A conservation group has tapped into a seemingly unlikely source as allies in the fight against poaching: women. Transfrontier Africa founded the Black Mamba anti-poaching unit in 2013 and, since then, it has grown from strength to strength.
The organisation said, in response to Daily News’s queries, that the unit was created to protect the Olifants West Region of Balule Nature Reserve.
“We began with a team of six in 2013, and one year later the unit expanded to cover the entire area.”
The reserve, they said, was a component of the Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR) that formed a contractual component of the Greater Kruger National Park.
“This is an open system of about 186 000 hectares, which further joins the 2.8 million hectares of the Kruger National Park. This results in a total of 3 million hectares of unfenced African savannah. We, therefore, supply protection to all the wild animals that roam freely throughout this area.
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We maintain and protect the western boundary fence of the Greater Kruger National Park, a significant barrier between human-wildlife conflict and poachers entering the protected areas network. This fence is under constant attack and requires regular maintenance, day and night patrols and technology to safeguard the Kruger Park.”
The group said the unit was the first of its kind, being that a large number of the team members were women. They were recruited as part of the organisation’s social upliftment programme that aimed to address unemployment and assist with skills development.
It accommodates the 24 women and 25 men from the local community and, while SANParks paid their salaries, Transfrontier Africa was responsible for all other costs, including their training, equipment, uniforms and transport.
“We currently have deployed 26 Black Mambas and a further 23 armed guards that operate within Balule and along its boundaries.”
Anti-poaching, they said, was a major need in the area.
“We are constantly plagued by rhino and bush-meat poachers. Apart from antelopes, other endangered species such as wild dogs and cheetah are also often the victims of snaring.
“Our dedicated teams are constantly deployed and managed, searching for and destroying poachers’ camps, wire-snares and bush-meat kitchens every day. Aerial support, specialist dogs, early detection and rapid response is all that stands between the poachers and our wildlife, and technology is our biggest ally.”
They said rhinos were once abundant throughout Africa and Asia with an approximate worldwide population of 500 000 in the early 20th century.
“Despite intensive conservation efforts, poaching of this iconic species has dramatically increased, pushing the remaining rhinos closer and closer towards extinction. South Africa is home to the majority of rhinos left in the world and is being heavily targeted by poachers,” they said.
If the killing continued at the same rate, rhino deaths would overtake births between 2016 and 2018, they said.
There were different kinds of teams: level 1 guards (who conducted routine foot-patrols, observations, vehicle checks and road blocks); level 2 armed guards (who operated off-reserve as a counter-insurgency measure and consisted of a team of 13 well-trained and experienced armed rangers deployed in the high-risk areas; and level 3 senior management (responsible for deployment strategies and networking).
“All armed and unarmed units have had the highest level of training and includes advanced weapons handling, high-level fitness, ambush protocol, observation protocol, arrest and seizure protocols and basic military discipline.”
The team has identified and destroyed more than 10 poachers’ camps and three bush-meat kitchens, and reduced snaring and poisoning activities by 76% within their area of operation since 2013.