Spokesperson of the Namibia Environment and Tourism Ministry, Romeo Muyunda, on Wednesday, November 27, 2019 said the country recorded 51 poaching incidences since January.
Muyunda said that, according to the statistics, 12 elephants and 39 rhinos were poached since the beginning of 2019.
“The complexity of the poaching syndicates, which have commercialised the practice, makes it hard to crack down.
“However, we are in a process of establishing where the problems are and align our strategies accordingly,’’ the spokesman said.
According to him, the poaching incidences were recorded from mainly private and custodian farms while seven poaching incidences were recorded in the national parks at Bwabwata, Etosha and Waterberg.
Muyunda added that in 2018, 57 rhinos and 26 elephants were poached while 120 suspected poachers were arrested.
“We are making arrests in poaching-related cases, thanks to our collaboration with the law enforcement agencies (Police and Namibia Defence Forces).
“Our strategies at the moment include the regular patrols and intelligence at most.
“We want to be able to intercept poaching cases before they actually happen.’’
The ministry is currently lobbying for harsher punishments for those found guilty of poaching. In 2018, the ministry established an anti-poaching unit to help curb poaching.