Meet the First Female Rangers to Guard One of World’s Deadliest ParksBy Jessica Hatcher via
Meet the First Female Rangers to Guard One of World’s Deadliest Parks By Jessica Hatcher via National GeographicAfrican buffaloes are notoriously aggressive and known to kill people. So when wildlife ranger Aline Masika Kisamya Kisamya came face-to-face with one in the dense forest here, she froze.And then calmly, quietly, she began to retreat without turning her back. She wasn’t afraid, the 26-year old says: “This is what I’ve been taught to do.”Virunga National Park, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is the most diverse in Africa. Its 3,000 square miles (7,800 square kilometers) embrace forests, snowfields, savanna grasslands, and volcanoes active and dormant.It’s also home to some 300 mountain gorillas—more than a quarter of those that remain on the planet. Beneath Virunga’s surface lies a wealth of minerals and oil, coveted by multinational companies. (Read about the battle to save war-torn Virunga.)Being a ranger, or “gardien du parc,” in Virunga’s paramilitary conservation brigade is one of the most prestigious jobs in Eastern Congo. It’s also considered the most dangerous job in wildlife: Since 1996, more than 150 Virunga rangers have been killed in the line of duty.Women had applied before to become Virunga rangers, but none had passed the rigorous selection process and subsequent training—until January 2014, when Kisamya and her cohort of three other women officially began their duties.Continue reading on National Geographic -- source link
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