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Sharon Mumbi (unseen), 21, a member of Team Lioness is greeted by singing relatives as she arrives at her parents' home for the start of her sabbatical in Endoinyoenkai on February 29, 2024. - For the members of Team Lioness, keeping track of wildlife and fighting poaching is their main responsibility.
But for many of the rangers, battling age-old prejudices within the Maasai community, semi-nomadic herders living in southwest Kenya and northern Tanzania, is no less difficult than tackling poaching. 
While Maasai men no longer need to kill a lion to prove their virility in a coming-of-age ceremony, many other patriarchal traditions are still practised, despite being illegal. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)

Article (news)

Women rangers fight poachers and prejudice in Kenya

Agence France-Presse

<div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:498px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/Screen Shot 2024-03-07 at 6.21.02 PM.png" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">Sharon Mumbi (unseen), 21, a member of Team Lioness is greeted by singing relatives as she arrives at her parents&#x27; home for the start of her sabbatical in Endoinyoenkai on February 29, 2024. For the members of Team Lioness, keeping track of wildlife and fighting poaching is their main responsibility.</span></span></span></span></div><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">Under the blazing Kenyan sun, Maasai women patrol the vast plains in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, determined to tackle poachers and patriarchal prejudices.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">As the unarmed members of Team Lioness move stealthily across the land bordering the famous Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya, one of them signals to the others to stop.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">Just then, a giraffe appears, head bobbing above the trees, followed by a second.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">One of the rangers grabs a walkie talkie: &quot;We saw 28 antelopes, 18 zebras and six giraffes.&quot;</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">Keeping track of wildlife and fighting poaching is their main responsibility.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">&quot;In 2022, we arrested a man... who just butchered a giraffe,&quot; says Purity Lakara, who heads the team.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">But for many of the rangers, battling age-old prejudices within the Maasai community, semi-nomadic herders living in southwest Kenya and northern Tanzania, is no less difficult than tackling poaching.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">While Maasai men no longer need to kill a lion to prove their virility in a coming-of-age ceremony, many other patriarchal traditions, such as child marriage and female genital mutilation, are still practised, despite being illegal.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/amazing-women">Amazing Women: An ABS-CBN News Digital Special</a></div><div><strong>CHANGE THE PERCEPTION</strong></div><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">&quot;My community believes that a woman cannot do a physically demanding job,&quot; said Lakara, 27, listing the duties commonly assigned to Maasai women.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">&quot;A woman is only supposed to be staying at home, giving birth, milking the cows and goats, going for firewood and water,&quot; she told AFP.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">&quot;I wanted to become a ranger to change the perception of my community,&quot; she said.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">Most members of Team Lioness told AFP they faced a tough time convincing their family to support their ambitions.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">Sharon Nankinyi, 23, said her parents told her it was &quot;impossible&quot;, urging her to find contentment in household chores and motherhood.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">But Nankinyi persevered, along with the other women.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">&quot;We came back to the community and we proved (it to) them because they saw us with the uniforms, they saw us as we walked long distances,&quot; she said, describing herself as &quot;a brave lady, a Maasai, who has become a ranger&quot;.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">Naiswaku Parsitau, a 70-year-old Maasai community leader, told AFP she had doubts when the idea was first floated in 2019, but has since changed her mind.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">Looking at her herd of goats grazing outside Risa, a small village of around 500 inhabitants, Parsitau said she had seen hyenas roaming nearby -- a source of sleepless nights.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">&quot;When we have those issues, we call the rangers and they patrol at night to protect the animals,&quot; she said.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">&quot;They help us a lot and they can inspire other women.&quot;</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">Fellow herder Saitrbru Kimakori, 39, told AFP he initially &quot;doubted that the girls could succeed&quot;.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">&quot;We believed only men could deal with lions, elephants, and incidents at night,&quot; he said.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">But he conceded: &quot;They have been showing up even when called at 2:00 am at night, following up when told that lions have crossed a road or told that a cow has gotten lost somewhere.&quot;</p><div><strong>&#x27;A ROLE MODEL&#x27;</strong></div><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">The 17 women are not part of the government-run Kenya Wildlife Service. Team Lioness was created by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which pays the rangers&#x27; salaries.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">&quot;At the beginning, there was resistance, men did not want to see women in uniforms, and it was a mountain to climb to prove that they were capable,&quot; said James Isiche, director for IFAW Africa.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">But in the tiny Maasai village of Endoinyoenkai, gender stereotypes are slowly being banished, with community leader Kenneth Saei, 56, loudly proclaiming his support for the initiative.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">&quot;In every profession, there are women,&quot; he told AFP.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">&quot;In engineering there are women, in law there are women, even the pilots who shoot (at) other countries, there are women -- so why not this profession?&quot;</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">At 21, Sharon Mumbi, the &quot;only female ranger&quot; from the village, was the cynosure of all eyes as she swapped her khaki uniform for traditional Maasai garb.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">She told AFP she wanted other women to follow her path and live a &quot;more empowered&quot; life.</p><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">&quot;I can say I am a role model,&quot; she  smiled.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/3/4/meralco-s-linewomen-climb-up-a-male-dominated-career-1842">#AmazingWomen: Meralco’s linewomen climb up a male-dominated career</a></div><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/3/4/pal-launches-9-all-women-crew-flights-2014">#AmazingWomen: PAL launches 9 flights with all-women pilots and crew</a></div><p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- line-height:1.3;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;widows:2">© Agence France-Presse</p><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>For many women rangers in Kenya, battling age-old prejudices within the Maasai community, semi-nomadic herders living in southwest Kenya and northern Tanzania, is no less difficult than tackling poaching.</p>

For many women rangers in Kenya, battling age-old prejudices within the Maasai community, semi-nomadic herders living in southwest Kenya and northern Tanzania, is no less difficult than tackling poaching.

Women rangers fight poachers and prejudice in Kenya

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Women rangers fight poachers and prejudice in Kenya

Agence France-Presse,

Dylan Gamba

Published Mar 07, 2024 06:39 PM PHT

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