A couple of days ago one of our teams saved a very young Leopard Tortoise. Small creatures like tortoises are often get stuck under the electric fence, if they are a little bigger than the one in the photographs. We are redirecting them so that they do not get hit by electric fence and do not get under the car on public road. Big trucks don't see small animals like that, and the reality is that trucks are commuting between Phalaborwa and Hoedspruit all the time. By the way, Leopard Tortoises are part of famous African Small Five along with Elephant Shrew, Rhino Beetle, Ant Lion and Red-Billed Buffalo Weaver). Thank you to The Black Mambas teams for your work, and for the photographs from the field.

Good morning to all of you! Today has started with a wonderful, peaceful and blissful scene of elephants passing by one of our HQ in the reserve. Elephants are the largest terrestrial animals on planet Earth, yet they are vulnerable when it comes to humans. It is such moments that remind us how things should be. We are on standby 24/7. Thank you to all of you for your support. Video: Yenzekile Mathebula

A recent snare sweeping operation revealed some terrifying results: huge wire snares have been set by poachers, presumably for Hippos or Giraffes. Thank you everyone for your team work in removing them.

It was such a privilege hosting Lewyn Maefala, from @theblackmambas last week in the UK. 🇬🇧 Over the course of 4 days, we had a whistle stop tour across the South of England starting in my home city, Winchester. It was Lewyn’s first trip overseas and as I pulled up to meet her at the train station, I could see her brimming with excitement! We swept across the English countryside, eventually winding our way up a three mile driveway to @ditchamparkschool in Petersfield. It really is like something straight out of Harry Potter! As we took to the stage, 140 excited students welcomed us. I set the scene by sharing my journey of founding @howmanyelephants & @worldfemalerangerweek, and what led me to patrolling on the front line with Africa first all-female anti-poaching team. Lewyn was brilliantly dynamic and interactive with the students, talking about why it’s so important to connect with nature. Lewyn runs @the_bushbabies Programme, the educational arm of the Black Mambas Ranger team. Each week, Lewyn and her small team teach around 1600 children in disadvantaged schools in rural communities. Their pupils learn about protecting the wildlife and their natural heritage. Our next stop was @cheltladiescoll, a firm favourite on my list of educational institutions to speak at. The architecture is grand but the atmosphere down-to-earth and welcoming. Lewyn and I kicked the day off with an assembly Q&A on the big stage. We did a further 8 talks throughout the day, covering everything from the geography of the Kruger National Park to female empowerment and Black History Month. We then did an evening Q&A with an intimate audience of students and their parents. It was a mammoth effort but totally enjoyable and worthwhile. We loved it! As we took a deep breath at the end of the evening, still buzzing with excitement, we had to get back on the road to get Lewyn to London Heathrow to catch her flight back to SA. Our hearts were full with the enthusiasm we had received from the schools and their desire and determination to help make a difference. ❤️ (Side note: Sir David Attenborough was a cardboard cutout! 😅)

African sunset is always a perfect background for the shots like that. This is the magic for you, if you are looking for one right now. Video: @bagualvanny04

The most rewarding thing for an educator or a mentor is to see the growth and success of the students. On Friday our Sergeant Tsakane Nxumalo graduated from @wildlifecollege where she had studied Field Ranger Law Enforcement - Armed for 6 weeks. It was Tsakane's personal initiative to go through this training and we are also very proud to tell you that she was granted a bursary by The College do study. The training was both hard and easy. The harderst moments, according to Tsakane, were disciplining older people, sleeping 4-5 hours a day, waking up in the middle of the night for emergencies, and doing PT every single morning with 1000 of push ups (ok may be 100:) without any chance of being late! If late, punishment would follow. The road to success goes through self discipline and perseverance. There were many women at the training. They all pushed through and graduated. Slowly and surely we are indeed closing the gap in men/women ratio in the ranger workforce in Africa. Still long way to go, but all we need is to stay focused, consistent and confident in our success. Congratulations, Sergeant! Stay tuned for more from the graduation ceremony.

How about a career in the Wildlife Sector? Join The Girl Child webinar on Wednesday 11 October from 09h00 to 13h00 SAT and meet young girls who will share their experience as guides, game trackers, or nature conservationists, and explain the opportunities available on the “wild” side. Our Environmental Educator and The Project Manager of The Bush Babies Environmental Education Program Lewyn Maefala is going to be the lead speaker on the topic! Click here to register: LINK IN BIO Thank you to Good Governance Africa for organizing it! Photo: Dale Rio Photography

Another great event that is happening now, as you are reading this: @theblackmambas supervisor @leitahmkhabela has joined @rhinomanthemovie team, @theglobalconservationcorps and @ort_027_ , Head Ranger at @timbavati_pnr in The USA, for The Jackson Wild Summit held in @grandtetonnps . @rhinomanthemovie has been nominated as a finalist in 2 categories in this prestigious Jackson Wild Media Awards. The movie is dedicated to the story of the late Anton Mzimba, who was assasinated in July 2022 by, as we suspect, poachers group in his own house, and the film, therefore is a powerful tribute to Anton, all the rangers who have lost their lives in the line of duty, and all the rangers who work long days and nights putting their lives at risk every time they go out on patrol to protect wildlife. Leitah is @theblackmambas Ambassador, one of not many women who joined ranger workforce a decade ago to do the same. As a woman, who is also a mother, Leitah represents all the women rangers out there who have gone through challenges of training and finding her voice in a man dominated industry. We are thanking @rhinomanthemovie , @theglobalconservationcorps , @tfafrica for making this trip happen.

Before the #GlobalGalaForRhinos 2023 with Peter Eagan, @meganmccubbinwild , Samuel Mutisya and @helpingrhinos team. Stay tuned for more updates from the event!

Three hours to go until The Global Gala for Rhinos!

Black Mambas' Crime Prevention Unit has found 15 snares in one area! This is a new hot spot and we will be monitoring the situation further. Thank you

@katrinklewitz @iwanbikes @royalenfield_muenchen on #oneride2023 in Munich, Germany. In support of @The Black Mambas and women empowerment in ranger workforce.