LIFE ON THE FRONTLINE 2019

The report reveals that wildlife rangers globally face excessive safety and health risks, including inadequate housing, medical care, and communication equipment. It highlights a significant wage gap between rangers and police officers and documents high rates of infectious diseases, particularly malaria in Africa. The study also explores community perceptions of rangers and the lack of comprehensive insurance coverage for on-the-job injuries and fatalities.

• Rangers globally face severe safety and health risks that could be mitigated with appropriate interventions. A slight majority of surveyed rangers believe their medical treatment is inadequate, and 31% contracted malaria within the previous 12 months.
• There is a critical lack of basic equipment and infrastructure. Approximately 50% of respondents find their basic uniforms and boots insufficient, and 32% report never having access to communication devices during patrols.
• Ranger remuneration is significantly lower than comparable public sector roles. The average ranger salary across 26 countries was 345.27 USD per month, compared to 865.82 USD per month for police officers.
• Rangers express limited confidence in the legal system's ability to deter wildlife crime, noting that low prosecution and conviction rates make poaching a low-risk, high-reward activity.
• Community perceptions of rangers in Myanmar and the Philippines are generally more positive than rangers believe. While rangers were pessimistic about trust and respect, community positive responses ranged between 79% and 93%.
• Corruption within the sector is a significant concern, with nearly 60% of surveyed rangers fearing for their own safety if they were to expose corruption.
• Regional disparities exist in working conditions: African rangers face the highest rates of malaria (68%) and excessive work hours (nearly 90 hours per week), while South Asian rangers report the highest rates of inadequate initial training (49%).
• Between 2009 and 2019, 1,038 ranger deaths were recorded globally, with Asia (48.36%) and Africa (36.71%) accounting for the majority. Armed poachers are the leading cause of death, responsible for nearly half of all fatalities.

APA

Belecky, M., Singh, R., & Moreto, W. (2019). LIFE ON THE FRONTLINE 2019. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/205/k36blpy2c_wwf_rangers_survey_report_2019.pdf

Chicago

Belecky, Mike, Rohit Singh, and William Moreto. LIFE ON THE FRONTLINE 2019. WWF International, 2019. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/205/k36blpy2c_wwf_rangers_survey_report_2019.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Belecky |first1=Mike |last2=Singh |first2=Rohit |last3=Moreto |first3=William |title=LIFE ON THE FRONTLINE 2019 |publisher=WWF International |date=November 2019 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/205/k36blpy2c_wwf_rangers_survey_report_2019.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{belecky2019life, author = {Belecky, Mike and Singh, Rohit and Moreto, William}, title = {{LIFE ON THE FRONTLINE 2019}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2019}, month = nov, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/205/k36blpy2c_wwf_rangers_survey_report_2019.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }