Dr Richard Leakey, the new Kenya Wildlife Services chairman, has his work cut out for him. Of the 302 parastatal appointments made by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday, Leakey occupies the office that perhaps has the brightest spotlight on it given the clear and present danger that poaching currently poses to Kenya’s wildlife population. The reality of this challenge was brought home this week with news that 3,000 Kgs of ivory shipped from Kenya were seized in Thailand.
Mombasa container with 3,000kg of ivory seized in Thailand http://t.co/cZcfo9qhQp#Ivory#Kenyapic.twitter.com/4ivjOetfDt
Mombasa container with 3,000kg of ivory seized in Thailand http://t.co/cZcfo9qhQp #Ivory #Kenya pic.twitter.com/4ivjOetfDt
— Daily Nation (@dailynation) April 28, 2015
Dr Paula Kahumbu, a celebrated Kenyan wildlife conservationist, said the 3 tonnes of ivory seized in Thailand – that was hidden in a container marker “tea leaves” transported from Mombasa – represented the slaughter of about 300 elephants.
HEART BREAKING This haul represents over 300 elephants :*( https://t.co/xlxmkIranp
— Dr. Paula Kahumbu (@paulakahumbu) April 27, 2015
3 tons represent abt 300 elephants slaughtered.. & lots of ppl must have known about this cargo!!! https://t.co/Bco0Y9boo2 — Dr. Paula Kahumbu (@paulakahumbu) April 27, 2015
Kahumbu also thinks that challenge facing the fight against poaching in Kenya can be summed up in one word: CORRUPTION!
ONE WORD IS WRONG WITH OUR COUNTRY, CORRUPTION https://t.co/xhDpHeykj9 — Dr. Paula Kahumbu (@paulakahumbu) April 27, 2015
CORRUPTION is how these tusks got into, and then out of Kenya https://t.co/EXlpLC3iCg
— Dr. Paula Kahumbu (@paulakahumbu) April 27, 2015
The transiting of ivory across Kenya involves no less than 50 ppl including freighters, KRA, Customs, KWS, police.. https://t.co/VkpF27flsm — Dr. Paula Kahumbu (@paulakahumbu) April 27, 2015
Leakey not only has to deal with the poaching of Kenya’s wildlife but also that of our neighbours in East Africa much of which is transited through Kenya and shipped from Mombasa.
Kenya is No 1 in the worlds 4 transiting of ivory, it is a horrifying and shaming situation to be in 🙁 https://t.co/wEuMCV0Zst — Dr. Paula Kahumbu (@paulakahumbu) April 27, 2015
There are certainly Kenyans out there who think that Leakey, 70, is passed his day.
Richard Leakey in his new offices today pic.twitter.com/HWqkklcy9G — Masaku (@masaku_) April 28, 2015
I have a lot of respect for Dr. Leakey, but i think the job needed renewed energy, me thinks one @paulakahumbu would have been perfect.
— bonney tunya (@bonneytunya) April 28, 2015
Richard Leakey sounds like those missionary we learnt about on social studies. — Boniface Gitz ™ (@iGitz_) April 27, 2015
Leaky does have a sizable fun club whose members feel he is the man for the job. He’s even gotten the support of the German Embassy in Nairobi.
We LOVE our Kenyan wildlife and it’s great to see Richard Leakey appointed Chairman of the KWS – he LOVES wildlife and will do a great job!
— DateME Kenya (@DateMeKenya) April 27, 2015
#Kenya appoints #Leakey to head the #KWS. This is huge and will make a sea change in operations and effectiveness in the field. Bravo, Kenya
— Marty Perlmutter (@stillhigher) April 28, 2015
A big welcome to Dr #Leakey as new chairman of Kenya Wildlife Service! Strong signal against #WildlifeCrime@paulakahumbu@kwskenya
— GermanEmbassyNairobi (@GermanyinKenya) April 27, 2015
There’s no way to know for sure whether Leakey will bring the positive change that KWS desperately needs. But if its true that past behavior is the best predictor of future conduct then Leakey could just pull it off. When he headed KWS back in 1989 Leakey started the first campaign to end poaching in Kenya and its widely considered to have been a success. In fact the he was the one who thought up the idea of then President Daniel arap Moi setting fire to 12 tonnes of ivory. Lets hope he has even more tricks up his sleeve for the present challenge.
