Her fortunes changed in 2017, when the International Anti-Poaching Foundation began recruiting local women for Akashinga, a new wildlife protection initiative. Hoto was among 16 women selected from roughly 100 applicants. Many men in her community doubted that women could confront poachers or withstand the demands of ranger work. She went anyway. Within a few years, she had become a ranger sergeant, leading other women on patrol. She later returned to university, graduating in 2023 with a degree in wildlife, ecology and conservation. Today, she works as a biodiversity officer with Akashinga, using data collected by rangers to monitor wildlife and guide conservation decisions. In 2022, she received an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) International Ranger Award.
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Speaking to Mongabay from Zimbabwe, Hoto reflects on her childhood, the painful decision to leave her marriage, encounters with lions and elephants, her return to school and the changes she has seen in both wildlife conservation and her own life. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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I thought that if I got married, maybe my life would become better. I thought I had found a good man who would support me and help me fulfill my dreams. But little did I know that I was getting myself into fire. At first, my husband seemed supportive. But later, he wasn’t supportive anymore, and he became violent toward me. I stayed in that marriage for almost four years, and I had a daughter. At some point, I realized my life wasn’t going anywhere. I was just stuck. So, I decided to divorce because of the violence.
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But life was still tough. I had no job, and I had to look after myself and my daughter. I continued working in the garden and selling vegetables. At that time, I didn’t imagine my life would change. I didn’t think I could become the person I am today.
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Mongabay: Did your family know what you had been experiencing during those four years?
Nyaradzo Auxilia Hoto: No. I was hiding it. My parents, my sisters, my brothers — they didn’t know what was happening in my marriage. Whenever they asked me, I would say, ‘Everything is fine. Everything is OK.’ But deep down in my heart, I was wounded and traumatized.
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I couldn’t believe it. There were almost 100 women, and Akashinga needed only 16. I was surprised that I was among those selected. I kept thinking, how come I’m one of these 16 women? It was a very big moment for me.
Mongabay: And what about the first time you wore a ranger uniform?
We were very proud. I remember when Damien [Mander, the organization’s founder] took us to town to open bank accounts. We were wearing our uniforms.
We were excited because we now had bank accounts, and we knew we were going to receive salaries at the end of the month. Just walking through the streets in our uniforms was something special for us.
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It eventually started walking away. We kept facing it and slowly moved away as well. I think the lion became less interested in us. But at that moment, you have to remain very careful. You cannot afford to panic. That experience really showed me the importance of our training. When you’re in the bush, you can suddenly find yourself facing a dangerous animal, and what you’ve learned can make a difference.
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As rangers, when we’re on patrol, we’re not supposed to make unnecessary noise. We listen carefully to what is happening around us in the forest. Most of the time, lions and leopards will detect your presence before you see them. During the day, they tend to avoid people. Sometimes you can spend a very long time on patrol without actually seeing a lion, although you might come across its tracks. So, encounters like the one we experienced are not common. But when they happen, you have to remember your training and remain calm. The best thing is always to avoid getting that close to a wild animal in the first place.