Perreault Magazine - 68 -
Meet The Black Mambas APU, the first women’s anti-poaching unit based in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Founded in 2013 by Transfrontier Africa, the units patrol and protects the Olifants West Region of Balule Nature Reserve and has expanded to cover the entire Balule area, 400km². There are currently 26 Black Mambas and 23 armed guards that operate along the boundaries and within the reserve. Currently 10 new Black Mambas are being trained to patrol in a neighboring reserve belonging to a local tribe. The main objective is the protection of wildlife, but the Mambas also work to educate the surrounding communities of Balule and the Greater Kruger Park, as they believe the war on poaching will be won through education and not by guns and bullets. There is one dedicated Black Mamba who educates school children in local schools about conservation, poaching and ecology.
A main focus of the Black Mambas is rhino conservation. Through the use of technology, daily monitoring of the rhinos is in real-time, showing the location map of rhinos in the hot-spots and high-risk areas in order to aid in deploying the anti-poaching units effectively to the correct areas. Anti-poaching is a major need in the area and they are constantly plagued by rhino and bush-meat poachers. Apart from antelopes, other endangered species such as wild dogs and cheetah are also sadly the victims of snaring.
The Black Mambas have identified and destroyed over 12 poachers’ camps and 3 bush meat kitchens within the “buffer-zone” as well as reduced snaring and poisoning activities by 76% within their area of operation since their deployment in 2013.