World Ranger Day commemorates rangers killed or injured in the line of duty, and celebrates the work they do protecting the world’s natural and cultural heritage. It is observed annually on July 31, though rangers do this meaningful work year-round.
In the dry heat of Zimbabwe’s Phundundu Wildlife Area, a region known for its high levels of poaching, a group of women in fatigues moves silently through the bush—the Akashinga Rangers, an all-female anti-poaching unit. Armed, trained and determined, they are part of a quiet revolution: women taking center stage in protecting some of the world’s most vulnerable ecosystems.
The women of Akashinga (akashinga meaning “the brave ones”) are credited with significant reductions in poaching, making over 1,000 arrests, removing thousands of snares and drastically reducing incidents of poaching in their patrol areas. But their role extends far beyond conservation.
Becoming game rangers has empowered them and their communities, providing them with economic opportunities and giving them a sense of ownership in conservation efforts. Many have purchased property, built homes and sent their children to school full time. They’re also obtaining driver’s licenses, enrolling in college and finishing degrees. “We are not just protecting wildlife, we are changing communities,” Sergeant Petronella Chigumbura, deputy Akashinga ranger supervisor, tells me when we chat. “When we wear this uniform, we are respected. That respect is powerful.”
Akashinga operate in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana, though primarily in the Phundundu Wildlife Area in Zimbabwe’s Lower Zambezi Valley. There is currently no formal accommodation within the Phundundu Wildlife Area itself, though there are several safari lodges within nearby Mana Pools National Park.
Further south in South Africa’s Greater Kruger region, the Black Mambas, the world’s first all-female anti-poaching unit, patrol the 49,000-acre Balule Nature Reserve. Without weapons, they rely instead on visibility, education and physical presence to disrupt illegal activity. Established in 2013, the unit has helped reduce snaring and bushmeat poaching by over 60% and has won international accolades, including the United Nations’ Champions of the Earth award. To meet the Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit (APU) in Kruger National Park, Pondoro Game Lodge offer a tour of the Black Mamba Anti Poaching Unit.
Once nearly absent from conservation fieldwork, female rangers worldwide are increasingly reshaping the profession. From the wilds of Africa to the forests of India and the reefs of the Red Sea, female rangers are challenging gender norms, restoring degraded ecosystems and proving that women can lead, and lead well, in one of the world’s most demanding fields.
Saudi Arabia’s Pioneering Sea Rangers Move From Foot Patrols To Marine Protection
A striking example of this shift comes from Saudi Arabia, where, to mark World Ranger Day 2025, the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve launched the Middle East’s first all-female marine ranger corps, a historic milestone for conservation in the region. Until now, women rangers in the Kingdom had worked primarily on land; this initiative extends their presence to sea, where they now patrol close to a million acres of Red Sea coastline.
Led by Dominique du Toit, a South African conservationist with decades of experience, the program has already recruited and trained seven sea rangers to safeguard coral reefs, Hawksbill turtle nesting sites and dugong habitats. “This has been an incredible accomplishment,” du Toit emails me. “These rangers can be proud of the challenges they have overcome.” One such ranger is Ruqayyah Awadh AlBalawi, who joined the program without previous swimming experience. “I discovered a whole new world underwater,” she messages. “I dream of the day when a woman is skipper of the Reserve’s patrol boat.”
The Reserve is already setting new benchmarks, with women now making up 34% of its 246-strong ranger force, well above the global average of just 11%. “The conservation industry globally is known for gender imbalance, especially in marine sectors,” Andrew Zaloumis, CEO of PMBSRR emails. “We’re not just closing the gap; we’re building a model that others can follow.”
Beyond enforcing environmental laws, these rangers are helping Saudi Arabia reach its ambitious Vision 2030 targets, including conserving 30% of the Kingdom’s land and sea and rewilding endangered native species such as oryx and sand gazelle. The marine rangers are not just protecting biodiversity, they’re changing expectations of who conservation is for.
The Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Royal Reserve is located south of Neom, in north-western Saudi Arabia and day visitors are welcome. There’s a good public road network and most areas of the reserve are open to the public.
India’s Hargila Army Shows Grassroots Female Leadership In Action
Thousands of miles away in India, Dr Purnima Devi Barman is leading a different kind of ranger revolution. Her brainchild, the Hargila Army or “Stork Sisters” movement, is an all-female community group that has transformed the conservation narrative around the endangered greater adjutant stork (known locally as “hargila”). Once considered a disease-carrying pest and bad omen and threatened by habitat loss, poaching and poisoning the adjutant stork is coming back from the brink of extinction thanks to the Hargila Army.
In a country where female ranger roles are relatively rare and regularly undervalued, the Hargila Army has flipped the narrative, showing that community-based, female-led conservation can yield long-lasting results. Their intervention has helped triple local stork populations and transformed the bird’s image.
Barman began working with rural communities in Assam, adopting and celebrating the bird. From small beginnings, she’s built a network of rural women, all committed to protecting the stork. Instead of using combat, these women use compassion, focusing on building trust—hosting baby showers for storks, protecting nesting trees and integrating stork conservation into everyday village life. What was once a one-woman campaign has grown to a network of over 20,000 women, many of whom are now de facto wildlife rangers in their own right, monitoring nests, patrolling wetlands and educating future generations. “Many women join because it is a matter of prestige to be a part of the Hargila Army,” Barman mentions when we talk.
Many of the members of the Hargila Army belong to villages like Dadara, Pacharia, and Singimari, in the Kamrup district of the Brahmaputra Valley. These villages are known for their Greater Adjutant storks, with some sizable nesting colonies. The best time to visit, for those wishing to see the storks, is during their breeding season, typically from December to February.
The Next Generation Of Leaders On Patrol In Zambia
In Zambia’s Luangwa Valley, conservation scientist Thandiwe Mweetwa is mentoring the next generation of female wildlife leaders through the Women in Wildlife Conservation Training Program. Initiated by the Zambian Carnivore Programme in 2017, WIWC provides hands-on training, mentorship and career development opportunities for women pursuing careers in what is a traditionally male-dominated field. The program addresses the historical underrepresentation of women in conservation, particularly in field-based roles.
Mweetwa’s work involves radio-collaring lions and African wild dogs, analyzing human-wildlife conflict and mentoring girls in local schools to pursue careers in conservation. “I want girls to know that science and conservation are not just for men,” she tells me when we meet up. “We need women in the bush. We bring a different perspective.”
A number of the safari lodges in South Luangwa National Park are involved with the Zambian Carnivore Programme’s Luangwa Valley Carnivore Monitoring Project, a citizen scientist initiative where guides, guests and lodge owners report important wildlife sightings and any poaching related incidents. It’s a good way for visitors to get involved in the collection of data on threatened species in the park’s vast landscapes.
Why Female Rangers Matter—Now More Than Ever
The rapid rise of women in conservation roles is not just about equality, it’s about effectiveness. Studies by the Universal Ranger Support Alliance, Transparency International, World Wildlife Fund and the Anti Corruption Resource Alliance, along with papers from Frontiers in Conservation Science, show that mixed or female-led teams tend to be less prone to corruption, more engaged with community education and often more successful at de-escalating potentially violent encounters with poachers. While women are still underrepresented in ranger work, their impact punches far above their numbers. In many parts of the world, female rangers serve not just as environmental protectors, but also as community leaders, role models and agents of economic empowerment.
Despite the progress, challenges remain. But the tide is turning. From India’s grassroots wetlands to the coral reefs of the Red Sea and the wilderness of Africa, women are leading a new kind of conservation, one that is inclusive, locally grounded and future-facing. Ranger organizations and governments must now not only invest in recruitment, but also in retention, offering maternity support, secure housing, leadership development and equal pay. As Zaloumis of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve puts it: “Women bring essential skills to conservation, and we’re only beginning to see what’s possible when they’re given the chance.”
The role of female rangers is strategic in addition to symbolic. Women are more than patrolling the wild, they’re reshaping it.