Wildlife wonders: connecting a new generation with South Africa’s iconic species

The traditional concept of ntumbuluko is an important one for the Shangaan Tsonga people, an ethnic group made up of diverse tribes many of whom live in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Ntumbuluko is often translated as “nature” or “creation,” but it is more nuanced than this, expressing a holistic view of nature that is indivisible from Shangaan Tsonga ancestry, culture and tradition and the ways these interact with and impact the natural world. In other words, everything is seen as connected and interdependent.

Traditionally, hunter-gatherers–these days the Shangaan Tsonga– are mostly pastoralists and agriculturalists. Many of them live in and around Kruger National Park, one of Africa’s largest game reserves. This shift from nomadism to more sedentary lifestyles means that many Shangaan Tsonga people today have little to do with the iconic wild animals that live in such close proximity to them.

Yet poaching remains a huge challenge across South Africa, particularly of wild rhino. In 2023, 499 South African rhino were killed by poachers, 51 more than the previous year. It is often orchestrated by highly organized criminal networks incentivized by voracious markets in East and Southeast Asia, where rhino horn continues to be used in traditional medicine. At a local level, poaching is driven by socioeconomic factors including poverty and exclusion. Suffice to say, it is a complex issue that requires a wide range of strategies, including effective monitoring and enforcement, dehorning of animals, local and international legislation, economic development and education.

All of the Black Mambas have Samsung mobile devices which they use to document their work, communicate with each other and share their activities not only with children from local communities, but with a global community of virtual rangers and volunteers.

Photograph courtesy of Samsung

“It’s a really big project for us to educate people–we need something that’s going to perpetuate into the future and make a multigenerational impact,” says South African conservationist and anti-poaching specialist Craig Spencer. “We need role models in the community.” Spencer is the founder and manager of the Black Mambas, a 36-member anti-poaching unit made up exclusively of women, who patrol the around 99,000-acre Balule Nature Reserve on the lookout for snares and other signs of incursions by poachers.

Established in 2013, the Black Mambas received a major boost to their profile in 2021, when they partnered with both technology giant Samsung and media for conservation initiative Africam to facilitate and raise awareness about their work in the Balule Nature Reserve, part of the Kruger National Park. The Wildlife Watch initiative used Africam’s live-streaming technology and a network of Samsung Galaxy S Series mobile devices installed in key locations throughout the reserve to mobilize a global network of volunteers who could act as virtual rangers, using their handsets to alert anti-poaching units to suspected incidents.

Children from the Mhalamhala Higher Primary School, Phalaborwa, Limpopo Province watch educational video content via a Samsung Freestyle 2nd Gen projector. The device’s portability and ease of use makes it an invaluable educational tool for teaching in remote settlements with limited infrastructure.

Photograph courtesy of Samsung

At the same time, the Mambas were able to record their activities–and with their newfound global notoriety, they have become exactly the kind of role models the local Shaanga Tsonga communities need–exemplars of ntumbuluko in action. “The animals and the nature–it’s our heritage,” says Felicia Mogakane, a sergeant in the Black Mambas. “I felt I had to do something… to take part in protecting the animals.”

Besides their day-to-day work in the reserve, the Black Mambas also share their knowledge with young people in their communities through an environmental outreach program in ten rural schools located on the boundaries of the national park. The program has reached thousands of children since its inception in 2015. The Mambas teach weekly classes that combine environmental management, social science, community gardening and tree planting, guided by the vision of instilling a love for wildlife and conservation in the younger generation.

Samsung’s technology allows teachers and rangers from the Black Mambas anti-poaching unit to bring wildlife into the classroom, providing a more engaging experience for the children, many of whom may never have seen iconic wildlife species like rhino, elephant and lion in real life.

Photograph courtesy of Samsung

Samsung teamed up with the Black Mambas to develop the Samsung Bush Babies Animal Insights educational program, which uses the latest Samsung projectors and laptops to enhance the experience of the children. The Freestyle 2nd Gen projectors are invaluable teaching aids, bringing wildlife vividly to life in the classroom. And because of their small form factor and portable power, the projectors are ideal for the rural setting, where electricity supply isn’t always guaranteed. “Many of these kids never get to see animals in the wild,” says Aidan Rademeyer, head of content for Africam. “Through the program, we created 24 videos with little quizzes at the end, which are really engaging for the kids–rather than just listening to a teacher,” he adds.

The Samsung Bush Babies Animal Insights educational program engages young people and communities on the front lines to raise awareness about wildlife diversity and the importance of conservation. Technology plays a critical role in ensuring the success of the initiative. For example, with our portable Freestyle 2nd Gen projectors, remote communities, which were previously inaccessible to rangers, can now access fun and engaging educational content, designed to increase awareness. Education, enabled by this technology, will play a pivotal role in anti-poaching and environmental issues, and will empower younger generations.

Samsung, on the role of technology in the initiative.

The array of Samsung Galaxy S Series mobile devices that live-streamed footage from strategic locations within the reserve also allowed the Mambas to connect with young people around the world, sharing the ground level realities of conservation and anti-poaching in South Africa. “We engaged more than 200,000 virtual rangers across both phases of the program,” says Rademeyer. “Often our top referrers have been school teachers or home-schooling parents–which intensified during the COVID-19 period.”

According to Rademeyer, many of these educators used the live streams of animals to introduce an emotive ecological component into existing curricula, as students could dial in and see wild animals in their natural habitats in real time, or view highlights of animal behavior. And crucially, they could interact, playing an active role as the virtual eyes and ears of the Black Mambas.

Lewyn Maefala, founder and manager of the Black Mambas Bush Babies Environmental Education program teaches children at the Mhalamhala Higher Primary School, Phalaborwa, Limpopo Province. Giving the younger generation the opportunity to connect with nature and conservation is a crucial strategy for poaching in the future.

Photograph courtesy of Samsung

Protecting South Africa’s wildlife and the ecosystems they rely upon, needs a range of integrated approaches, from habitat preservation to anti-poaching patrols to awareness-raising to eliminating market demand for illegal wildlife products like rhino horn and ivory. Education is fundamental to all of these efforts if we’re to reframe our relationship with the natural world in general–and ensure that iconic animals like the rhino have a future.

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