Dear ANIMALS 24-7 readers: Beth and I, through the generosity of a donor who funded us specifically to attend, are just back from the 2018 Africa Animal Welfare Conference, held at the United Nations complex in Nairobi, Kenya. Though our daily online readership has never been greater, we have worked for half pay or less […]
Trophy hunting scheme & Chinese-built railway fire debate in Kenya
ANIMALS 24-7 reports from the scene NAIROBI, Kenya––Most of the delegates to the 2018 Africa Animal Welfare Conference, opening on September 3 at the United Nations Complex in Nairobi, will have already seen the second most controversial wildlife-related topic in Kenya, a four-mile Chinese-built railway overpass crossing Nairobi National Park, on their 20-mile ride […]
“Kenya’s wildlife should remain in the wild” –– Sidney Quntai, 57
Little known outside Kenya, hugely influential within NAIROBI, Kenya––Pioneering Kenyan journalist and wildlife advocate Sidney Quntai Tauwo, 57, died “on the morning of April 20, 2018 after a short illness which he courageously fought, but lost,” Africa Network for Animal Welfare senior officer for communications and advocacy Sebastian Mwanza emailed to ANIMALS 24-7 on […]
Daphne Sheldrick, 83, showed Kenya that wildlife is worth most when alive
Known for elephant & rhino rescue, but contributions were much bigger than that NAIROBI, Kenya––The facts of the life of the late Daphne Sheldrick, who died at age 83 on April 12, 2018 after a long battle with breast cancer, are much more easily summarized than her legacy to wildlife, elephants in particular, and […]
A matriarch remembers, by Daphne Sheldrick, D.B.E. (1934-2018)
The first 65 years of the life of the world’s first mom to orphaned elephants in her own words Editors’ note: Daphne Sheldrick, 83, founder of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and of the elephant orphanage the trust operates at the edge of Nairobi National Park, Kenya, died on April 12, 2018, after a long battle […]
South Sudan bans hunting; but will the ban last? by Sebastian Mwanza
Does the history of South Sudan favor the ban? [Sebastian Mwanza is senior officer for communications & advocacy with the Africa Network for Animal Welfare, based in Nairobi, Kenya.] On March 6, 2018, as ANIMALS 24-7 reported, the world woke up to good tidings from the Xinhua News Agency that South Sudan’s Ministry of Wildlife […]
Who killed ivory trade investigator Esmond Martin, why?
Survived more than 30 years of work in some of the world’s most dangerous places, only to be stabbed in his bed NAIROBI, Kenya––Nairobi police homicide detectives appear to believe that renowned elephant ivory and rhino horn trafficking investigator Esmond Bradley Martin Jr., 75, was murdered on February 5, 2018 in connection with a […]
Drought-driven land invasions hit Kenya wildlife conservancies
Will Kenya go the way of Zimbabwe? (See also The untold story of the conflict in Laikipia, by Sebastian Mwanza and Kenya crisis shows need to transition out of animal agriculture.) NAIROBI, Kenya––What will become of wildlife and wildlife tourism in central Kenya? “Wild West” conditions driven by drought and political and ethnic rivalries have […]
Kenya crisis shows need to transition out of animal agriculture
The issue is not just grazers vs. wildlife U.S. and European concern over the drought-driven conflict besetting central Kenya in early 2017 tends to focus on the impacts afflicting wildlife, wildlife habitat, and eco-tourism. This is understandable because these are the aspects of Kenya most often seen by outsiders, as viewers of wildlife documentaries, films […]
Kenyans rise in protest over lions shot & speared
Incidents recall the Cecil case in Zimbabwe NAIROBI, Kenya; JOS, Nigeria––More than 2,000 Kenyans had signed petitions protesting the violent deaths of two lions on the outskirts of Nairobi, the national capital, within 48 hours of the shooting of the first lion, Mohawk, and 24 hours of the discovery of the remains of the […]