Makenna Sowards—Akashinga (Outside Reading 2)

 I had the pleasure of watching an incredibly fascinating documentary about the Akashinga on Disney+, about an all female park ranger group in Zimbabwe that are one of the last lines of defense between poachers and elephants. They go through grueling training, physically, mentally, emotionally, to prepare themselves for battle for their Earth. Going into the group, every single one of these women are warned that this is a cause for which they might lose their life, due to the vicious greed of poachers, yet they all take up the torch anyways. It's incredibly inspiring to see a group that is so dedicated to the protection of their environment that they are risking everything. Their bravery, while it made me reflect on how much I am willing to risk to save the future of our planet, also made me disappointed in our world. To save the survival of an entire species, the local community has had to gather together, prepared to fight to the death. This is an extreme end of the environmental fight, one that should not have to exist at all. It is disheartening to learn that the greed of men for ivory is so deep that they will kill anyone that stands in their way, and that their extremity has forced others to be prepared to do the same, but in defense. In class, we have talked many times about the role of spirit in nature, and man's view on it as something to gain from, something to manipulate and use. This detrimental view is a direct cause of relentless poaching of endangered elephants and the need for the Akashinga rangers. 

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