The Rhino Ranger • Narlothia Gomes

(Rhino Ranger, Save the Rhino Trust || Namibia)

“I am a rhino ranger for Save the Rhino Trust. To be a game guard is to protect domestic animals from wild animals, and wild animals from poachers. There’s a lot of human-wildlife conflict mitigation. My favorite part of my job is monitoring the rhinos. I am a leader and also the secretary for the group — I take all the information and data down, fill out the forms, and send it to the office. I like this type of work. It’s nice when guests come to the bush and we can show them our rhinos.

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My childhood, I came from a great one. I was raised to appreciate the wildlife, especially because I was raised on a farm. Wildlife was always part of my day. Where I grew up, my family lived near the elephants. I used to stay in the yard and notice what they were doing, and sometimes they would even come into our house! And now that I moved, I get to live in the bush near the rhinos. It’s amazing.

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We try to employ more lady rangers, but they’re afraid of staying in the bush — working with wild animals, sleeping in tents that aren’t nice, even a snake can get in the tent. I give the advice to just apply for it! It’s nice to be in the bush. Just try it, you’ll like it. My twin sister and I are the only lady rhino rangers, but we are all just like brothers and sisters. Even when we are staying together, we are all people, there is no ‘lady.’ It’s just ‘me.’ ”