Mostly female anti-poaching unit in South Africa gets top United Nations environmental award

JOHANNESBURG – A mostly female anti-poaching unit from South Africa has won a top environmental award at the United Nations.

Dressed in boots and camouflage uniforms, two members of the Black Mamba group received the U.N. accolade on behalf of their unit in New York on Sunday. They were among several individuals and organizations that were given the Champions of the Earth prize.

The Black Mamba group, which comprises 23 women and three men, was founded in 2013 and operates in South Africa's Balule nature reserve, which shares an unfenced border with Kruger National Park, a frequent target of poachers who kill rhinos for their horns.

The United Nations says the Black Mamba unit has helped arrest six poachers and removed more than 1,000 snares that were laid to trap wild animals.