The true history of Hell's Gate and why mistakes made in the past by allowing public events should not be an excuse to continue destroying the park. Instead, it should be rescued, rehabilitated and protected against further degradation.
Many people are shocked, as I am, by the approval given to hold two large-scale public events in Hell’s Gate National Park later this year. The Koroga Love Festival, on 14–15 February, and the East African leg of the World Rally Championship, programmed for July, will attract thousands of people to the Park for activities that are unconnected with wildlife conservation.
WildlifeDirect announces the release of a new report showcasing the state of wildlife crime cases in Kenya. WildlifeDirect has been monitoring wildlife crime cases in Kenyan courts since 2008. Through Eyes in the Courtroom project; we provide the only nation-wide publicly available review of Kenya’s wildlife law enforcement response.
Today the Kenyan Criminal Justice system failed. Feisal Mohamed Ali who was convicted of trafficking in illegal elephant tusks today walks free. In July 2016, Feisal was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and fined of 20 million shillings for trafficking in 2,152 kilograms of elephant ivory. Feisal’s case began in December 2014 after he apprehended in Tanzania through an INTERPOL led swoop. At this time Feisal was the most wanted ivory trafficker in the world with Interpol giving a red notice against him.
WildlifeDirect wishes to congratulate Munir Virani, the Vice President at The Peregrine Fund who was on April 25 awarded the prestigious Whitley Award by HRH The Princess Royal. Munir is a Kenyan raptor biologist devoted to conserving one of the most threatened groups of birds on the planet. He works to preserve Kenya’s endangered vultures in Africa’s Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. He first began his project in 2003 following the Asian Vulture Crisis which saw 40 million vultures poisoned across South Asia, as a result of a now banned painkiller and anti-inflammatory drug used in cattle.
