From Mozambique to China, money talks
More than 90% of Mozambican timber is exported to China at less than its true value. Estacio Valoi uncovers collusion between shipping agents, customs officials and port managers...
22 August, 2017
Chinese trafficking links
State forest capture
Ancient hardwood trees in the Caprivi State Forest are being looted by a Chinese syndicate exploiting legal loopholes and de-bushing tenders for farming. John Grobler investigates...
09 August, 2017
How SA’s abalone ends up on China’s plates
Crystal Chow investigates how the race over the most sought-after delicacy in Asia embodies the developmental dilemma in post-apartheid South Africa...
09 June, 2017
The horn scam at Windhoek’s airport
The Namibian authorities don’t seem to be in any hurry to shut down a rhino horn smuggling syndicate that has infiltrated security at Windhoek’s airport, writes John Grobler...
02 December, 2016
Namibia diaries: the good, the bad, the ugly
Depending on your views about legal trade in wildlife products, the past week was either a good week or a very good week for Namibian conservation, writes John Grobler...
04 October, 2016
A mysterious dead hand driving Namibia’s poaching
After a two-year investigation, John Grobler exposes the totem-based networks facilitating transnational rhino horn smuggling and defeating the pursuit of suspects...
15 September, 2016
Chinese-military axis behind Zambian poaching crisis
Zambia’s elephant population has declined by about 90% due to poaching. Its black rhino population is extinct. Oscar Nkala visited the border town of Livingstone to probe what's driving the...
21 June, 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
Chinese demand drives Zambia’s ‘amateur’ ivory gangs
Dwindling elephant numbers and heightened demand for ivory from Chinese trafficking syndicates are fuelling a cross-border poaching war in the Zambezi region. Oscar Nkala investigates...
12 April, 2016
Namibia’s secret ivory business
Oxpeckers Associate Shi Yi set out to investigate Chinese links in Namibia’s poaching crisis, and ended up in the middle of a sting operation that nabbed a former policeman...
14 March, 2016