wildlife traffickinglatest news & developments
Africa’s forest-dwelling hornbills — vital seed-dispersers in the forests of West and Central Africa — have won long-overdue international protection after countries approved a proposal to regulate their global trade. Photo: Frans van Heerden

Africa’s forest hornbills gain global protection as Cites lists species for first time

A coalition of African nations has secured new Cites controls on the international trade of hornbills amid concerns over habitat loss and surging demand for body parts

  • Sheree Bega
4 min read
Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, the late former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe’s son, was arrested for attempted murder on Thursday after a shooting at his Hyde Park residence

Organised Crime Index 2025: South Africa a continental hotspot for criminal networks

Human trafficking, cybercrime, drug routes and wildlife poaching are surging as South Africa becomes a regional crime hub

  • Sheree Bega
8 min read
Tiny stowaways — disease-carrying ticks — can be hidden beneath the armoured scales of pangolins, the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals.

Hidden hitchhikers: Ticks on trafficked pangolins pose health threats

Scientists warn that ticks carried by trafficked pangolins may spread pathogens across continents, affecting people and animals

  • Sheree Bega
3 min read
A Sunda pangolin in the wild after successful rehabilitation. Photo: © M. Shavez/1StopBrunei Wildlife/ifaw

Covid and crackdowns slash ivory and pangolin scale trade

Trafficking of endangered wildlife is down sharply since 2020, the Wildlife Justice Commission finds

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
The men were sentenced for poaching 303 rate specied found in the Northern and Western Cape. Photo: WWF

Illegal succulent trade is the Western Cape’s most prevalent wildlife crime

CapeNature says 650 species and more than 1.2 million harvested wild plants have been seized in the past four years

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
The moral rot of “canned hunting” runs deep. It strips wildlife of its majesty, reducing noble creatures to commodities. Beyond ethics, this practice undermines conservation

Wildlife Justice Commission: Wildlife traffickers captured in joint operation

The suspects were attempting to sell lions illegally when they were arrested

2 min read
KwaZulu-Natal had the highest number of poaching incidents, with 325 rhino killed, followed by Kruger National Park (which falls in Mpumalanga and Limpopo) where 78 rhino were killed. Limpopo was next, with 59 rhinos killed on game reserves and farms. File photo

Rhino poaching spikes despite high conviction rate

KwaZulu-Natal remains the epicentre for poaching and the Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park appears to be fighting a losing battle against the crime

  • Des Erasmus
10 min read