Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 19h

Read the full analysis here: www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/10...

Wildfires Ravage One of Africa’s Largest Nature Reserves - bellingcat

Satellite analysis of the Etosha wildfires in Namibia has found that more than a third of the nature reserve was burned.

www.bellingcat.com

3 18

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 19h

The Ministry says it will continue conducting aerial surveys by helicopter to assess the extent of the damage. NASA FIRMS continued to detect active fires in the Etosha reserve up until Oct. 5.

1 15

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 19h

In a public release the Ministry said: “The wildfire crisis in Etosha National Park and surrounding areas poses a significant threat to Namibia’s biodiversity, local livelihood and critical infrastructure.

1 10

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 19h

Using NASA FIRMS Bellingcat also found the approximate origins of the fire. Satellite imagery around this location confirms the presence of a small village and several charcoal kilns. However, without an extensive ground investigation, the exact cause of the fire cannot be determined.

NASA FIRMS data from Sept. 22 shows a single yellow square just beyond the park’s borders, marking the earliest fire event that day. Orange and red squares indicate more active fires detected later the same day. Source: NASA FIRMS.

1 1 10

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 19h

In an interview the photographer described taking the photo of the injured elephant near a watering hole “just before Charl Marais Dam.” Bellingcat was able to geolocate the image to Ozonjuitji m' Bari, a waterhole close to the Charl Marais Reservoir.

1 10

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 19h

Within days of the fires, an image of an injured elephant, badly burned, began circulating on social media. Three termite mounds in the background are also visible in a 2023 YouTube video taken in the park. Termite mounds can take years to build and may last for hundreds of years.

Top: Facebook post by Koos Reyneke featuring a burned elephant (left). Bottom – YouTube video from 2023. Both geolocated to Ozonjuitji m’Bari, as tagged in Google Maps.

1 1 8

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 19h

As a vast area of savanna grassland, fires - often ignited by lightning - are a natural part of the park’s ecosystem, says Prof. Theo Wassenaar, a specialist in biodiversity conservation from Namibia University. However, the scale of this most recent fire is rare.

1 9

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 19h

Satellite imagery from Sept. 25 shows burn marks from the fires breaching the park’s northern border, surrounding villages and farmland. Speaking to local media, residents and volunteers said the fire was impossible to extinguish without more support.

Park border outline is breached Sept. 25, with the fire extending further north into farmland by Sept.30. Source: Copernicus.

1 3 26

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 19h

Wildfires began in Etosha National park on Sept. 22 and swept through the reserve and surrounding areas for five days before an emergency government meeting on Saturday, Sept. 27. After days of extensive burning, the government deployed 500 troops to the region the following day.

1 4 24

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 19h

Satellite analysis by Bellingcat found that wildfires destroyed over a third of Namibia’s most visited wildlife reserve last month, impacting crucial grazing lands for endangered species, including black rhinos and elephants. www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/10...

Wildfires Ravage One of Africa’s Largest Nature Reserves - bellingcat

Satellite analysis of the Etosha wildfires in Namibia has found that more than a third of the nature reserve was burned.

www.bellingcat.com

6 80 170

Reposted by Bellingcat

Tomi McCluskey @tomi-mcc.bsky.social · 1d

Had both the great privilege and some great fun developing some maritime OSINT challenges for the fine folks at @bellingcat.com !

Huge appreciation for their work and other investigative outlets telling the important stories happening on our oceans.

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 1d

Smuggling routes, illegal fishing operations, and shadow fleets. There’s loads going on at sea. Try to track some ships yourself, this month in the Bellingcat Open Source Challenge. Find the exercises, created by our volunteer @tomi-mcc.bsky.social, here: challenge.bellingcat.com

13 60

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 1d

Ready to get started? We encourage anyone taking part to join our Discord server, where staff and community members will be sharing useful tips and techniques in the #BellingcatChallenge channel. discord.com/invite/belli...

Join the Bellingcat Discord Server!

Come hang out with open source research enthusiasts, share knowledge and experiences, and learn lots! | 37127 members

discord.com

8 34

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 1d

Want to stay up-to-date with the challenges? Subscribe to our monthly newsletter. Here we’ll also share the answers of last month’s challenges, thanks to everyone who submitted a blog, write-up or shared their methods in our Discord.

bellingcat-challenges.beehiiv.com/p/oceans-of-...

Oceans of Evidence

Ready to track some ships? This month we're covering ship tracking in the Bellingcat Open Source Challenge.

bellingcat-challenges.beehiiv.com

1 6 29

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 1d

For this occasion, @colborne.bsky.social is making a quick detour from his usual far-right work to try out some maritime research. Want to see how he does? Join our livestream on October 15, 5PM CEST on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@bellingcato...

Bellingcat

Bellingcat is an independent investigative collective of researchers, investigators and citizen journalists brought together by a passion for open source research. Founded in 2014, we have pioneered...

www.youtube.com

1 4 12

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 1d

Smuggling routes, illegal fishing operations, and shadow fleets. There’s loads going on at sea. Try to track some ships yourself, this month in the Bellingcat Open Source Challenge. Find the exercises, created by our volunteer @tomi-mcc.bsky.social, here: challenge.bellingcat.com

2 51 150

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 2d

The students are addressing global matters like deforestation and food security using open source materials and investigation. You can find out more about the initiative on the Utrecht University page ahead of our talk: www.uu.nl/en/research/...

Open-Source Global Justice Investigations Lab

Working together with societal partners across disciplines and levels, this project combines digital innovation with new media literacy in order to train students to identify, document, verify, analys...

www.uu.nl

24 93

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 2d

Universities may hold the key to fighting misinformation... On Thursday we speak to @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social about their Open-Source Global Justice Investigations Lab discussing how the lab is building critical thinking skills and leading to headline stories.
discord.gg/bellingcat?e...

Stage talk Thursday 9th of October, 5pm CEST/11am EDT discord.com/invite/bellingcat

Title: Student Researchers vs the Misinformation Machine

5 50 150

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 4d

Prefer a newsletter that makes you think? The Challenge Newsletter may be for you! Be the first to know about our new puzzles and discover how others solved the last set of challenges - learning new geolocation techniques in the process: bellingcat-challenges.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Bellingcat Challenge Newsletter

Join the Bellingcat Challenge newsletter and get quick access to the latest open source challenges released by Bellingcat.

bellingcat-challenges.beehiiv.com

11 58

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 4d

If news updates are your thing, then get this week's Bellingcat newsletter. Find out what our researchers have been reading, see our latest findings, and discover how we're making an impact with our investigations.
Sign up to receive it on Sunday here: bellingcat.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=...

Bellingcat

Bellingcat Email Forms

bellingcat.us14.list-manage.com

1 7 49

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 4d

We’ve got two newsletters to keep you connected with Bellingcat and open-source research. One takes you into our work at Bellingcat, while the other lets you put your own research skills to the test.

Sign up for the one that fits you best via the links in the thread below 👇

2 16 81

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 5d

At the moment it appears to still be providing imagery up to todays date. If you're looking for some alternatives, we have a list of maps and satellite resources on our toolkit here: bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/cate...

Maps & Satellites | Bellingcat's Online Investigation Toolkit

bellingcat.gitbook.io

2 26 93

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 5d

Our researchers have noticed today that NASA FIRMS, one of the main free and available open source sites for monitoring fires around the world has a new notice on it stating that NASA is no longer updating the site due to a lack in federal funding. firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/

5 160 280

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 7d

You can read the full series of investigations via @forbidden-stories.bsky.social website here:
forbiddenstories.org/projects_pos...

Gaza Project - Forbidden Stories

Gaza Project We had to unite Almost 170 Palestinian journalists were killed in the Gaza Strip after Israel launched a war of retaliation for the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023. In June 202...

forbiddenstories.org

1 23 66

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 7d

We're happy to see that this important project covering the plight of journalists in Gaza has been recognised with an award. You can read Bellingcat's contribution here, which includes explorable 3D models of Jabalia Refugee Camp and Al-Shati Refugee Camp. www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/03...

2 100 250

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 8d

In this month’s Patreon podcast, we dive into AI tools for open source research and explore how AI is transforming the way we work. Will it ever be more than just one of many resources in the open source investigator’s toolbox? Listen here: www.patreon.com/posts/how-is...

How Is AI Changing the Way We Work as Open Source Investigators? | Bellingcat

Get more from Bellingcat on Patreon

www.patreon.com

36