I just learned about this group: Veterans Empowered to Protect African Wildlife, or VETPAW. Here’s a description of what the group is, from its website:
VETPAW is a group of post 9/11 US veterans with combat skills who are committed to protecting and training Park Rangers to combat poaching on the ground in Africa. We employ veterans to help fight the increasing unemployment rate of this group in the US but also, and most importantly, because their skills learned on the frontlines in Afghanistan is unrivaled. These highly trained service men and women lead the war against brutality and oppression, for both human beings and the animal kingdom.
Although they may seem like mercenaries, their objective is to protect wildlife, not engage in the sort of activities that we generally associate with mercenaries. Here’s a short documentary showing us at work, protecting rhinos (and other wildlife). Long time ago, I concluded that the only effective way to confront and stop poaching is to quit playing nice, so I support these veterans’ efforts.
