It takes a fearless badass to roam South Africa day and night in search of illegal poachers. There’s the wildlife to worry about, and on top of it all, the poachers themselves pose a huge threat. Still yet, it’s a job that must be done, and who better than The Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit?
The Black Mamba is part of the Balule Game Reserve in South Africa and is composed of 26 vigilant females. That’s right, an all women team of anti-poachers. Talk about badass. To add to their already impressive list of girl-power, these women work day and night without any weapons.
Sounds dangerous, right? It is, though the team isn’t without backup. If a poacher with a weapon is spotted, rangers on standby react quickly.
Despite the pay being low, The Black Mamba continue to do what they do, because it’s about the preservation of the rhinos for the generations after, not the money. Doing what is right is one of the more important factors for these women.
In an interview with PBS, Craig Spencer, the Balule warden says, “The women’s ability to pick up those things, you know, to see those subtle differences, is much higher than the men. They’re much more observant. I think men are too interested in riding quad bikes and four-by-fours and carrying big guns and jumping out of helicopters. The women aren’t interested in any of that at all.”
Though this assumption is a far stretch for Spencer (these women might enjoy all of those things), he does make a point. Because women are constantly fighting to be as good as a man in a job assumed to be made for a man, they have to work twice as hard and be twice as vigilant.
“They’re wondering, what kind of women are you doing men’s job?”, says Goodness Mlanga in her interview with PBS. “Yes, I told them that it’s not a man’s job. Anything that a man can do, I can do it.”
You go Black Mamba – keep doing what you do in the fight for equality and the fight against illegal poaching! Watch their story below:
Original article via PBS.
Image via Black Mambas.
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