World Female Ranger Week: 5 women leading the way in conservation

Set up by adventurer Holly Budge, founder of anti-poaching charity How Many Elephants, World Female Ranger Week in a new awareness week to both support and celebrate female wildlife rangers who lead the way when it comes to conservation work, and are relatively unsung heroes compared to male rangers.

Last year was the first World Female Ranger Day. After its huge success, it has now transformed into a week of spreading awareness, taking place between 23-30 June in 2022. How Many Elephants said: “One day wasn’t enough for us to cover the many inspirational stories of female rangers.”

The Black Mambas, an all-female anti-poaching unit (Julia Gunther)

Patrolling the forests for Mara Elephant Project (Amish Chhagan)

Female rangers are beacons of hope for women (National Park Rescue)

With less than 11% of the world’s rangers being women, World Female Ranger Week highlights the importance of gender equality in this traditionally male profession. By shining a light on the incredible role models in the industry, the awareness week helps change attitudes towards women. Female rangers are champions of wildlife conservation, educators, and are just as capable and successful in the position as male rangers.

Holly Budge said: “Having patrolled with multiple ranger teams across Africa, I’ve seen first-hand how these bold women are impacting lives; Protecting wildlife, uplifting communities and empowering other women. WFRW highlights the significant gender imbalance in environmental conservation.”

Purnima Barman (Sourced by How Many Elephants)

Working within rural communities in Assam, India, Purnima Barman has grown an ‘army’ of approximately 10,000 women, who have come together to protect a species of bird which is under great threat. The Greater Adjutant stork was largely unloved in the past, with many thinking of it as an ugly, disease ridden pest. Habitat loss, poaching and even poisoning are the human activities which have caused it to rapidly reduce in numbers. But now, thanks to Purnima and the network of women she has grown, the bird is now seen as an icon in local culture, as the word spreads about the importance of conserving this precious, gentle giant.

Caren Yegon Cheptoo (Amish Chhagan)

Caren Yegon Cheptoo is a Maasai woman and a female wildlife ranger working for the Mara Elephant Project. Just 21 years old, she won the first ever World Female Ranger accolade, awarded last year by How Many Elephants. Now, she leads the Sheldrick Trust Mau De-Snaring Unit in Kenya’s Mau forest, policing the area to safeguard elephants against human conflict, such as illegal logging and bushmeat poaching. While out on patrol, Caren and the team have arrested 90 suspects for habitat destruction, destroyed 17 kilns, confiscated 56 bags of charcoal and more than 4,000 illegal posts, trees or timbers… and that’s just to start.

Janet Sakala (Sourced by How Many Elephants)

In Zambia, Janet Sakala works as a ranger and dog handler in the K9 Unit for Conservation in South Luangwa. Janet first became a ranger to provide for her family, after her parents sadly passed away when she was just 15 years old. She is now pleased to be a role model for women in a male-dominated profession. She said: “One of the biggest challenges I face as a female ranger is that my ideas are not always heard. Communities here in Zambia often consider men to be superior to women and can easily discount the views and ideas of women. We know we are sharing this experience, and whilst we have not overcome this challenge, we know we can if we stay strong.”

Sarah Nemigisha (Holly Budge)

At Kibale National Park In Uganda, the chimpanzee population is increasing thanks to rangers like Sarah Nemigisha, working tirelessly to monitor the wildlife and forests, and to educate local communities on conservation. This work has grown a great awareness around protecting chimpanzees, and now poaching has reduced dramatically. She also takes tourists on nature walks to teach them about the primates. ​​​​​​​​“I enjoy being a ranger but there are definitely challenges”, said Sarah. “Sometimes there is harassment, denial of opportunities and promotions, no uniform dresses for pregnant rangers, deployment in hard to reach areas and a lack of gender balance. My message to fellow female rangers is to keep aiming high so that we can encourage younger women to join us and not to be scared to pursue this line of work. I’m very happy and grateful to be a part of World Female Ranger Week.”​​​​​​​​

Tsakane Nxumalo (Rivoni Mkansi)

Proving the critics wrong, Tsakane Nxumalo, has fought for her position as a female ranger. “At first, people were sceptical that we, women, could do this traditionally male job and be good at it. Now we have their full support”, says Tsakane, who is now part of the all-female Black Mambas Anti-Poaching Unit in South Africa. As a ranger, Tsakane faces many dangers on duty, including the possibility of death from poachers and even wild animals. But she and her team are considered role models in their community, showing women are just as capable as men.