Namibia has recorded 51 poaching incidences since January, spokesperson of the Environment and Tourism Ministry Romeo Muyunda said Wednesday.

According to the statistics, 12 elephants and 39 rhinos were poached since January.

“The complexity of the poaching syndicates which have commercialized 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.” Muyunda said.

He said the poaching incidences were recorded from mainly private and custodian farms while seven poaching incidences were recorded in the national parks namely Bwabwata, Etosha and Waterberg.

According to statistics, last year, a total of 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 includes the regular patrols and intelligence at most. We want to be able to intercept poaching cases before they actually happen.” he said.

The ministry is currently lobbying for harsher punishments for those found guilty of poaching.

Last year, the ministry established an Anti-Poaching Unit to help curb poaching.