Stop "Made in China" - A Global Conservation Movement

11/09/2025

Rhino horn is smuggled by air from Johannesburg and Addis Ababa, routed through Dubai and Doha and sometimes Paris and London to throw off law enforcement. Ivory departs in shipping containers from ports in Dar es Salaam, Nampula and Durban, ending up in Singapore, Sihanoukville, Huangpu and Haiphong. Gold mined illegally in Zimbabwe’s mineral-rich Kwekwe gold fields and deep shaft mines in the towns of Krugersdorp, Carletonville, Klerksdorp and Welkom on South Africa’s Vaal Reef is processed and eventually laundered through Dubai. Gold is smuggled by the tonne into countries along the strife-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s eastern border and laundered through Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In northern Mozambique and South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, Islamic State-aligned insurgents and supporters have been implicated in criminal economies, gold smuggling, and kidnapping and extortion schemes to raise funds.

In addition to local criminal actors, the region has attracted a coterie of international criminal players. For instance, networks from China, Pakistan and Iran are known to interface with African intermediaries for drug trafficking (drug precursor chemicals, methamphetamine and he**in) and wildlife smuggling (notably of abalone and ivory). In Southern Africa, Nigerian and Congolese syndicates, often operating from hubs such as Johannesburg, coordinate regional drug distribution and financial fraud schemes while also connecting to global diaspora networks.

30/08/2025

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-08-21-how-john-hume-allegedly-schemed-to-defy-global-rhino-horn-trade-ban/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMf7D9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHpC8ZKrOJj1zjBd2iPphrerLleiPT15Ho8t_orGGxJ1QeC-3D_6P7an_cPFI_aem_q8UjP_YC8YgA1U8kMb6rFA

The State alleges that Hume, in association with his five alleged co-conspirators, knew or ought to have known that their enterprise ‘uses or invests, directly or indirectly (Hume’s) rhino horns, other rhino horns and rhino skins to fuel the illegal market’.

21/08/2025

https://helpingrhinos.org/rhino-horn-trafficking-arrests/
The recent arrests of the John Hume syndicate is demonstrative of the depth of the illegal trade in rhino horns. This is not just impoverished communities sneaking in and out of protected areas to poach rhinos. Here is another clear example of how legalising trade could be misused and stimulate illegal trade. The end-user markets must be brought on board to reduce demand and white-collar criminals, and corrupt officials must be brought to book. Our rangers work day and night to buy time for the rhinos, and it is these higher-level criminals our enforcement agencies must be focusing on. My faith in the South African justice system is restored through this case and we wish the prosecutions authority every strength to their arm to see that justice is served.

Craig Spencer
Founder, The Black Mambas

Rhinos Need Your Help

21/08/2025

https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/south-africa/sa-man-who-bred-worlds-biggest-rhino-herd-charged-with-horn-smuggling/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMT_9RleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBjcWZkdjRCdEtnQ2tSdTd1AR7-4qYIITMxAjoFtvWjhw1MOZlajo8LhN63wg7UKhkfEmOakyBnAa1ej4ylHQ_aem_I414C07IqnygQ6jLsabV_w
John Hume, the South African who bred the world’s biggest rhino herd, has been arrested on charges of smuggling R250 million ($14 million) worth of the endangered animals’ horns.

Hume, 83, was arrested on Tuesday alongside five other people, including former employees at his ranch, a lawyer, and the head of a rhino-focused nonprofit, South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority said in a statement

He was arrested alongside five other people following a lengthy investigation by the wildlife trafficking unit of the police.

09/08/2025

https://helpingrhinos.org/rhino-populations-for-2024-wins-for-some-losses-for-others/ It is encouraging to read some positive trends in the most recent IUCN Species Survival Report, most notably the increase of 5.2% in black rhino population and the reported lesser involvement in the illegal rhino horn trade of China. However, a decrease of 6.7% in the continental rhino population and an even more concerning loss of 11.2% of the white rhino population, alongside the emergence of Malaysia as a large player in the destination of rhino horn, is a stark reminder that we still have much work to do before the rhino is safe from the very real threat of extinction. The rhino crisis is more than just a poaching problem, with lack of connected habitat an ever-growing cause of concern. Engaging communities who live close to rhino habitat remains essential to any long-term success, but the loss of our rhino remains a global problem that needs global solutions.

Simon Jones, Helping Rhinos Founder and CEO

Rhinos Need Your Help

21/07/2025

https://iharare.com/chinese-national-arrested-with-rhino-horns-worth-us240k/ Rhino Horns Found Shrink-Wrapped
Police arrested 57-year-old Cong Yanzhong on 16 July 2025 after receiving a tip-off about suspected illegal wildlife trafficking. He was apprehended by detectives from the CID Minerals, Flora and Fauna Unit (MFFU) at his residence in Harare.

During the raid, officers allegedly discovered three rhinoceros horns shrink-wrapped and concealed within the premises.

“The three rhino horns weighed 7.70 kilograms and have an estimated street value of US$240,000 (approx. R4,388,000),” said the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) in a statement dated 18 July 2025.

The NPAZ added that the suspect could not produce any permits authorising possession of the horns.

15/07/2025

https://www.citizen.co.za/lowvelder/news-headlines/local-news/2025/07/14/poacher-killed-in-kruger-national-park-shootout/ 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.

A suspected poacher died during an exchange of gunfire with Kruger National Park field rangers.

26/06/2025

https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/first-elephant-sighting-in-6-years-sparks-hope-for-species-return-to-a-senegal-park/?mc_cid=98c57464c1&mc_eid=b96e45d078
For the first time in six years, an elephant was seen in Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba National Park. Grainy black-and-white footage shows Ousmane, a bull 35 to 40 years old named after a park ranger, in the forest at night, stopping to look at the camera trap that recorded his presence.

Ousmane hadn’t been seen since 2019. At the time, just five to 10 elephants remained out of the hundreds that once roamed there.

For the first time in six years, an elephant was seen in Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba National Park. Grainy black-and-white footage shows Ousmane, a bull 35 to 40 years old named after a park ranger, in the forest at night, stopping to look at the camera trap that recorded his presence. Ousmane hadn’t...

25/05/2025

https://www.defenceweb.co.za/security/border-security/rhino-poaching-crackdown-kruger-staffs-efforts-lead-to-major-sentences/
On 10 April, the Skukuza Regional Court found the erstwhile driver, one Elias Sithole, guilty on six charges – possession of an unlicensed firearm; conspiracy to commit a crime; and possession of firearm with serial number removed, with intent to commit a crime as well as possession of unlicensed ammunition and knives (dangerous weapons). He was sentenced to an effective 11 years behind bars.

Sithole’s 11 year sentence pales into insignificance when taken alongside the 110 years handed down to Zimbabwean Thomas Chauke, also known as Sazu Nkambuya in the Makhanda High Court.

The 54-year-old was found guilty on six rhino poaching and wildlife related crimes and three counts of escaping from custody, SANews reported.

The value of proper training added to on-the-job gut feel paid off for two Kruger National Park (KNP) staffers with an 11-year sentence handed to a suspected rhino poacher this month, five years after the suspect was apprehended. KNP dog handlers stationed at the park’s Kruger and Phabeni gates, t...

22/05/2025

https://clubofmozambique.com/news/mozambique-man-arrested-for-trying-to-sell-12-elephant-tusks-watch-282718/?utm_source=african-elephant-news.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=may-21-2025&_bhlid=cbda323ae11f5af5be7510f504105db46407b30a Police in Mozambique yesterday arrested a man who was trying to sell elephant tusks in the city of Pemba, Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country.

The 40-year-old man was caught trying to sell the tusks for 2,000 meticais (€28) per kilogram in the Metula neighbourhood of the provincial capital, police spokesperson Eugénia Nhamússua told the media today.

Police in Mozambique yesterday arrested a man who was trying to sell elephant tusks in the city of Pemba, Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country. The 40-year-old man was caught trying to sell the tusks for 2,000 meticais (€28) per kilogram in the Metula neighbourhood of the provincial

21/05/2025

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3305735/stiffer-hong-kong-penalties-helping-fight-illegal-wildlife-trade-authorities
Hong Kong has seen no “significant seizures” of smuggled ivory and pangolin scales since 2021, the government has said, attributing it to heavier penalties while animal rights groups pointed to international efforts in tackling the illegal wildlife trade as also helping.

Number of smuggling cases involving ivory, pangolin scales and rhino horn has ‘dropped significantly’ since 2021, government says.

21/05/2025

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-04-24-bail-jumping-kruger-national-park-rhino-poacher-put-behind-bars-for-20-years/
The regional court, located in the heart of the country’s premier national park, has handed down several stiff sentences to rhino poachers – despite several attempts to have it shut it down or to transfer cases to other courts outside the park.

It remains unclear which court granted bail to these two suspects.

However, in a media statement on 24 April, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Monica Nyuswa confirmed that Sambo has now been sent to jail for two decades following another successful conviction in the Skukuza court.

The proverbial long arm of the law has caught up with a poacher who helped to kill two rhinos in the Kruger National Park more than four years ago - and then jumped bail.