State Security Minister David Mahlobo has dismissed allegations linking him to an alleged rhino horn trafficker. An Al Jazeera documentary, The Poacher’s Pipeline, implicated the Minister, alleging that he has close ties with the illegal rhino horn trader. The Minister said in a statement that the basis of this connection was said to be his visits […]

South Africa’s Minister of State Security, David Mahlobo, has been implicated in an investigative documentary into rhino poaching in South Africa. Members of the Chinese President’s delegation also allegedly went on an illegal spending spree in South Africa to buy ivory and rhino horn and smuggled the products back to China, according to revelations to be […]

While Gauteng is getting battered by storms, the Western Cape experienced its own gale force winds today, causing big swells and waves at Kalk Bay Harbour in South Africa. RONEL ERLANK SLABBERT captured the waves, the sand blowing across the R310 and a very happy seal… This morning the winds in the Western Cape were predicted […]

A rhino poacher in KwaZulu-Natal was shot dead whilst poaching rhino in South Africa’s iSimangaliso Wetland Park on Thursday. iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority confirmed that on the evening of Thursday 3rd November, game rangers monitoring a group of four rhino on the Eastern Shores section of the Park, intercepted two men. According to a statement, issued on behalf of the […]

Dolphins diving in and out of the water Monday afternoon at Fish Hoek in the Western Cape, South Africa, were having such a good time – putting on a spectacular display – that one of them unfortunately beached itself. NIGEL RILEY captured the action… “It is not often one sees this, let alone captures it,” says Nigel. “The dolphins […]

National Geographic posted a video of penguins fighting on Friday that went viral and generated an avalanche of reactions on social media, including a popular tweet of South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu that was retweeted over 1,800 times. The video that set it off featured a brutal fight after “a husband comes home and finds his wife with […]

Scroll through the photos that say it all as South Africans in several parts of the country continue to suffer through one of SA’s worst droughts in over 30 years; and then watch Heinz Winckler’s special video prayer for spiritual and physical rain for our country… From Namaqualand: Hester SophiaEsta Marais: “It’s very hot and dry here in Namakwaland, but […]

CCTV footage has captured the frightening scene as a couple cooling off in a pool in Kariba, Zimbabwe, were attacked by a crocodile Thursday evening. The video uploader, Zimbo88, says the crocodile stalked and attacked them in a private residence swimming pool. Zimbo88 explains the drought has caused Lake Kariba water levels to drop dangerously low and […]

South African National Parks (SANParks) today announced the arrest of 14 suspected poachers in the Kruger National Park (KNP) in the past seven days, with thanks in part to SA’s awesome canine team! According to KNP, the K9 units have successfully tracked and taken down over 90% of the poachers arrested in the Kruger over […]

An epic new documentary ‘thriller’, with Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio as its executive producer, reveals the tragic truth: that ivory traders actually want elephants to become extinct… in order to increase the value of the “white gold” of ivory. ‘The Ivory Game’ (watch trailer below) goes undercover into the dark and sinister underbelly of ivory trafficking… […]

The finalists in the annual Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have been announced. Forty photos from around the world have been selected from over 2,000 submissions. The competition was founded by Arusha-based Paul Joynson-Hicks (whose charitable work in Tanzania has earned him an MBE from the Queen). Paul’s a wildlife photographer who started the comp as […]

Today could be a big day for the rhino in KwaZulu-Natal… and for one of the rhino’s greatest allies, Jamie Joseph. Today is the day that alleged rhino kingpin of Zululand, Dumisani Gwala, is due to appear in court. And this time anti-poaching supporters are praying the case is not delayed again. Rhino kingpins have a way of […]

Rhino calves aren’t used to being alone. It’s apparently terrifying for them. So since this little calf lost his mother last week – another casualty to the rhino poaching crisis in South Africa – he has had a human carer sleeping at his side, and there to comfort him when he cries out for his mom in […]

A wonderfully full Full Moon – known as Hunter’s Moon – shone big and bright this weekend, hanging beautifully in the sky… NIGEL RILEY captured these stunning photos of the full moon over the Western Cape. But with its beauty came that lethal moonlight that shines like a torch over South Africa’s precious game reserves, […]

Wildlife photographer Shane Wolf got the fright of his life when this elephant crashed into him during a safari visit to Zimbabwe last year. Writing on his Instagram page – @wolfography – Shane said: “My #1 experience from 2015 is none other than my close encounter with an elephant in Mana Pools Zimbabwe. These animals are among […]

Planet Earth was a landmark TV series a decade ago, when it redefined natural history film-making. Now, the BBC takes viewers even closer than before with Planet Earth II… and naturally Africa’s wildlife features a lot. The stunning series – narrated by Sir David Attenborough – uses high-tech cameras, the latest in camera stabilisation, remote recording […]

A South African National Parks (SANParks) employee – who took pride in showing visitors to the Kruger National Park a pride of lions – has been highly commended on social media for going that extra mile. And it turns out there are many others just as passionate at their job as him, who deserve to be acknowledged for […]

According to an anonymous message on Facebook, there is currently a Russian boat docked in Walvis Bay, Namibia, with a Chinese owner and crew who are seeking permission to catch a ton of dolphins, orcas and endangered African penguins to take back to China for an aquarium. The boat is allegedly equipped with tanks and devices […]

A small troop of baboons visited the home of Hermanus resident Carla Sinclair Duckitt earlier this week… and took advantage of her jacuzzi to cool down during the above average temperatures. Hermanus mascots – Mielies and MaltaBella – can be heard barking with surprise in the background. (The two dogs have their own Facebook page and travel with […]

A dog called Giant, who works on the ‘frontline’ of the war against poachers in Africa, has become one of the first four-legged anti-poaching team-mates to sky-dive! There’s Arrow too. South Africa’s canine team are making headlines with a BBC documentary that’s been viewed over 4 million times in 4 days. These dogs’ sky-diving skills are necessary […]

Conservationists have reacted with shock, outrage and bitter disappointment as it was announced in South Africa on Sunday evening that the CITES Committee has approved the ongoing trade in lion bone, setting “quotas” for the selling of bones of captive lions. Consumption of lion bone in Asia has increased over the past few years as […]

Late Friday night (30th October), lion conservationists were left feeling angry and frustrated at the fate of the once mighty and proud African Lion, when news broke that Lions may NOT be listed as a CITES Appendix I Endangered Species (a listing which would further safeguard lions from extinction). To decide the fate of the […]

New evidence of Japan’s failure to control illegal ivory trading at a time when Africa’s elephants face extinction is revealed in a damning report released Wednesday*. The report from the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) reveals the identities of four Japanese ivory trading companies that offered to sell elephant tusks to undercover investigators […]

There’s some good news at CITES, the endangered species convention currently underway in Sandton, South Africa – the growth in numbers of the Cape Mountain Zebra population has enabled the species to move off CITES’ most endangered list. South Africa’s proposal to transfer the Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) from Appendix I to Appendix II […]

I’ve been based at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP) since the massacre (of six rhino) which took place on World Rhino Day. On Monday I was reunited with my awesome friend, rising global artist Toya Delazy (see video below), born Zulu Princess Latoya Buthelezi. As we roamed this great land, memories of Toya’s childhood came flooding back to […]