Under the banner of Conservation Alliance of Kenya, over 200 people came together from June 12-14 to address the question, “how can we ensure the management plan commits to protecting the unique, immeasurable ecological value and potential of the park for the public in Nairobi and beyond?”
Eastern and Southern Africa will take the next Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to another ugly argument about ivory trade. They are pitching for a big fight. Kenya and her 'friends' want to transfer all elephants to be on Appendix I, which will send a clear message - NO IVORY TRADE for anyone.
Another suspected trafficker of elephant ivory is set free by a magistrate at Mombasa Law Courts. Directly charged for the trafficking of 1097kgs of elephant ivory in two containers in December 2016, Mr. Gitonga walks out of court a free man.
A court in Tanzania has convicted and sentenced Yang Feng Glan, infamously named ‘The Ivory Queen’ and two of her associates to 15 years in prison. This is welcomed news signaling an end to a 5 year protracted case where Ms. Yang and two Tanzanians were charged with economic crimes for trafficking in more than 706 pieces of elephant tusks in 2014.
On August 30, WildlifeDirect hosted Richard Turere and Tiassa Mutunkei, two amazing youth who represent the younger generation in Kenya that are passionate about conserving our wildlife. Over the years, WildlifeDirect has walked with these young wildlife warriors over the years and supported them in their quest to pursue conservation goals and inspire others to follow suit.
On June 23, the Great Grevy's Rally results were released at the Great Grevy's Ball 2018 in Laikipia. Despite many challenges that faced Kenya, Grevy’s zebras have weathered the prolonged drought, increased competition with livestock and increased poaching and disease.
As the first quarter of 2018 comes to a close we reflect on the highs and the lows for conservation. Poaching is down and our court monitoring work reveals greater number of convictions and jail sentencing.
Today is International Women’s Day. We can’t keep complaining about how men treat us when we don’t treat each other fairly, with compassion and empathy. Let’s do something to make it mean something.
It is with deep shock and horror that WildlifeDirect has learnt about the murder of Esmond Bradley Martin on Sunday, 4 February 2018 around 4PM at his house in Langata, Nairobi. We had interacted closely with Esmond on matters to do with ivory trafficking and he always kept us updated on his ivory trade research around the world.
Somewhere in Northern Kenya lies a gem. A stunningly beautiful but endangered zebra that many Kenyans have never heard about, let alone seen. This is the story of the Grevy’s zebra. A rare Kenyan heritage that needs to be protected before it goes extinct.
