Zimbabwean journalist Edith Mugabe published a feature for 263Chat on Akashinga's participation in the 2026 Wildlife Ranger Challenge, built around the story of Akasihnga Ranger Angela Kapoko.

For Kapoko, the road to becoming a ranger started with watching other women do the job. "I saw other women doing this work and I got to have an appreciation of their work," she told Mugabe. "It made me think that I needed to be part of this team." This September, she's preparing to represent Zimbabwe on a continental stage.

The article traces Akashinga's growth into this year's Challenge: three teams — from Phundundu and Songo in Zimbabwe, and Coutada-5 in Mozambique — will take on the same 21-kilometre course, carrying the same patrol packs they use in the field, when the event culminates on September 19. The Challenge is organised by Tusk and the Game Rangers' Association of Africa and draws Ranger Teams from across the continent.

The piece moves between voices: Kapoko on the training pushing her physical and mental limits and on what representing her country means to her. Akashinga Country Manager Ranga Huruba on why the work matters even when no one's watching: "Rangers are the frontline of conservation but often unseen and under-resourced." And on what fielding three competition-ready teams across two countries says about Akashinga's training systems: "It shows trained, fit and competition-ready teams at multiple sites to the same standard. It also shows that the model can travel across different landscapes and even across a border."

Mugabe's reporting also captures what the preparation is building beyond fitness — cross-border relationships between Zimbabwean and Mozambican teams that Huruba expects to outlast the race itself, and a sense among the Rangers that the Challenge is a rare chance for work usually done out of sight to be seen. As Kapoko put it: "I feel very proud, getting the opportunity to partake in this challenge, representing my country and my company and other Rangers."

Read Edith Mugabe's full feature on 263Chat: Akashinga's Women Rangers Take Zimbabwe to the Wildlife Ranger Challenge

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