The Thin Green Line – World Ranger Day

July 31, 2025/Angus Begg/

Today is World Ranger Day. There are so many ‘World Whatever Days’ that I find most fly past unnoticed. However the statistics just released by the International Ranger Federation give pause for thought;

‘Killed by mining mafia’ in India. ‘Conflict Zone homicides’ in the DR Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria and Benin. ‘Shot by poachers’ in Zimbabwe. ‘Collapsed firefighting’ in Thailand. ‘Responding to incident’ in Iran. ‘Killed by loggers’ in Pakistan.

The health of our natural world, especially wildlife and the wild areas it inhabits, would be described as critical if it was laid out on a hospital bed. The rangers who protect the animals and wild spaces are the band-aids we apply.

Context

With numerous stories, an iBook and a TV doccie on poaching behind me, I think of the poaching syndicates’ sophisticated weaponry and helicopters with which these men, and increasingly women (such as the private sector Black Mambas in the Greater Kruger and Akashinga in Zimbabwe) are faced.

But it’s rangers in the service of national parks who are most at risk, such as the image I took below of a random ranger in Hwange National Park. Often they patrol solo, with outdated weapons and sometimes no radio. If this ranger noted a vehicle with four suspicious occupants, what could he do?

Roll of Honour

A colleague in conservation posted the below graphic yesterday of a Roll of Honour of rangers who died or were killed in the line of duty. He gave me permission to share it.

“This is a day close to my heart because eight of my guys have featured on this Roll through the years (2 killed by elephant, 1 killed by lion, 1 in a car accident on duty and, very sadly, 4 took their own lives).

South Africa “only” lost one Ranger on duty this past year but what isn’t recorded here are the life changing injuries that some have endured in the line of duty.

Sadly “Conflict Zone Homicide” is becoming a more frequent cause of death on duty every year, particularly in Africa. Rangers are the last to leave their areas of duty, long after the NGOs, politicians and tourists have abandoned the wildlife and wild lands to the mercy of militias and zealots.”