| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (26 min. 6 sec.) ; 157556838 bytes |
| Summary |
These women were so appalled by the mutilation and killing of rhinos that they decided to fight back - they call themselves the Black Mambas. Rhino horns are now worth so much that the animals could be extinct in ten years, but this group of 26 formidable women are determined to stop that happening. On Tuesday's Dateline, Evan Williams follows their dangerous work in the area around the Kruger National Park in South Africa."Lots of the poachers are men and I am the woman fighting with the men," Leitah Michabela tells Evan proudly. "I'm excited when there are poachers, because my job is to find the poachers."They've been given tracking and bushcraft training so they can patrol the reserve, and some are now being armed. It's a big commitment - the women do three week stints of work away from their homes and families."They underestimate us," another Black Mamba, Siphewe Sithole, tells Evan. She says the men's attitude is "these are woman, they cannot do anything, we can go and poach."A record 1,215 rhinos were killed in South Africa last year and now it's estimated that one is killed every seven hours. They could be wiped out in the wild in less than 10 years."We've experimented with a lot of different technologies... drones, thermal optics, satellite tracking, real life tracking," Head Warden Craig Spencer says. "The only thing that has actually shown any return for its investment is the Black Mambas."The horns are sold as a cancer cure in Asia and are now worth as much as gold, diamonds or cocaine. Locals tell Evan there are few options in an area with 86% unemployment, but that doesn't deter these women."I want my kids to see whatever I have seen, I don't want them to hear there was a rhino," Black Mamba Siphewe says of her two daughters. "I want them to experience it, to feel the nature, the love of nature." |
| Notes |
Closed captioning in English |
| Event |
Broadcast 2015-06-30 at 21:30:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: NC |
| Subject |
Animal welfare.
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Poaching -- Prevention.
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Rhinoceroses.
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Wildlife conservation -- Management.
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Wildlife smuggling.
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Women -- Psychology.
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South Africa -- Johannesburg.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Williams, Evan, reporter
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