Equipped with Jim Green boots, students at Tracker Academy set out each morning before sunrise to step into the bush, ready to follow and interpret the tracks of wildlife, including rhinos, elephants, lions, and sometimes, people.
These students are learning to track. Their training includes track and sign identification, trailing and locating wildlife, and human tracking — a skill used to follow the movements of people in the bush, especially in anti-poaching work. It’s a practical, field-based education rooted in traditional knowledge systems, adapted for today’s conservation needs.
“Tracking connects us to the raw, untamed natural environment,” says Hannah du Plessis, Camp Coordinator at Tracker Academy. “It allows us to step into the minds of the creatures we often fail to understand.”
Founded in 2010 through the support of Mrs. Gaynor Rupert, Tracker Academy is South Africa’s first and only accredited tracker training school. It’s a division of the SA College for Tourism and forms part of the Peace Parks Foundation.
In its first 15 years, the Academy has trained over 320 students, 93% of whom are now employed in conservation work, including guiding, research, and anti-poaching. All students are selected from rural communities, often located near protected areas.
“These students become pioneers in their communities,” says Hannah. “They go from having few opportunities to becoming breadwinners, role models, and protectors of the land.”
In 2021, the Academy launched its Rhino Guardians programme, an advanced course focused on man-tracking and wildlife protection. These graduates are deployed to South Africa’s highest-risk areas, where they use man-tracking skills to help detect and deter poaching activity.
The programme is led by Head Trainer Amos Mzimba, originally from Mozambique, who has worked extensively in Kruger National Park and is credited with over 300 successful arrests. To date, 100% of Rhino Guardian graduates have found employment.
“The donated Jim Green boots are given to our Rhino Guardians,” Hannah explains. “They’re out there every day, following faint footprints, protecting rhinos with nothing but their eyes, their training, and the tracks on the ground.”
We’re proud to support Tracker Academy and its efforts to train the next generation of conservationists equipped not only with knowledge but with the gear to carry it into the field.
The future of conservation will be shaped by those who know how to read the past, written in tracks, signs, and stories left in the dust. With every step, the trackers of this academy are not only protecting rhinos, they’re walking a path few can follow, but many will one day depend on.
Cheers,
The Jim Green Team
Through our Boots for Rangers initiative, run in partnership with the Game Rangers Association of Africa, we donate one pair of boots to a ranger for every ten pairs sold from our Ranger range. These boots are now supporting conservation teams at sites across Africa, with over 6,000 pairs already on the ground.
Images credit: Photos by Chelsey Wilken, Hannah du Plessis, Excellent Makhabela, and Rogan Fourie.
