271: Carrying the Torch with Leitah Mkhabela of the Black Mambas
National Park After Dark
Audioboom Studios
4.8 • 4.6K Ratings
🗓️ 30 December 2024
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Justice for Anton - sign the petition, donate to the cause and learn more about the movement to bring Anton’s killers to justice HERE
Learn more about the Black Mambas HERE and support the Bush Babies HERE
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, everyone, and welcome back to National Park After Dark. We have a very exciting interview to share with you today. |
| 0:07.4 | Yeah, we're really excited. This is definitely a, if you're in a woman empowerment mood this morning or whenever you're listening to this podcast, this is your episode because this is a very inspiring one. |
| 0:19.0 | Today we are speaking with Leita Mkabela, the supervisor for the Black Mamba's anti-poaching |
| 0:24.3 | unit. |
| 0:25.2 | Founded back in 2013, the Black Mambas are the world's first officially formed, registered, and |
| 0:30.9 | recognize all women anti-poaching unit that operates within the Greater Kruger National |
| 0:35.5 | Park area that works to combat poaching through both physical patrols and community engagement efforts. |
| 0:42.3 | The Black Mambas act as the first line of defense against wildlife criminals. |
| 0:46.3 | Their peaceful community-focused efforts allow them to detect suspicious activity early. |
| 0:51.4 | And on their foot patrols, they search for snares, human footprints, and other |
| 0:55.2 | indicators of poaching activity. And when they find evidence of illegal activities, they are the |
| 0:59.8 | first to report it and call in for backup. Leita also has a close connection to the Rhino Man documentary, |
| 1:05.1 | which we have done several episodes on with director John Jerko. Lata's cousin was Ranger Anton Mzimba, who served as a powerful |
| 1:14.0 | mentor in her journey to becoming a ranger in what has traditionally been a very male-dominated |
| 1:19.7 | occupation. Her cousin Anton was murdered for protecting Kruger National Park from Rhino poachers. |
| 1:25.9 | And if you'd like to hear more about his story, |
| 1:28.0 | we're going to talk about it in depth today as well, but we did two episodes on it already on our |
| 1:33.3 | podcast on episodes 92 and 185. Over the years, Lata has accomplished so much dedicating her career |
| 1:40.2 | and much of her life to wildlife protection advocacy, community outreach programs, |
| 1:45.4 | and charitable organizations. Her position in the Black Mambas and their commitment to conservation, |
| 1:51.4 | education, and women empowerment is really inspiring. And we are so excited and honored to speak |
| 1:57.7 | with her today. And before we get into it, we talk a lot about the community |
... |
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