A Ranger’s Work

THIS IS A true story, based on an event that occurred in Zimbabwe’s Zambezi Valley in 9. It is about Sgt Agrippa Nhamo, who made the supreme sacrifice while defending one of Africa’s last remaining black rhino populations.

Between 1984 and 1988, despite Operation Stronghold, an intensive anti-poaching campaign took place in the Zambezi Valley with approximately 50 annual armed incursions. During this time, poachers and Zimbabwean National Parks personnel were killed, and 623 black rhino died. Undiscovered carcasses could easily double the death toll. It is against this background that I tell the story of Agrippa.

Agrippa Nhamo was born in 1949 at Pfumbe, not far from the Zambezi River, in the Valley. There were many rhinos during those days; Agrippa grew up with them, and acquired bushcraft skills that would serve him well in the years to come.

In 1975, he joined National Parks as a tracker and soon displayed a high