Inside Botswana’s illegal donkey trade
Chinese traders are driving the cruel slaughter of donkeys across Southern Africa, for traditional potions that use gelatin in the hide. Investigation by Oscar Nkala...
24 August, 2017
Botswana poaching links
Spy arrests lift lid on Botswana’s silent trafficking threat
Botswana has a global reputation for zero tolerance of poaching and wildlife crimes. In recent years, however, it has become vulnerable to insider wildlife crimes committed by rogue security forces....
10 May, 2017
‘The great emptiness is upon us’
Fifteen months after Zimbabwe's two infamous lion killings earned the Lower Dete Valley its reputation as the graveyard of Hwange National Park’s big cats, Oscar Nkala visited the area to...
07 November, 2016
Ivory’s double-edged sword at CITES
What do the CITES decisions mean for Southern Africa's elephants – and in particular, the world-famous Kruger National Park, where CITES has documented a 23% rise in elephant poaching? Yolandi...
04 October, 2016
Zimbabwe’s elephant poaching citadel
Why is a dusty town near Hwange National Park making international headlines for the poisoning of elephants? Oscar Nkala unravels the networks and modus operandi behind Dete’s infamy...
20 May, 2016
How to steal an ivory stockpile
Zimbabwean parks employees allegedly managed to steal ivory from the Hwange stockpile since 2012 and export it to international trafficking syndicates. Oscar Nkala finds out how they operated...
22 April, 2016
Pirates threaten Botswana’s fishing industry
Illegal fishing in Lake Ngami in the Okavango Delta is a threat to species and local livelihoods. It could spark cross-border conflict with Zambia and the DRC, reports Lawrence...
17 March, 2016
Botswana bans canned hunts
The Botswana government banned canned hunting of large carnivores, in response to an Oxpeckers cross-border investigation. Lawrence Seretse reports...
01 April, 2014
Minister probes lion export
Tshekedi Khama dispatched a team of investigators to probe how lions exported from Botswana ended up in a canned hunting facility in South Africa. Investigation by Lawrence Seretse...
07 January, 2014
Officials turn a blind eye to the smuggling of wild lions
South African farmers are using cattle-rustling routes to smuggle wild lions out of Botswana to supply the demand for lion-bone potions in the Far East. Investigation by Fiona Macleod...
09 December, 2013