World Ranger Day is on 31st July 

Around the world there are many people who are willing to put their lives on the line in order to protect endangered animals and habitats.

The International Ranger Foundation (IRF) is the official body representing rangers around the world.  It was established on 31st July 1992, after a year spent setting up and planning for the establishment and development of the organisation.  The aim now is to drive through this development so that there is a professional body of rangers around the world.  It's based in Australia.  International Ranger Foundation UK is here. 
 

Mokala National Park observing World Ranger Day, South Africa
This shows how dangerous the job of being a ranger can be
and gives you an insight into the life of a ranger.
THANK YOU to rangers, everywhere. 

2023 was the first year of the newly set biodiversity framework, with lots of targets to hit.  One target was particularly important, that of 30% of the world having effectively managed areas by 2030. 

To achieve this, it will be vital to have a professional body of rangers around the world and their numbers  will need to increase from 286,000 today to 1.5 million.  Wildlife and biodiversity will benefit - as will people, with the economic and social services outcomes that result from such a development.  

So the theme for World Ranger Day 2025 is 30 x 30, reflecting target three and the 30 x 30 goal.

Rangers, Powering Transformative Conservation

This theme is in close alignment with the 2025 IUCN World Conservation Congress. 

Visit the Thin Green Line Foundation here.

Visit Working for the Wild  (UK) here.

Please support World Ranger Day on social media with hashtags:

#WorldRangerDay2025
#WorldRangerDay
#WildlifeRangers
#RangersDeserveMore
#IStandWithRangers
#IAmARanger

The International Ranger Federation has a toolkit on online that we can use, sharing with the hashtags above.  There is a lot of information about rangers on their website, so please explore their website.   It works with The Thin Green Line to promote the initiative of World Ranger Day. 

Take a look at the "I am a ranger" video on You Tube here from the IRF
It introduces rangers from different parts of the world.

World Ranger Day is a chance for all of us to show our appreciation for the work that wildlife rangers and guardians do and offer our support in whatever way we can and to remember those who have died or been injured doing this vital work and to think of the families they leave behind. 

The Thin Green Line Foundation says that often rangers' families are left behind without any support.  Donations and support give a gift of hope and an urgent lifeline to families left behind.  

And it’s good to know that there is something you can do to help wildlife and locals in their communities at the same time, and we thought we’d do a roundup of charities and organisations working to help in this way.  Sometimes wildlife rangers are called wildlife guardians.

 Celebrating our Rangers 
Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association

Let us thank the rangers everywhere who are protecting 
wildlife and habitats, and let us thank their families too.

Visit 2025 World Ranger Day's website here.

The Wildlife Ranger Challenge on 20th September 2025

This is a chance to show just how diverse the work rangers do really is!  This 21km half marathon is on 20th September 2025 and it's in its sixth year.  Over 100 ranger teams who span the varied, diverse terrains of the protected areas in Africa, will take part and compete in a 21km race across their respective landscapes.  They will carry kit (22kg of kit (men) and 10kg (women).  The event will really raise awreness of why rangers matter, the challenges they face, and to raise funds for frontline conservation efforts.  It also helps unite those taking part across Africa.  #ForWildlifeRangers

Find out more by watching this short video, and visiting the event's website - please give the event your support! 

The Thin Green Line Foundation

The Foundation works with ranger groups, ranger associations and conservation partners in over 60 countries.  They say it’s estimated that over 1,000 park rangers have been killed in the line of duty over the past 10 years. They are dedicated to providing Rangers worldwide with the assistance they deserve and need.  

In the UK, they are now called Working for the Wild and you can visit their website here.

Other organisations supporting wildlife rangers

Ol Pejeta
Ol Pejeta Conservancy is a 90,000 acre wildlife conservancy in Kenya.  They have 150 rangers who are dedicated to protecting the wildlife there and neighbouring communities.  They also have a K9 unit, whose dogs work hard also to protect wildlife. 

Project Ranger

Project Ranger supports a range of patrols such as horse patrols, foot patrols, motorbike, aerial, truck and K9 patrols.  In doing so it protects a number of species in national parks, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, conserved land and wildnerness areas.  There are plenty of ways to support their work so visit their website to find out more!

The World Land Trust

The World Land Trust has a Keepers of the Wild initiative.  The rangers are working on the front line of conservation, safeguarding some of the world’s most threatened animals and the crucial habitats in which they live.  They protect reserves from poaching and logging, and importantly, link to local communities, building trust, helping to change attitudes and find practical solutions to problems.  You can support Keepers of the Wild by making a donation.

David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation works to support rangers in both Asia and Africa. You can support wildlife rangers here and help them conserve nature.  Their work includes carrying out anti-poaching and anti-trafficking patrols across national parks, finding and removing wildlife snares and collecting essential data on endangered speices and their habitats.   They also work with communities to raise awareness and mitigate wildlife conflict. 

The Global Conservation Force

This organisation works to save wildlife from extinction through education, anti-poaching and conservation efforts.  It does this by using anti-poaching units, awareness and education and on the ground action, working on wildlife’s problems.  You can adopt a ranger (also there’s a K9 poacher tracking unit) – find out what the options are to adopt a ranger here.

African Parks

African Parks has an anti-poaching team of 1,000 rangers making up their law enforcement team.  Thei rangers are stabilising force both for parks and regions

Virunga 

Virunga National Park is located on the eastern edge of the Congo Basin in Africa, and it's home to over 1,000 species of mammal, bird, reptile, and amphibian and a third of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas. It has 750 male and female rangers, all working hard and putting their lives on the line to protect the park and local communities. There's a canine unit as well.  Find out more

The Gorilla Organisation

The Gorilla Organisation has a supporting rangers scheme in the Democratic Republic of Congo and they act as the eyes, ears and voice of the forest. They cut snaes, save injured gorillas, combat the militias running the blood minerals trade, monitor the gorillas’ health and collect vital conservation data every day.  Find out more here.

Tigers4ever

Tigers4ever have anti-poaching patrols in Bandharvagh, India, to protect tigers.  They equip forest patrols, provide anti-poaching patrols and provide permanent solutions to water scarcity for wildlife

Help Tigers4Ever help tigers on their Global Giving pages

Orangutan Foundation

Become an Orangutan Guardian and help the Orangutan Foundation’s 60 Indonesian staff work on the frontline of conservation in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.  Their role is to guard and patrol the forests and rivers, to rescue and monitor the orangutans and to replant and nurture tree saplings.  And crucially, they need to gain the trust and support of local communities.  Become an Orangutan Guardian!

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

The Lewa Security Team consists of field rangers, radio operators, gatekeepers, baby rhino keepers, anti-poaching rangers and the tracker dog unit.   The Anti-Poaching Rangers and Tracker Dog Unit work day and night to protect wildlife and keep them safe, especially rhinos and elephants.  The tracker dog unit has four dogs and their handlers, the dogs act as efficient trackers, as they can pursue suspects for lengthy distances.

Save the Rhino

Save the Rhino makes sure that ranger teams have the the equipment they need to do their job as safely as possible.  It has expanded canine units across the projects it funds, which in turn helps apprehend criminals.  Find out more from Save the Rhino

Tusk

The charity Tusk give a Wildlife Ranger Award every year to give international recognition to the men and women who face danger every day to protect the wildlife and its ecosystems in Africa.  

There are also rangers in other countries such as Australia and America and the UK, working for organisations such as national parks and they are also essential to protecting the environment and keeping wildlife safe.

And a very big thank you to each and every wildlife ranger working to care for and protect our wildlife and their habitats.  And thank you to their families too.  

Please everyone show you support them too.