Between the ruthless poachers and their vulnerable prey stands a thin green line of extraordinary men and women.
When a ranger captures or kills a poacher, he and his family can suffer revenge attacks from the poaching syndicate.
When a ranger is incapacitated or killed, his wife, children and extended family are often left destitute.
When wildlife is destroyed, tourism collapses, and local people lose their jobs, food, and income.
The militias that murder, rape and torture do so with weapons financed by poaching.
After the danger, the stillness. A handler and his dog keep the last watch of the night.
Handlers are not simply recruited. They are forged, drawn from the very best community rangers and tested long before they ever meet a dog.
Chosen from the very best of local community rangers.
A rigorous vetting process, including polygraph testing, before they ever meet a dog.
An intensive training course at a dedicated centre in South Africa.SASSETA-accredited · independently assessed
Bonded with the trained canine they will work with, for life.
Ranger and dog return to their home reserve as a single unit.
Ideally, the poacher is stopped before the crime. But even when captured after the event, he yields intelligence, leading to the arrest of those further up the hierarchy.
Each working dog is paired for life with a single ranger. See every unit, the dog and the ranger who handles it.
The men and women who stand between the poachers and the wild.
Every sponsorship directly funds the training, deployment and ongoing care of a working dog and its ranger, and the species they protect.
