Petronella Chigumbura serves as Deputy Head of Operations for Akashinga East in Zimbabwe, leading patrol coordination, surveillance, and anti-poaching operations across her designated area. She is also a Certified Ranger Instructor, training the next generation of Akashinga Rangers while continuing to operate on the frontlines herself.

Originally from Mashonaland West Province, Petronella completed her Ordinary Level education at Nyamakate Secondary School before joining Akashinga in 2017. She was 29, and training was grueling — days at a time out in the protected habitat, learning to detect signs of wildlife, identify snares, and move as a unit through dense terrain. She was one of the original 16 women to complete that first selection course at Akashinga, and one of the few subsequently selected for Instructional Training in Kenya, where she graduated before returning to Zimbabwe in a promoted role. By 2018, she had been promoted to the leadership role of Deputy Ranger Supervisor.

Petronella has since become one of Akashinga's most recognised figures internationally. In 2023, she was named First Runner-Up in the Best Game Ranger category at the African Conservation Awards, a continent-wide competition drawing nominations from 11 countries. That same year, Vital Voices Global Partnership selected her to represent UN Sustainable Development Goal 15: Life on Land, in their Portraits of Progress exhibition at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, a storytelling exhibit spotlighting women driving solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. Her portrait was painted by artist Erin K. Robinson.

In her own words on what drives her: "I don't want to see any cruelty inflicted on any animal. It pierces my heart. Animals can't speak, but I can stand up to save their lives."

Petronella has also participated in international conservation dialogues, including a virtual conversation hosted by Species Unite alongside her Akashinga colleague Nyaradzo Hoto, exploring the role of women's leadership in community-based conservation. She has been featured in National Geographic and was the subject of a National Geographic short documentary executive produced by James Cameron. When running selection courses for new recruits, she opens with a single message: "You cannot move alone."

Now a mother of three, Petronella has built a home for her family and is raising her children in the same communities her unit serves to protect. "We asked little girls what they want to be when they grow up," she has said, "and they said they wanted to be Akashinga Rangers."