Kenya: The Chairman of the board, Philip Murgor, and the CEO of WildliDirect Dr Paula Kahumbu, would like to thank His Excellency, President Uhuru Kenyatta for the appointment of Dr Richard Leakey as the new Chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
This will be the third time that Dr Leakey joins the Kenya Wildlife Service. He was first appointed to head KWS in 1989 by the then President Daniel Arap Moi, in response to an international outcry over the poaching of elephants and the impact it was having on the wildlife in Kenya.
Dr Leakey is credited with putting an end to the slaughter of elephants in Kenya in the 1980s and early 90s; and in persuading the world to put an international ban on ivory trade.
Just over a year ago, Dr Leakey announced that the poaching of elephants had reached catastrophic proportions and called on President Uhuru Kenyatta to declare the poaching of elephants in Kenya a national disaster.
Dr Leakey is an internationally recognized paleontologist and conservationist. Hollywood’s Angelina Jolie is directing a film about Dr Leakey’s KWS years, with her husband Brad Pitt playing Dr Leakey.
We wish Dr Leakey all the best in his new designation, and are hopeful that, just as he did in the 90s, he shall turn the fortunes of Kenya’s elephants around.