PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WILDLIFEDIRECT YESTERDAY LAUNCHED SEASON TWO OF THE WILDLIFE WARRIORS TELEVISION SERIES
Nairobi, 5 February 2022: WildlifeDirect yesterday launched Season two of the Wildlife Warriors television series at the Karen Blixen Coffee Gardens. The 13 part series will premiere on Kenyan television screens via Citizen TV starting this Sunday 6th February 2022 at 5.30 p.m. EAT. Season two of Wildlife Warriors is featuring more than 20 heroines and heroes.
The launch was graced by Hon. Joseph Wakaba Mucheru EGH, the Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology, Innovation and Youth Affairs, Chargé d’Affaires Eric Kneedler – U.S. Embassy in Kenya, Ms. Jane Marriott OBE – British High Commissioner to Kenya, Rachel Rivera -Wild Lives Foundation, Timothy Owase – Kenya Films Commission, Peter Kinyua – Chairman Kenya Forest Service, Mamo B. Mamo – Director General at Nema, conservation heroes featured in the series, and many conservation partners.
Films and storytelling about Africa by Africans are some of the inspirations behind the conception of this highly successful television program. Season one launched in April 2019 highlighted 14 heroes and heroines who shared their successes and challenges in wildlife and conservation in protecting turtles, African wild dogs, elephants, snakes, to name a few. One such hero is Ambrose Letoluai who was part of a team that helped in tracking and photographing the elusive black leopard in Laikipia. Ambrose’s expertise in tracking leopards earned him a scholarship to pursue undergraduate studies in Nairobi as well as a new camera to aid in his research work.
A survey conducted after Season one aired revealed that 51 percent of Kenyans had watched it establishing a fertile ground for shaping debates that will inspire positive change in conserving Africa’s wildlife. The impact of the Wildlife Warriors series has been felt beyond our borders. After a community screening of the “Saving Snakes in Watamu’ episode screened in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, the community have shown keen interest in learning about snakes in their country. 7 out of the 13 episodes have received awards, recognition and special screenings globally reinforcing our belief that there is a demand for locally produced films.
The Wildlife Warriors documentary series will continue to shine a light on local conservation heroes and create a platform to educate, inspire and stir up a call to action within viewers to value and care about nature as much as we do.
The series is produced and hosted by award-winning Kenyan conservationist and WildlifeDirect CEO Dr. Paula Kahumbu. It has been filmed and edited by the Nairobi-based production house Vivid Features Ltd.
The production of series has been made possible with the generous support of the American people through the US Agency for International Development and the US Department of Interior in partnership with the U.S. Department of Interior, the Wild Lives Foundation, and the Great Plains Foundation.
“To protect our wildlife, we cannot do it without recording this information for everybody. I find it very important to find ways of engaging and ensuring that these films are available to every person in the world so that they can see what we have. I feel very proud to see this done in Kenya. I want you to know the commitment we have as a government, is that we will support and ensure that we give the necessary requirements. We have been discussing with the Kenya Film Commission on how we can set up a fund to put this really important knowledge and information into people’s hands and homes. – Hon. Joseph Mucheru E.G.H, Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs.
“Huge congratulations to WildlifeDirect and all the work that you put into this. The US Embassy in Kenya and the U.S. government is honored to partner with Paula and her fantastic team. Wildlife Warriors is about hope, optimism, and energy. It is about motivating the next generation to take action, to have the same kind of energy that Paula has. It is about inspiring the next generation.” – Eric Kneedler, Charge d’Affaires -U.S. Embassy in Kenya.
It is our hope that many more young people, people of the United States, people all over the world will be educated by this great work. Wild Lives Foundation has been supporting the series and all of her work for years and we hope to do many more years of work.” – Rachel Rivera – Wild Lives Foundation
“I cannot tell you how proud we are of the success of Wildlife Warriors. We started Wildlife Warriors to bring our films and our stories home, to allow our own people to tell our own stories and to give a voice to our heroines and heroes who are at the frontline conserving wildlife and nature. We specifically wanted to demonstrate that Kenyans have storytelling talent, to tell our own stories, not just because we should tell our own stories but also because we think they would resonate more with fellow Kenyans. In season two, we wanted to show how we could tap into our traditional knowledge and culture that is part of our value system as African people, as Kenyans. Wildlife Warriors is about getting people to stop and think and join us to work together to save our wildlife.” – Dr Paula Kahumbu, CEO at WildlifeDirect
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Notes for editors:
For more information or interviews please contact Carol Ng’ang’a at carol@wildlifedirect.org. Images and videos are available on request.
About WildlifeDirect:
WildlifeDirect is internationally recognized as a high impact Kenyan based organization that seeks to change hearts, minds and laws so that Africa’s wildlife endures forever. The mission of WildlifeDirect is to connect people to their wildlife and nature and inspiring them to treasure it and act to conserve it. WildlifeDirect’s work is organized around three pillars of work:
- Legal – Defending the integrity of protected areas, seeking justice for wildlife and people, and campaigning to secure critical wildlife buffer zones, dispersal areas and corridors. We work to ensure that every citizen can use their right to public participation in matters related to wildlife and the environment.
- To change the narrative of conservation in Africa by producing African positive films, and developing the capacity of African storytellers. To inspire our own people, we produce Wildlife Warriors, a popular wildlife TV series about our wildlife heroes and heroines, and the animals that they are saving. We aim to transform and catalyze the wildlife film making industry in Africa.
- Education and Outreach, through Wildlife Warriors Kids Clubs in schools. We partner with schools to give children hands-on knowledge, life-changing experiences, and opportunities to make a difference.
