Prince William is helping shine a light on one of “the most dangerous jobs on the planet” in a new BBC docuseries about wildlife rangers.
Guardians is a six part series, presented by the Prince of Wales, which will launch on BBC Earth's YouTube and social media channels from Friday 23 May and will run until Friday 27 June.
The series was launched by United for Wildlife, which was created by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in 2013 to protect endangered species from the illegal wildlife trade.
From snowy mountains to remote rainforests, each episode will focus on rangers working in locations from around the world: Central African Republic, the Himalayas, Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, Kruger national park in South Africa, Sri Lanka and Caru Indigenous Land in Brazil.
The first episode, which has been released, follows the story of Modiki Claver; a reformed poacher who now protects the wildlife he once hunted in the Dzanga-Sangha protected area in the Central African Republic. Dzanga-Sangha is renowned for its population of forest elephants and lowland gorillas, but these animals have come under increasing threat from traffickers over the past 30 years.
The prince made a surprise appearance at a screening of the series, with the BBC reporting that he told journalists: “This is now one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet.
“It shouldn't be. Protecting the natural world shouldn't be that dangerous.
“Being a soldier, a police officer, the emergency services – these jobs are dangerous, people put their lives on the line.
“I don't think people realise it's the same for these guys and girls around the world.”
He attributed increasing threats to wildlife rangers to “community conflicts or civil wars, or illegal fishing, or poaching – whatever it might be is just spreading further and further across the globe”.
The series builds upon Prince William's previous work with United for Wildlife. In 2024, he helped launch a new initiative to give wildlife rangers in Africa better financial protection – which included accident, medical, evacuation and life insurance, plus additional training and leadership skills. “We cannot protect our planet without them,” he pointed out.
Main image: Prince William speaks to attendees at the United for Wildlife Global Summit as part of a visit to Singapore in 2023. Credit: Getty