Meet eight Maasai rangers – the trailblazing women in their families who are now leading the fight against poaching in Kenya's Amboseli National Park

After more than four months, Maasai ranger Purity Lakara, who guards the vast lands of Amboseli National Park – famous for its roaming elephants and breathtaking views of Mount Kilimanjaro – is thrilled to finally return home to her family after the pandemic's lockdowns.

'I’ve missed the simple joys – sharing meals, playing with my little girl, fetching water for my mother, and even helping my brothers herd the cattle. I’ve missed everything we do together when I’m at home,' she reflects.

At 23, Lakara is part of a pioneering group of eight women – the first in their families to secure jobs – who form Team Lioness within the Olugului Community Wildlife Rangers (OCWR).

The rangers patrol the expansive Olugului/Olarashi Group Ranch (OOGR), a 580-square-mile tract of community-owned land that nearly surrounds Amboseli National Park, located 134 miles southeast of Nairobi.

When Kenya closed its borders and tourism along with local livestock markets collapsed, the OCWR cancelled all leave and ordered its rangers, including Team Lioness, to remain at their posts to safeguard wildlife from poachers. Now, as the country reopens and tourists return, the rangers can finally go home, returning in pairs.

On July 29, Lakara was warmly welcomed back to Meshenani by her neighbors and family, who sang and clapped as they escorted her home, with her 2-year-old daughter in her arms.

'My mother told me how happy she is now that I’m back. She said they’ve been waiting for this day, so they’re all here around me, celebrating and enjoying the moment,' says Lakara, who is the primary provider for her family of 11.

The Birth of Team Lioness

Team Lioness was founded by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in early 2019, following a challenge from Maasai leader Kiruyan Katamboi, also known as Mama Esther, who encouraged the organization to hire women from the local community as wildlife rangers.

In Maasai communities, where patriarchal traditions prevail, women are typically excluded from leadership and decision-making roles. The ranger unit tasked with patrolling the Group Ranch had always been male-dominated.

Christopher Kiarie, IFAW’s program operations and grants manager, shares that while IFAW was eager to support the initiative, many men within the OCWR and the broader community doubted women could handle the demanding work. The vast community lands, nearly half the size of Rhode Island, require rangers to patrol up to 12 miles of tough terrain, often under harsh conditions.

Unlike the armed Kenya Wildlife Service, the OCWR rangers patrol Amboseli National Park unarmed, relying on their skills to navigate dangerous wildlife or confront hostile individuals. They call for backup from KWS if a situation escalates.

Even the women selected for Team Lioness, one from each of the community’s eight clans, initially questioned their ability to succeed in the role.

'I used to think I wouldn’t make it,' confesses ranger Sharon Nankinyi. 'But after our training, we became incredibly strong women. We showed the community that anything a man can do, a woman can do even better.'

Challenging Work

Under normal circumstances, Team Lioness rangers work a three-week shift, rotating through the OCWR’s six camps and mobile unit, followed by one week off.

A typical day starts at 5 a.m. with a run and breakfast, followed by a briefing and a four-hour morning patrol. Depending on their duties, the rangers may spend the afternoon on base, ready to respond to any emergency calls, before wrapping up with a debrief of the day’s activities.

Aside from having separate sleeping and bathing quarters, the women perform the same duties as their 68 male colleagues, often working together in mixed-gender patrol teams of varying sizes.

They track wildlife movements and behaviors, engage with local community members to gather information on suspicious activities, and step in whenever assistance is needed – whether it's helping a baby elephant stuck in a muddy waterhole or locating children who have wandered too far from home.

While two-thirds of the male rangers in the unit are illiterate, the members of Team Lioness are highly educated, with qualifications equivalent to a high school diploma. They excel at writing essential reports for IFAW's 'tenBoma' approach to wildlife security, which combines local intelligence with data analysis and partners with NGOs, ranger teams, community members, and Interpol.

OCWR's Director of Operations, Patrick Papatiti, observes that as the team works to convince community members to stop hunting lions or hyenas that have killed livestock, the male rangers – who were selected for their status as the community's top warriors – have developed a more positive attitude toward working alongside women.

'I can clearly see that the men now view them as colleagues,' he remarks.

The Risks of Being a Ranger

Being a wildlife ranger anywhere in the world is an inherently challenging and dangerous job.

Every year on July 31, the International Ranger Federation and Thin Green Line Foundation observe World Ranger Day, honoring the rangers and their colleagues who lost their lives in the line of duty over the past year.

Of the 138 ranger deaths recorded in this year’s honor roll, nearly one-third were homicides. The list also includes fatalities from natural causes, drownings, wildlife attacks, vehicle accidents, and, for the first time in 2020, Covid-19, which claimed the lives of five rangers.

The pandemic has made the challenges faced by Team Lioness even more difficult.

The steep decline in tourism revenue – with Amboseli National Park’s income dropping by over 90%, according to Kiarie – led to a reduction in patrols by government-funded agencies in the region.

Because the OCWR’s funding from IFAW is based on donations, it was less impacted. As a result, the community rangers increased their efforts to fill the void left by the cutbacks. During a week of heightened poaching risk, Team Lioness ramped up patrols from one or two per day to three, covering over 35 miles on foot collectively.

Social distancing has made it difficult for rangers to meet with community members and gather vital intelligence about potential poaching activities or resolve ongoing issues. This challenge is further exacerbated by poor cell reception on community lands, a problem worsened by the rainy season.

When the camp’s solar panels are unable to generate power, rangers must turn off their phones to conserve battery, reducing their chances of receiving timely information about poaching incidents – a situation made even more urgent as many people have sold off their livestock and are feeling the strain of hardship.

“Since the pandemic began, bushmeat poaching has increased as people have lost their jobs. They end up killing gazelles and giraffes to feed their children,” explains ranger Nankinyi.

In April, after receiving a tip from the local community, the OCWR deployed a patrol that included three members of Team Lioness. They uncovered that four men had killed a giraffe the previous day, cooked the meat, and left what they couldn't eat to retrieve later. The rangers called in KWS for backup and set up an ambush. When the men returned, they were apprehended.

“It’s deeply troubling when the very people you work alongside, teaching them about the importance of wildlife, end up being the ones responsible for killing those same animals,” says Ruth Sikeita, one of the rangers at the scene.

Papatiti notes that while bushmeat poaching has steadily risen, elephant poaching for ivory has seen a sharp decline. He estimates that from the establishment of the OCWR in 2010 to the start of IFAW’s support in 2018, three to five elephants were poached annually on community lands. Since then, only one elephant has been lost, and there have been no further elephant killings on the Group Ranch.

“Our success can be attributed to the commitment of our rangers and the strong relationship we’ve built with the community, which is our key source of intelligence,” says Papatiti.

Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic

The members of Team Lioness face the same Covid-19 concerns as many others, adding extra pressure to their already demanding work.

As of September 4, Johns Hopkins University reported 34,884 confirmed cases of Covid-19 across Kenya, with 584 related deaths.

The WHO did not provide specific data for Amboseli, but Papatiti estimates that there have been 17 reported cases and five deaths in the area, although no figures are available for the community ranch itself.

To protect rangers from Covid-19, IFAW supplies them with masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer before they return to their home villages. If any ranger shows signs of illness, the OCWR has arranged for staff from a nearby hospital to conduct tests at the base.

With Kenya gradually reopening – interregional travel resumed in July and international flights restarted on August 1 – local communities are concerned that the influx of people, particularly those from abroad, could pose a health risk.

“We’ve been watching on TV and hearing that Europe and the US are the hardest hit, so we fear they might bring the virus here,” says Ruth Sikeita.

There are other pandemic-related consequences as well. With schools closed for so long, many children may be forced to drop out of the education system to support their families. Some young women, uncertain about the future, may even marry earlier than planned.

“It’s heartbreaking. We need these girls to get an education so they can join Team Lioness,” says Nankinyi.

On a personal level, the rangers express that the most challenging part has been the prolonged separation from their families.

A changing community

Back in her village, reunited with her two children, Ruth Sikeita marvels at how much her 8-year-old daughter, Priscilla, has grown and how her 3-year-old son, Bonham, has started speaking more. She expresses gratitude to her mother-in-law, who supports wildlife protection efforts, for taking care of her children while she was on duty.

“They’re very healthy now, as you can see,” she says, gently pinching her son's arm. “They’re well-groomed. I’m thankful to her, and to the entire community,”

Team Lioness' achievements have not only shifted perceptions of the OCWR but are also challenging traditional gender roles within the community.

“Previously, we weren’t allowed to speak with the men or sit at the table with our fathers, let alone share meals together,” says Nankinyi.

“We used to think we were of no value to the community, relegated only to fetching water or giving birth. But now, we’ve shattered that misconception and proven we can work alongside men,”

As they look forward to life after the pandemic, Team Lioness members are eager to continue expanding their skills and making a positive impact on the community. Christopher Kiarie mentions that IFAW will partner with telecom companies and local authorities to enhance communication coverage across community lands, and a radio system, funded by the EU, will soon be deployed for the rangers’ use.

“Once the radio system is up and running, communication among the community rangers will improve significantly,” he says.

Each member of Team Lioness is eager to see more women joining their team.

“In the community, there are many women who admire this job, so I’m confident that if the opportunity arises, even more women will apply. We’ll see a larger turnout than expected,” says Purity Lakara, who adds that she hopes the number of female rangers will match or even surpass the number of men.

Papatiti also hopes to recruit more women into the ranks.

“The final number will depend on funding availability. Once I get the green light, I’ll kick off the recruitment process,” he says.