The Black Mambas, an all-female anti-poaching unit in South Africa's Greater Kruger National Park, have significantly reduced rhino poaching since their inception in 2013
Comprised of local women, the unit patrols 20,000 hectares, acting as the eyes and ears for the vulnerable rhinos
Their efforts highlight the critical role of community involvement in wildlife conservation
The Greater Kruger National Park in South Africa faces considerable threat in protection and conservation of the rhinoceros, just like Kaziranga and Jaldapara national parks in eastern India.
In recent years, Kruger has been in news for a significant number of rhino poaching cases as well as the inception of anti-poaching measures. The animals are mostly poached for their horns that fetch handsome prices in the international market
In 2013, South African non-profit Transfrontier Africa set up an all-female anti-poaching unit, known as the Black Mambas. As part of this initiative, an African women’s patrol team keeps an eye on 20,000 hectares inside Kruger.
The unit was seen as the right response to escalation of rhino poaching in South Africa. “The new model implied recruitment and training of young rural women who traditionally have been primary care givers and the source of values, morals and ethics in their families,” according to the website of the non-profit that focuses on wildlife conservation.
One of the female guards who works in the Black Mamba unit, 32-year-old Bongani Masingi, told Down To Earth that she grew up watching National Geographic with her siblings. “I always found it an interesting and fascinating exercise. I tried my best to understand animal behaviour from the shows.”
Masingi joined the conservation force after she received a phone call from a woman who worked at a shop that sells electricity utility bills. In South Africa, people can still buy the amount of power they want to use within the household.
“She asked me if I knew candidates willing to appear for interviews for the Transfrontier Africa team which wanted to test and hire potential candidates for ranger positions for the Black Mambas. A few CVs were submitted at that time. She enquired if I knew some women in need of jobs. That is how I joined the group. Later, she remembered me and called up,” Masingi said.
Masingi’s family of nine stays at Makushane village of South Africa. Before working as a ranger for the Black Mambas, the woman in her 30s had attended college and worked as an assistant English teacher for Grades 1, 2 and 3 for six months at a private school, the Bethsaida Christian Academy.
“When I started working for the Black Mambas, my father did not approve as I was to work unarmed. He told me that I cannot be part of job which he considered unsafe.” But that didn't stop her from becoming a part of the team in 2019. “I have learnt that one’s only limitation is oneself.”
The members of the force walk at least 20 kilometres every day. Getting to see wild animals up close during patrols makes her experience worthwhile, she said. “Women like me act as their eyes and ears because these animals cannot vouch for themselves. It is a mutual relationship, as animals help us too. When we work as a team, all of us feel safe.”
Masingi’s colleague Nkateko Mzimba is 33 years old and lives in Hluvukani, which is a rural area. From early on, she was in love with nature and wanted to work as a field guide. “My younger sister was also a Black Mambas’ staff and it inspired me to join.”
Mzimba had a tough life. She is the second born in a family with four children and no father. “My mother raised all of us. For many years, I survived with the help of social grant.” Social grant is a sort of financial help which unemployed people receive from the government every month. “But the paltry amount is not enough for an adult. I was doing matriculation (final year of high school) before I got this job.”
Today, like Masingi, Mzimba is happy to be part of the rhino conversation group. “There are challenges in conservation and the biggest of them is poaching,” she said.
The State of the Rhino 2023 report by the International Rhino Foundation, an American non-profit, showed that poaching threatens all the five rhino species in the world and has increased in areas not previously targeted.
The five rhino species are the Indian (one-horned) rhinoceros, Sumatran rhinoceros, Javan rhinoceros, White rhinoceros and the Black rhinoceros. Kruger has both white and black rhinos.
The report added that though South Africa continues to tackle poaching, there has been a decline in rhino population in Kruger, mainly due to increased security measures.
According to the rhino poaching statistics in 2024 shared on the website of Kruger National Park, there are at present 17,464 White rhinos (near threatened) and 6,421 Black rhinos (critically endangered) left in the world.
Altogether, 229 rhinos have been poached in South Africa from January to June 2024. Of this, 191 animals were killed on state-owned reserves and 38 on private reserves. According to news reports, over 100 rhinos were killed in the first quarter of 2025.
In India’s Jaldapara, the number of rhinos currently stands at 292. It was only 14 in the 1980s. This has been possible due to anti-poaching towers and camps inside the park, which lies in a vulnerable position for being close to the international border.
In Kaziranga, armed guards are authorised to shoot poachers at sight, though the exercise has given rise to ethical questions surrounding the concept of fortress conservation.
In South Africa, the unarmed Black Mambas has achieved a 63 per cent reduction in poaching incidents in their area of operation since being formed, according to Helping Rhinos, a global organisation that works on rhino conservation.
Final summary: Since 2013, the Black Mambas, an all-women anti-poaching unit, have been instrumental in curbing rhino poaching in South Africa's Greater Kruger National Park. These local women patrol vast areas, acting as guardians for rhinos threatened by poaching for their valuable horns. Their success highlights the critical role of community-driven conservation efforts in safeguarding endangered species.