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Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera has granted a presidential pardon to Lin Yunhua, a Chinese national sentenced to 14 years in prison for wildlife trafficking. Lin was among 37 inmates who received a presidential pardon as part of Malawi's 61st independence anniversary celebrations on July 6. Conservationists have since expressed their disappointment, warning that Lin's pardon might demotivate frontline officers working to protect Malawi's wildlife.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted a shipment containing 10,603 donkey penises, presumed headed for China, highlighting the scale of illicit wildlife trafficking through the country’s borders, The Cable has reported. The 40-foot container was seized on June 5 along the Kaduna–Abuja Expressway, following an intelligence-led operation. According to a briefing by customs officials, the seizure was executed by the Special Wildlife Office in collaboration with the Customs Intelligence Unit.

The body of an alleged poacher was found in the Kruger National Park on July 12. According to Mpumalanga police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jabu Ndubane, the body was found at about 08:30, and it is suspected that he was killed during an exchange with field rangers the previous night, July 11, around 21:00.

Operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service have intercepted a 40-foot container loaded with donkey genitals along the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway, the Service said on Thursday. The interception, suspected to be destined for illegal export, was uncovered on Friday, June 5, 2025, at about 9 pm following a coordinated surveillance operation by officers of the Special Wildlife Office and Customs Intelligence Unit. The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday.

The High Court of Kibera (Nairobi) on April 8th, 2025, dismissed the appeal of Lawrence Kinoti who, the previous November, had been sentenced to life imprisonment with a second prison warder, Paul Muranu Mwangi. Judge Diana Kavedza-Mochache found “the appeal to be lacking in merit and is dismissed in its entirety”. Kinoti and Mwangi had been arrested at the Rio Hotel in Nairobi West on August 11th, 2015 after KWS investigators had received intelligence that the two and one other were selling ivory. A third prison warder, Kipkoech Cheruiyot escaped but was arrested a few days…

In its 2024 annual report, the Elephant-Human Relations Aid (EHRA) organisation says last year was marked by both hardship and meaningful progress in desert-adapted elephant conservation. "It was a year of learning and growth that reinforced our motivation to create lasting impact for elephants and communities we work with,” EHRA's managing director, Rachel Harris, notes in the foreword of the report. She added that the prolonged drought brought new challenges for EHRA: "In response to the drought, the government announced a controversial wildlife cull.

The Namibian Police in the Kunene Region have arrested a 41-year-old suspect who allegedly used a steel wire to trap a black-faced impala in the Otjimbundu village of the Ehomba policing area. The crime was discovered when a game guard went to count the impalas and found one impala, valued at N$6,500, trapped with a wire around its neck and fighting for its life. It eventually died.

Kruger rangers face armed poachers daily while investigating elephant killings and recent poaching camps in a 2-million-hectare wilderness. Rangers undergo six-week intensive training, including 15km bush patrols and survival skills, but job opportunities are limited by budget constraints

The conviction of four people in the Northern Cape for the illegal poaching of the miracle bush lily reveals that criminal syndicates are targeting a wider array of South Africa's unique flora for international markets. The Calvinia Regional Court in the Northern Cape has convicted four foreign nationals for poaching 303 Clivia mirabilis, more commonly known as the miracle bush lily or the Oorlogskloof bush lily, worth an estimated retail value of between R6-million and R30-million.

But there's a hidden crisis unfolding across Africa that dwarfs these headlines. Every single day, across every habitat. While around 20,000 elephants are killed annually for ivory. Millions of African animals disappear into the bushmeat trade. This is bushmeat hunting, and it's happening everywhere. The Congo Basin alone consumes up to 4 million tons of wildlife every year. Scientific research has identified 301 mammal species threatened by bushmeat hunting. From common antelope to zebras to iconic species, nothing is safe.

Three male suspects, aged between 30 and 46, were apprehended by the police in Mariental on Saturday while they were allegedly looking for a buyer for an elephant tusk they had in their possession. One of the suspects was shot during the arrest and was initially taken to the local hospital, but was afterwards transferred to a hospital in Windhoek for further treatment. The three suspects are accused of dealing in controlled wildlife products without a permit, disguising the origin of unlawful property, and assisting another to benefit from the proceeds of illegal activities.

President Lazarus Chakwera is facing a torrent of criticism after controversially pardoning two convicted Chinese wildlife traffickers, in what civil society leaders and environmentalists have branded a shameful betrayal of Malawi's fight against corruption, wildlife crime, and executive accountability.

Rangers say poachers are starving young men who kill animals for meat, not traditional medicine, and dry the meat inside the park. More than 120 vultures were poisoned after eating meat from a dead elephant laced with toxic chemicals used by poachers. Hungry and desperate, people living near Kruger National Park are turning to poaching to survive. About 80% of the population in the area depend on illegal hunters who sneak into the park to kill wild animals for food. The meat is either eaten or sold to local butchers who pass it on to poor community members at low prices.

Two men have been arrested for trying to sell elephant tusks worth R200,000 in Limpopo. The suspects, brothers Peter and Phanuel Mokgalaka, were caught during a police sting in Selwane Village outside Phalaborwa on Wednesday. The operation was led by the Hawks in Limpopo, with help from the Sani Sand Nature Reserve and the Kruger National Park's Environmental Crime Investigation unit. Police got a tip-off that the men were selling ivory. Officers contacted them and pretended to be buyers. The brothers agreed to meet the supposed buyers in Selwane.

Three suspects aged between 35 and 45 have been arrested for the illegal possession and selling of rhino horns, following a joint operation by law enforcement agencies in the Western Cape. The arrests took place on Wednesday 2 July, during an undercover operation conducted by the Hawks' Bellville-based Economic Protected Resources (EPR) unit, with assistance from the SAPS K9 Unit, Overberg, and the Stock Theft and Endangered Species unit based in Swellendam.

The leaders of a prolific Chinese wildlife trafficking gang have been pardoned in Malawi, sparking concern that renewed poaching will help spread diseases including coronaviruses. Lin Yunhua and his wife Qin Hua Zhang, who led the notorious Lin-Zhang syndicate that operated across southern Africa, were among 15 people sentenced to jail as part of a major crackdown on ivory trafficking.

A male elephant has been killed by poachers in Hwange National Park, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has said. The carcass was discovered in the Main Camp area of the park with one tusk missing and flesh removed from its leg. ZimParks spokesperson Mr Tinashe Farawo said the jumbo might have been dead for about two days at the time of discovery. He said a distinctive shoe spoor was found at the scene, and a joint investigation with the Zimbabwe Republic Police is now underway.

In the wild heart of Africa there is a dwindling group of savannah elephants so traumatised by decades of war, poaching and conflict with humans, that when they see a helicopter, they don't run away, they charge. While the choppers are a means of providing vital conservation measures, such as collaring programmes to monitor under-threat animals for their own protection, these majestic animals have learned to defend themselves in an area so wracked with human conflict it’s been dubbed the "Triangle of Death".

A 73-year-old man was reportedly arrested for illegal hunting at Otjomupanda village on Friday. According to a police crime report issued on Sunday, the incident occurred around 14:40 during a joint police operation. It is alleged that police conducted a search at the suspect’s residence, where they discovered a kudu carcass valued at N$6,000. A rifle believed to have been used in the poaching incident was also reportedly found at the scene.

Kruger National Park officials have raised the alarm over a mass poisoning that killed over 120 vultures, calling it one of the worst in recent years and warning it could push the endangered species towards extinction. Rescue teams managed to save 81 vultures through an unprecedented joint operation. Experts warn that the poison used - an organophosphate so lethal it's nicknamed 'two-step' - poses severe risks to humans, pets and water systems, with even trace exposure potentially fatal.

A middle aged woman will serve a 12 years jail term after a Kabarnet court found her guilty of trading in wildlife trophies. Esther Chebii, appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate (SRM) Edwin Mulochi for the offence which occurred on May 27, 2023 at around 6pm at Kabarnet town in Baringo central sub-county, where she was nabbed with five pieces of elephant tusks weighing 15.7 kilograms and 105 pieces of pangolin scales weighing two kilograms with a street value of Sh 2.37 million.

Police have arrested a suspected poacher for allegedly poisoning over 100 elephants using cyanide at Hwange National Park. Tony Maphosa, who has been on the run since 2013, allegedly poisoned water points and salt pans with cyanide resulting in the death of more than 100 elephants. Maphosa was arrested in the national park on Wednesday following a tip off. An anti-poaching team comprising rangers from Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and police recovered two pieces of ivory from him. Zimparks spokesperson Mr Tinashe Farawo confirmed the arrest.

Leopards are the second-most traded wildcat in the world, despite their international commercial trade being prohibited under CITES, the international wildlife trade agreement. Trophies and body parts - primarily skins, claws, bones and teeth - are the most traded, according to CITES data. However, other data indicate that illegal trade in skins and body parts is widespread in Asia and Africa. Southern African countries, particularly South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, are major exporters of leopard parts, while the U.S. is the largest importer, according to data from CITES.

Another rhino was sadly killed at a private game reserve in the Pongola area on Thursday evening. The rhino bull was found dead, but this time around, the horns were still intact. Police suspect that the poachers may have only wounded the animal and it ran away to die somewhere else. Rangers found the rhino on Friday morning and contacted the police. Last week was full moon, oddly enough known as 'Poacher’s Moon'. There is also a known link between rhino poaching and the full moon, which is that anti-poaching teams actively monitor on these nights.

There were 698 lions killed by humans between 1980 and 2018 in the areas surrounding Etosha National Park - an average of 22 lions per year, although researchers say this number is likely an underestimate. A new study found there was no single reason behind the killings.

Six people have been jailed for their involvement in the illegal trade of more than 2.8 tonnes of pangolin scales, one of the country's largest such seizures ever recorded. The People's Court of Nghệ An handed a seven-year prison term to Hồ Văn Mạnh and a three-year sentence to Trần Thị Ngọc for trading prohibited goods and violating regulations on the protection of endangered wildlife. Four other defendants - Phạm Thị Lập, Hồ Mai Yên, Cao Xuân Quý, and Nguyễn Thị Long - received sentences ranging from 15 months to three years. Quý and Long were given suspended sentences.

A suspected poacher has been killed and another injured after a shootout with game rangers in Kruger National Park in the early hours of Saturday, June 14. According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), a group of rangers were on patrol in the Satara area, at approximately 12:45am, when they came across three men, who immediately aroused suspicion. One carried a firearm, and the others had backpacks. The rangers instructed them to stop and demanded that the armed individual drop his weapon to the ground, but the men refused and opened fire.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism has launched a community reward fund to encourage the reporting of poaching activities to help curb wildlife crimes in the Zambezi region. Namibia has lost over 631 rhinos to poaching over the last 10 years and just over 220 elephants, although the number of poached elephants has significantly declined in recent years. Saisai says compensation varies according to species, adding that if a community member provides a tip on a buffalo being poached, they would be paid N$1 000.

A recent report from the Wildlife Justice Commission analyzed trends in ivory and pangolin scales trafficking from Africa over the past decade using seizure data and found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the illegal trade, with fewer significant seizures reported post-pandemic. The report attributes this dip to pandemic-induced lockdowns, increased law enforcement and intelligence gathering, successful prosecutions, and declines in the prices of ivory and pangolin scales.

Botswana's Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) recently conducted intensive practical training for 74 staff members to enhance and strengthen law enforcement capacity through the use of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)’s Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme tools. The training was organised as a three-day workshop for three cohorts of rangers from the greater Chobe National Park, including its sub-stations.

Nigeria accounts for the largest volume of detected pangolin scales illegally traded from Africa. Between 2010 and 2021, 190,000kg of scales - representing nearly 800,000 African pangolins - were seized in shipments linked to Nigeria, despite a ban on international trade. Pangolins are scaly mammals found across Asia and Africa. They are considered the world’s most trafficked wild mammals and they are exploited in different ways on different continents. In Asia, mainly China, their scales are used in large-scale therapeutic medicines, despite not having known medicinal properties…

While Namibia and other southern African countries are struggling to protect their rhinos from poaching, scientists are looking for solutions to make the rhino financially unattractive to poachers. According to a new research report published in Science magazine on June 5, dehorning is currently the most effective solution to prevent poaching. The team of scientists led by Kuiper, Haussmann and Whitfield found that dehorning rhinos leads to a drastic reduction in poaching compared to other measures.

Seventy southern white rhinos have completed a journey of more than 3,400 kilometres (at least 2,112 miles) by truck and Boeing 747 from South Africa to Rwanda in what has been described as the largest translocation of its kind. Part of a rewilding initiative, the rhinos were transported in two groups of 35 - first by airliner then by road - from South Africa's Munywana Conservancy to the Akagera National Park in Rwanda, central Africa's largest protected wetland, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) said on Tuesday.

More than 1,000 starving elephants may have to be culled. Parliamentarians demand answers by tomorrow (Friday). In a scathing parliamentary session on Tuesday, 10 June members of the Portfolio Committee on Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment accused North West officials of gross mismanagement and evasion of responsibility for the ongoing elephant crisis in the Madikwe Game Reserve. The crisis, years in the making, has led to mass starvation and death among elephants, extensive environmental degradation and a controversial proposal to cull as many as 1,200 of them.

To make chuparosa love charms, the birds are first illegally killed. The methods are not fully known, but available information suggests that slingshots were traditionally used. Currently, they are also dispatched with nets and shotguns, loaded with shells containing tiny pellets. Their bodies are desiccated, usually in eviscerated form. They are then sealed in a paper tube, wrapped in thread, and placed in a bag with a prayer card called an oracione. Contemporary chuparosa charms often also have a Hecho En Mexico (Made in Mexico) sticker attached.

By the 1950s, Nile crocodiles in Zimbabwe were nearly extinct. Commercial hunters had killed most of them for their valuable skins. The crocodiles were easy targets because they lived in predictable locations, hunters could spot them easily at night with spotlights, and each kill was worth a lot of money. Instead of banning all crocodile hunting, wildlife authorities did something unexpected: they allowed people to start commercial crocodile farms. Why did this work? Three reasons: Undercut the black market: Legal farms could supply skins, reducing demand for poached ones.

South Africa's pervasive 'rhino war' rhetoric distracts us from addressing the root causes of poaching. We urgently need alternative conservation philosophies, practices and policies to tackle wildlife crime. In January 2025, conservationists were honoured to have you, Mr Dion George, Minister of the Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, at a two-week conservation management course in the Greater Kruger area.

The Skukuza regional court on Thursday sentenced Philip Mfana Masuku to 14 years' direct imprisonment for poaching-related offences committed six years ago. Masuku, 62, from Bhekiswayo Trust in Kabokweni, was earlier convicted for trespassing, killing two rhinos, conspiracy to commit an offence and possession of a dangerous weapon.

We shouldn't have to dehorn rhinos to keep them safe. The ideal is to let rhinos live as they should - horns and all. That's the message from a Nelson Mandela University scientist who led a landmark seven-year study showing that while dehorning can significantly reduce poaching, it's not a long-term solution. To truly protect rhinos, he says, we must dismantle the criminal syndicates.

Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has given the Save Valley Conservancy the green light to cull 50 elephants to curb overpopulation. The growing elephant population is fast exceeding the carrying capacity of Zimbabwe's national parks. ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo confirmed the development in a statement on Tuesday, noting that permits have been issued to Save Valley Conservancy for an elephant management exercise.

The National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) has warned that little to no progress has been made in shutting down South Africa's captive lion breeding industry, despite a series of government commitments and legal recommendations. During a briefing to the portfolio committee on environment, forestry and fisheries on Tuesday, National Chief Inspector Douglas Wolhuter said that "nothing has changed" - highlighting ongoing welfare violations and a continued lack of enforcement, despite a government-backed plan to phase out lion farming.

The National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) called for the removal of legislative red tape and an improvement in the judicial system when it came to captive animals. The NSPCA made a clarion call for specialised courts to handle wildlife cases and also to expedite cases in the judicial system, during a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Forestry, Fisheries and Environment on Tuesday.

Emaciated lions, open wounds, pens covered in faeces, no shelter in blazing sun, cubs on rubbish dumps, lacerated paws  - the images displayed on the screen were shocking. But Douglas Wolhuter of the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) was on a mission to make parliamentarians understand the cruelty involved in captive breeding. It was both an impassioned plea to shut down lion breeding facilities and harsh criticism of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) for failing to implement its own recommendations.

The report, produced under a Service Contract with the European Commission, provides an in-depth analysis of illegal wildlife trade trends based on seizures reported by EU Member States to Europe Trade in Wildlife Information eXchange (EU-TWIX) system. The illegal trade in wild species is a critical threat to biodiversity; valued at a staggering $23bn each year, it devastates ecosystems and fuels crime.

It's past midnight and the officer manning Namibia's fisheries monitoring centre in Walvis Bay notices that a vessel near the Namibia-Angola border has stopped transmitting its location. At the same time, a Namibian fishing vessel's radar detects a foreign vessel notorious for illegal fishing, entering Namibia's waters. Both the officer and the vessel alert the Namibian navy and the fisheries department in Walvis Bay. Calls to the vessel's flag state remain unanswered, and without a law enforcement vessel located near the Namibia-Angola maritime border, the foreign vessel escapes…

Costa Rica is dealing with yet another sharp rise in wildlife trafficking, now our country's third most common environmental crime. Reports highlighted intensified efforts by authorities to curb this growing threat, which endangers our nation’s incredible array of life. Park rangers and police recently uncovered cases involving species like capybaras, parrots, and reptiles, with five capybaras found in captivity just last week. The illegal trade, driven by demand for exotic pets and animal parts, is putting immense pressure on Costa Rica's ecosystems.

In a significant operation against wildlife crime, the Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Police apprehended one individual in Boudh district and recovered two elephant tusks valued at approximately Rs 50 lakh in the illegal market. Reports stated that acting on intelligence input, an STF team led by DSP Rashmiranjan Pattnaik and Inspector Jitu Mohan Bassera intercepted the accused, Pramod Parida, near Telibandha Chhak in Boudh, at around 7 PM on Sunday.

Private rhino owners are taking extraordinary steps to protect their animals following an increase in poaching incidents, including the brutal killing of a rhino cow in the Hardap region earlier this month.  The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) has confirmed that 15 rhinos and one elephant have been poached across the country so far this year.  In response to growing concerns, a private rhino owner has offered a N$160 000 reward for information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of those behind the Hardap incident.