About 174 rangers died in the line of duty, between June 2024 and May 2025.
The International Ranger Federation (IRF) confirmed these figures ahead of Rangers Day, commemorated globally to honour rangers.
The IRF will be launching a World Ranger Day 2026 Social Media Toolkit and Support Pack, crafted in collaboration with the Universal Ranger Support Alliance (URSA) and the Thin Green Line.
The kit aims to educate, support ranger skills in working with communities.
It also elaborates extensively on fire management, disease prevention, and sustainable resource use.
The organisation said the kit is for an estimated 286,000 rangers, throughout the world.
Similarly, The Game Ranger’s Association of Africa (GRAA) released a similar resource kit for rangers across the African continent.
Louise de Bruin, Chief Executive Officer (CE) of the GRAA, said in a letter to stakeholders on Friday, the organisation released the resource/ training guidelines ahead of Rangers Day.
de Bruin said “across Africa, rangers work in some of the world’s most challenging environments, protecting biodiversity, supporting communities and responding to increasingly complex conservation threats. Yet the quality, consistency and strategic planning of ranger training often varies significantly between protected areas and organisations.”
As a result, the resource is meant to provide training, guidelines and recommendations for rangers, protected area managers, employers, donors and ranger associations.
The Republic of Mozambique also launched a SADC Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCA) Wildlife Managers and Rangers Training (WMRT) Programme, which ended last week.
The pilot initiative, being held at Maputo National Park, marks a significant milestone in strengthening regional cooperation and enhancing professional standards in wildlife conservation across Southern Africa. The programme was officially opened by a representative of the Administração Nacional das Áreas de Conservação (ANAC) of Mozambique.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, Ndapanda Kanime, Senior Programme Officer for Natural Resources and Wildlife at the SADC Secretariat, described the training as “a strategic investment in people and collaboration.”
The training to rangers was delivered by the Southern African Wildlife College (SAWC), with a focus on rangers in the Maputo National Park in the Lubombo TFCA, as well as Banhine, Limpopo and Zinave National Parks in Mozambique, and Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe.
Other organisations honouring rangers on Friday, include the Gauteng Department of Environment, in partnership with Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo and GGT2030.
They will also be launching a Grade 5 Environmental Management Inspector (EMI) Program for Local Authorities.
The programme aims to empower Environmental Management Inspectors with skills and knowledge to protect Gauteng’s biodiversity.
Environmental rangers and inspectors are expected to benefit from the initiative.
Rangers at the North West Parks and Tourism Board Nature Reserves across the province, will take time out to bond through games.
Teams are organized into three regions namely Bojanala, Ngaka Modiri Molema and Bophirima, to compete against each other for trophies and medals.
The Mpumalanga Tourism Board (MTPA) plans similar gatherings with SANParks, at Songimvelo Nature Reserve.
Lemmy Mdluli, CEO of MTPA, said “rangers are very important at MTPA, because they protect our assets, in terms of biodiversity and species.”
Picture: North West Parks & Tourism Board Nature Reserves