagate, and share their passion. However, there’s a dark side to this seemingly harmless hobby. Illegal succulent poaching has become pervasive with the rise in succulent popularity. In this article, we’ll talk about the dark side of plant collecting, how plant poaching is changing legal and ecological landscapes, and how to be a conscientious and ethical collector.

Gqeberha police arrested a 28-year-old man on Wednesday after allegedly discovering perlemoen with an estimated street value of R3m in the bakkie he was driving.

Two men were on Tuesday arrested while trafficking 36 pieces of elephant tusks weighing 77 kilogrammes valued at Sh12 million in Maralal, Samburu county.

Alert farmworkers at Farm Eden, one of the most remote but iconic farms in the Otjozondjupa Region, prevented rhino poaching in the area, subsequently leading to the arrest of three suspected poachers.

Caught with a mother pangolin and its child in his home village near Nata on 19 November 2022, 33-year-old Othusitse Baile will forgo his freedom for the next four years.