What does it take to become a Wildlife Ranger Challenge finisher?

For four Mara Elephant Project rangers, it meant weeks of training, plenty of teamwork and a series of challenges designed to test much more than physical strength.

The Wildlife Ranger Challenge (WRC) is an annual event organized by Tusk and the Game Rangers’ Association of Africa. Ranger teams from across Africa take on a series of mental and physical challenges, culminating in a 13-mile race while carrying 50 pounds of kit. Along the way, the challenge tests the knowledge, strength, endurance and teamwork that rangers rely on in their everyday work.

For MEP’s team, the journey began with a quiz and ended at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, where they took on the final 13-mile challenge. They finished third place, but the real challenge was everything it took to get there.

So, what is the Wildlife Ranger Challenge actually like?

See what it takes through the journal of Cosmas—one of the rangers on the MEP team who took on this year’s challenge.

Cosmas’s journal gives us a glimpse into what it took to reach the finish line. But for him and the rest of MEP’s rangers, the commitment behind that journey continues long after the challenge ends.

The strength, endurance, knowledge and teamwork tested through the challenge are the same qualities our rangers rely on as they walk miles across the ecosystem, respond when elephants need help and protect the wildlife and communities that call the Mara home.

The challenge gave Cosmas and his three teammates a chance to push themselves alongside ranger teams from across Africa. But their dedication does not stop when the challenge is over. Every day, they continue to show up for the wildlife they have dedicated themselves to protecting.