South Africa’s First All-Women Anti-Poaching Team

The Black Mambas, founded in 2013, are an all-woman anti-poaching unit that successfully protects wildlife in Balule Wildlife Reserve in Kruger National Park of South Africa. Their mission is to make the park and its surroundings difficult, undesirable, and risky for poachers and to educate the community about the animals. The game reserve is home to all five big game animals: Lions, Leopards, Rhinos, Elephants, and Buffalo. 

The Black Mambas began when the director of the Reserve was looking for a solution to the poaching problem. Knowing the large role women play in the nearby communities in providing care and guidance, he realized these women would extend the same care and guidance at the Reserve if they were given proper training. The Black Mambas are unarmed, and their role is patrolling and identifying poachers’ insurgency through monitoring and surveillance. They are also trained to teach local community school children about environmental conservation to create an environmentally literate community. 

Within 8 months, the Black Mambas cleared all snares on the reserve. The snares are left by poachers to trap animals, causing their death primarily due to dehydration. They detected 68% of poachers encroaching on the reserve. And in 2 years they removed 1000 snares, 5 poacher’s camps and 2 bush kitchens, and aided in the arrest of 6 poachers. 

For many Black Mambas, this is their first job after high school. They not only face dangers from poachers, but also from large wildlife. Within their communities, the Black Mambas have become village heroes.