Traditionally the domain of men, recent years have seen female rangers thrive in an area where stereotypical beliefs run high. There is a growing movement in Africa to empower its women, while protecting the environment and her wildlife

The Akashinga

The Akashinga – aka ‘The Brave Ones’ in the Shona language – is a military style unit of over 200 very tough women who are sworn to protect Zimbabwe’s elephants with their lives. And they are sorely needed. Elephant poaching and illegal hunting ran rampant in Zimbabwe for years but according to the International Anti-Poaching Foundation. Akashinga rangers have made more than 300 arrests since 2017, without firing a shot, and helped drive an 80% downturn in elephant poaching in the Zambezi Valley, while wildlife sightings are up by almost 400%.

Benefits reach into the community too with rangers mostly coming from very difficult circumstances, including domestic abuse and forced marriages. Surviving the gruelling selection process and training brings liberty and financial freedom. Esther Goboza, 22, applied to join the rangers to escape an abusive marriage. Her husband, in a bid to stop her from becoming a ranger, burnt her national identity card, a requirement for the job application. “They gave me the opportunity. My husband even came to the training camp to take me home but I stood my ground,” said Goboza, who is now divorced.

Rangers earn the equivalent of between $300 and $1,500 per month, a good salary in a country with a failed economy, where teachers earn an average of $120 per month. Akashinga’s rangers come from within 20km of the area they protect, with their salaries spent locally to the benefit
of a wider area.

The Black Mambas

Africa’s first all-women team has been operating in South Africa since 2013. Remarkably, these courageous women carry no firearms while poachers there are more often than not armed to the teeth. Instead, they focus on community-building and educating local communities about the benefits wildlife brings to the area.

This doesn’t mean that they don’t have their boots on the ground – quite the opposite, the Black Mambas are highly active in the field. They patrol a vast area of 20,000 hectares, walking up to 20km daily to dismantle snares and detect breaches in the Olifants West Nature Reserve’s perimeter. Their work is supported by real-time tracking technology, which allows them to call for armed back-up if necessary.

Cutie Mhlongo, a Black Mamba since 2014, prefers it this way, “Our advantage is that they won’t shoot us, because they know that we don’t carry guns,” she says. The rangers rarely suffer serious injuries from animals or poachers.

Team Lioness

Team Lioness is an all-female ranger unit based in Kenya, established in 2017 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the team is part of the broader tenBoma initiative. These Maasai women undergo rigorous training in wildlife monitoring, anti-poaching operations, first aid, and community outreach. Their work not only involves protecting wildlife but also fostering human-wildlife coexistence.

For many of the rangers, battling age-old prejudices within the Maasai community, semi-nomadic herders living in southwest Kenya and northern Tanzania, is no less difficult than tackling poaching. While Maasai men no longer need to kill a lion to prove their virility in a coming-of-age ceremony, many other patriarchal traditions, such as child marriage and female genital mutilation, are still practised, despite being illegal.

“My community believes that a woman cannot do a physically demanding job,” said Lakara, 27, listing the duties commonly assigned to Maasai women. “A woman is only supposed to be staying at home, giving birth, milking the cows and goats, going for firewood and water. I wanted to become a ranger to change the perception of my community,” she said.

Most members of Team Lioness faced a tough time convincing their families to support their ambitions. Sharon Nankinyi, 23, said her parents told her it was impossible, urging her to find contentment in household chores and motherhood. But Nankinyi persevered, along with the other women. “We came back to the community and we proved it to them because they saw us with the uniforms, they saw us as we walked long distances,” she said, describing herself as, “a brave lady, a Maasai, who has become a ranger.”

All the brave women in these ranger units play a crucial role in safeguarding Mother Africa’s precious ecosystems. Their blood, sweat and tears have significantly contributed to reducing poaching and illegal wildlife trade across the continent. Moreover, they serve as role models and agents of change within their communities, promoting the importance of conservation and women’s empowerment, proving that women bring their unique strengths, whenever given the opportunity. Their work exemplifies the vital intersection of conservation and social progress.

If you’re interested in donating to this important work please go to:

www.ifaw.org/projects/team-lioness

www.akashinga.org/get-involved