June 2017| 73
The Black Mambas
(By Theo)
It’s hard to believe that we’re already two weeks into this
ludicrous trip across Africa and have already experienced
so much. From interrogation rooms in Johannesburg
air ort to Charlie driving his first anti- oaching atrol, it’s
been an interesting couple of weeks to say the least.
ur first evening in alule was slightly restless. Having
heard that Craig, the Warden, had woken up to a fully-
grown male lion licking his bed the week before and that
Will, the project manager of the Black Mambas,
had caught a uff adder sneaking under his bed for a
midnight surprise, we were slightly apprehensive as to
what the evening would bring. Luckily the night passed
with little more than the odd hyena cackling in the
bushes and Wadi routinely checking under his bed.
The next day we accompanied Pieter on the early
morning patrol of the perimeter fences and shadowed
the Warden Craig in the afternoon. This involved
digging trenches, filling in dirt roads and viewing some
homemade fireworks via lighting the on-site incinerator.
It was a fantastic introduction to the way in which Balule
Nature Reserve is run. You arrive at any national park or
game reserve expecting to see very little of the top brass,
but Craig was in the thick of it from the word go. Whether
it be filling in the roads, digging trenches or generally
mucking in with the volunteers and us.
Craig leads from the front and has an unprecedented
determination to combat poaching. He brings a unique
way of thinking to the table; one that contradicts many
of the other arguments we have heard since arriving in
SA.
The prevailing view we’ve come across is that trophy
hunting is the only feasible way of ensuring a long-term
future for Africa’s wildlife. Craig quite rightly points
out the very di cult tension in sending locals to rison
for bush meat poaching and allowing people from the
Northern hemis here to kill the big five animals for
a price. What message does that send to the local
community
Craig argues there is another way. One that sees local
communities at the heart of providing a long-term
socially driven solution to the poaching crisis.
That evening we attended a presentation by Craig where
he spoke about how his alternative vision was working
through the Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit.
The mambas are black, female and unarmed. Three
things that couldn’t be less synonymous with anti-
poaching in Sub Saharan Africa. They have reduced
snaring by 80 percent in Balule and play a vital role in
changing perceptions within their communities about the
value of wildlife.