Zimbabwe’s women-only rangers fight poachers and poverty

Sharai Tunhira frowns with focus as she runs through drills with her all-female patrol team, each woman armed and ready for the many men they catch poaching wildlife in their corner of northern Zimbabwe.       

Despite the risks of the job, she says joining the military-style unit has given her the chance to protect the wildlife she loves while also earning a decent livelihood in a rural area where many poor women struggle to make ends meet.

“Here I am occupied and empowered. I do not depend on a man to survive,” said Tunhira, 25, who joined the team in 2021 after years eking out a living as a cleaner and vegetable seller.

The Akashinga unit — aka “The Brave Ones” in the Shona language — says it aims to change the face of conservation as the country’s first armed, all-women antipoaching unit.

The unit is a rarity in a sector dominated by men. Oly one in five African rangers is female, according to a 2016 World Wildlife Fund survey. 

Established in 2017 by Damien Mander, an Australian former commando soldier, Akashinga has grown to 200 heavily armed rangers who patrol eight reserves in the Lower Zambezi Valley under contracts with three district councils.

Zimbabwe is home to about 80,000 elephants, close to a fifth of Africa’s total, conservationists estimate. Numbers have declined sharply in recent years, mostly due to poaching, illegal hunting and drought.

The Zambezi Valley, which spans the border with Zambia, is home to thousands of elephants as well as lions and cheetahs.

Military-style units such as Akashinga are controversial. Some conservationists say armed rangers using battle tactics have harmed and intimidated local residents in wildlife areas and fail to deal with the root causes of poaching.

Akashinga is part of the International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF), a nonprofit founded in 2009 by Mander. The IAPF says the unit focuses on protecting wildlife via community engagement, from improving sanitation to creating jobs.

The IAPF did initially focus on defending the area it protected but such criticism is outdated, Mander said, after a shift to recognising conservation as a social issue that involves educating and empowering the community.

“We used to be an organisation that was extremely law- enforcement focused ... We had helicopters, drones and military hardware,” he said. “We do not have that now. This is less antagonistic.”

He defended the Akashinga unit’s continued use of semi-automatic and bolt action rifles as there is a real threat of poachers being armed with automatic weapons and the women should be prepared for the worst.

“For us not to train the rangers, whether men or women, to deal with the threat they will face will be irresponsible. We will be sending them to danger,” he said.

Having women as rangers “generally de-escalates tension”, said Mander, while teams that work in their home communities help foster productive relationships with residents.

The IAPF says since 2017, Akashinga rangers have made more than 300 arrests without firing a shot and helped drive an 80% downturn in elephant poaching in the Zambezi Valley, while wildlife sightings are up almost 400%.

Its figures could not be independently verified but Ability Gandawa, a legislators for Hurungwe North, which includes the Phundundu Wildlife Park, said animal sightings have increased.

What is not in doubt is the benefit to the women rangers, who include survivors of domestic abuse, child brides, and girls who dropped out of school.

Rangers earn the equivalent of $300 to $1,500 per month, a good salary in a country where teachers earn an average of $120 per month.

Margaret Darawanda, another ranger and a single mother, recalled life prepatrol when she depended on her mother, herself a poor farmer.

“The opportunity of becoming a ranger came when I needed it the most,” she said.

Mander said 95% of 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 IAPF aims to grow Akashinga to 1,000 rangers protecting 20 nature reserves by 2026.

Some said the unit gives them a safe haven and a sense of solidarity as they support each other.

Esther Goboza, 22, applied to join the rangers to escape an abusive marriage. “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.

Tracy Mukuni, 32, quit her police job to join the unit as a trainer. “It was about my passion to help my fellow women to achieve their goals,” said Mukuni, a sergeant instructor who trains rangers in fitness, bush survival skills and ethics.

“Out there they come face to face with armed poachers who are strong ... These women need to be brave and skilled to protect wildlife. They also need to look after each other.”

Thomson Reuters Foundation