Game Ranger / Field Guide → What's the difference ?

Colloquially in South Africa, these terms are used interchangeably. There do, however, describe significantly different job descriptions.

The Field Guide: Field Guides are people who interact mainly with guests and clients. They are primarily responsible for providing a guided experience, on foot or in vehicles; to the public in natural areas and locations such as game reserves, game farms, conservancies as well in Provincial and National Parks.

The Game Ranger: Game Rangers are primarily responsible for the physical and resource management of game reserves. Working with savanna ecologists, game reserve and wildlife managers; they manage and maintain the biological populations of reserves in addition to roads, fencing, water resources, erosion control, alien plant control, burning programmes, population control and bush clearing among other tasks.

On many reserves the field guides are utilised on an improvised basis to assist in the game ranging tasks.

For the purposes of this website all reference to Game Ranging / Game Rangers is a reference to Field Guiding / Field Guides.