The goal of this project is two-fold: (1) To travel to South Africa to explore and learn about the lives of the Black Mambas Anti-Poaching Unit, and (2) exploring the ways in which movement and song can assist in the conservation of the South African elephant.  
 
“The Black Mambas, the world's first all-female anti-poaching unit, and, together with 30 other local women, they are saving South Africa's endangered elephants and rhinos…. The Balule Private Game Reserve, a protected wildlife area spanning nearly 100,000 acres on the western border of South Africa’s world-famous Kruger National Park.  Each month, every Black Mamba spends 21 days straight patrolling Balule by foot or jeep—four hours at dawn and four hours at dusk—in search of snares, human tracks, sounds of gunshots, and other suspicious activity”. (Goyanes, Cristina, October 12, 2017, for National Geographic).
 
The award-winning nonprofit, which launched in 2013, has significantly reduced incidents of snaring and poaching by as much as 76 percent, according to their website. Their success has garnered global attention. 
 
What the Black Mambas lack in weapons, they make up in skill, teamwork, and gumption. They are highly trained. The three months of required training for entry include physical exercises, such as running a minimum of three miles daily, and classroom work, such as learning surveillance practices, compliance techniques, and how to use walkie-talkies. The last month is the most rigorous, focusing on survival tactics in the bush, including building shelter and functioning without food or water. 
 
Through their stories, exercises, adventures, discipline, determination, perseverance, hard work, teamwork, cooperation, collaboration, and insight, we will learn about these activists who are global citizens.