PR offensive on issue of poaching misplaced
What you need to know:
- The KWS and the Environment ministry were created specifically to conserve threatened wildlife. But they seem to be on a public relations offensive which is difficult to explain.
- But surely, the worse scenario would be for tourists to visit and discover the only animals left are those in the orphanage!
- Practically every week, we read and hear about animals being killed and huge hauls of game trophies being recovered.
Unless Kenya Wildlife Service director-general William Kiprono knows something other conservationists don’t, he has no real reason to be upbeat about the number of elephants and rhinos left in Kenya.
On Wednesday, Mr Kiprono was quoted as saying the number of wild animals killed by poachers had drastically gone down, and the situation was bound to get better in the future.
Apparently, he based his assessment on a comparison between the number of elephants and rhinos killed in 2012 — 384 and 30 respectively — with those killed this year up to the end of last month — 116 and 26 respectively — therefore concluding that the KWS was winning the war against poaching.
This conclusion, obviously, falls flat on its face. The fact that more than 200 elephants have not been killed this year compared to 2012 does not in any way indicate his outfit has become more efficient at safeguarding them. Couldn’t it be that the number is going down simply because there are fewer animals to kill?
PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFENSIVE
The KWS and the Environment ministry were created specifically to conserve threatened wildlife. But they seem to be on a public relations offensive which is difficult to explain.
Practically every week, we read and hear about animals being killed and huge hauls of game trophies being recovered.
It is also alleged that these trophies have become the new currency for funding terrorist activities. Could everyone else be wrong on the issue but the two agencies?
No, it seems the consuming concern for these institutions is to ensure that poaching is not declared a national disaster because to do so would be to scare away tourists.
But surely, the worse scenario would be for tourists to visit and discover the only animals left are those in the orphanage!
