I heard about The Black Mambas Anti-Poaching Unit from one of my friends in March 2014. She told me that they wanted more women to join the team. I was part of the second recruitment. I submitted my CV and they called me for an interview. When they selected me, me and other women went for training at the Pro-Track Anti-Poaching Academy. The training was difficult. We did PT, learned about the Bush, animal behaviour, and the patrols. When the training was done, I was deployed as a Black Mamba ranger.

What can people living in other countries do to help the conservation/anti-poaching efforts in South Africa?

People can help through donations and spreading the word. We are always in need of donations, car spares, service and equipment. We rely greatly on donations because The Black Mambas is run by the non-profit organization Transfrontier Africa NPC. Media crews that come to work with us make documentaries about our work and life. Photographers and writers interview us and publish articles in their magazines. All this is to tell the world what we do for our wildlife in South Africa, and spread our message across the globe.

In what ways are the poachers and the local economy related?

Subsistence poachers are the people who simply need to eat. If they do not have means to support themselves and their families, they will most likely poach. It is no coincidence that bushmeat poaching had increased by at least 6% in our reserve during the pandemic, as many people lost their jobs. Commercial poaching, on the other hand, is a far more complicated case. Too many role payers involved and the reason for poaching here is a Chinese demand for rhino horn and other animal parts and greed of the people who do the dirty job. If the poachers keep on killing the wild animals in our reserve and elsewhere, there will be lack of job opportunities in sectors like tourism and other nature/environment related industries.

Are the families, culture and communities supportive of the rangers efforts? Is there conflict because women are doing this type of work?

Yes, our families are very supportive when it comes to work, and they are proud of us. When we started operating in the Greater Kruger Area, many people thought we cannot do this job because we are women, because this has always been a man’s job. But we proved them wrong.

Are there educational programs within your community promoting the importance of protection for endangered species?

Our sister project (The Bush Babies Environmental Education Program) is operating in ten local rural schools nearby in The Greater Kruger Park. We regularly join Environmental Monitors who run this project at schools to tell the kids about how important it is to protect animals.

What is the most rewarding part of your day?

The most rewarding part is when we remove the snares that were set by poachers. Then I know we have saved animals’ lives.

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Belinda and a fellow ranger at school.

What is the extent of your training?

Three weeks at Pro-Track, plus several months in-house training; so it makes six months in total.

Do you have feelings of fear while you are patrolling?

Sometimes I do feel scared when we see the tracks of poachers, because we never know how they will behave.

What experiences did you have while growing up that helped you prepare for this type of work?

I did not really know a lot about nature as I was growing up. But when I became a ranger, I took a specialised course; Unarmed Field Ranger at South African Wildlife College.

What techniques do you use to stop or reduce poaching?

The Black Mambas are the eyes and ears of the reserve and we are unarmed. Our tactics are visual policing, early detection, reporting, and gathering the information that helps intelligence and investigation. Our goal is not to catch the poacher inside the reserve, although that does happen, but to prevent poachers from coming into the reserve, which is a much harder thing to do. Constant presence is our tool. We use our tracking phones with a special software for data collection, and radio phones to report the findings and suspicious activities to our ops room.

How much of an impact have you had on anti-poaching? Has your work been effective?

Our work has had a big impact on conservation of nature, and people. The whole innovative approach, where we merge boots on the ground, education, building relationships with communities, food security parcels during the pandemic, empowering young people and women from our communities. We do see the change in people’s mindsets about poaching and women’s role in tackling it. Now people in communities are helpful and supportive.

What happens when a poacher is caught? How are the anti-poaching laws enforced?

When poachers are caught, we arrest them. After that they get detained. We immediately report it to the ops room and the ops room managers send the response team, and the police. After that they get detained. We wait for the further investigation, apprehending and statements to be done. After that the court takes place, and the poacher is convicted.

For more information on The Black Mambas:

Visit Black Mambas page
Bush Babies website
Support the Black Mambas anti-poaching unit

Interview by: Nicole Reggia