Before They Are Gone: A Conversation on Wildlife Conservation with the Kenya Wildlife Service

The Leitner Center is pleased to co-sponsor a conversation with the Kenya Wildlife Service on the conservation and management of endangered wildlife, including elephants, lions and rhinoceros, in Kenya.

Participants (bios below):

Jacinta Nzioka-Mbihi, Kenya Tourism Board

Dr. Shadrack Ngene, Kenya Wildlife Service

Dr. Charles Musyoki, Kenya Wildlife Service

Samson Parashina, Cultural Conservation Ambassador

Josephine Ekiru, Cultural Conservation Ambassador

RSVP HERE

Bios of Speakers:

JACINTA NZIOKA-MBITHI is Director of Marketing for the Kenya Tourism Board. With over 15 years experience in tourism destination marketing, she has represented Kenya tourism in many local and international forums, consults for DFiD and the EU, and is a Guest Lecturer at SOAS and the University of Addis Ababa. Ms. Nzioka-Mbithi’s passion is in rural tourism development and the involvement of women in sustainable tourism development.  She is a founding member of the Kenya Association of Women in Tourism (KAWT), a Board Member of Ecotourism Kenya, and has overseen two community-based tourism projects in Narok and Makueni, Kenya.

DR. SHADRACK NGENE is Assistant Director of Wildlife Industry Governance and External Linkages for the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). A wildlife spatial ecologist who has worked with KWS for the last 14 years, Dr. Ngene has extensive training and experience in wildlife management and conservation. Dr. Ngene earned his PhD in Natural Resources Management from the University of Twente, Netherlands, with a Thesis entitled, “Why Elephants Roam.”  Specialized in the ecology of wildlife movements, Dr. Ngene has a keen interest in using wildlife location data from tracking collars to model wildlife habitat suitability, space use, and poaching hotspots.

DR. CHARLES MUSYOKI is Senior Scientist with the Kenya Wildlife Service. With over 20 years of service with KWS, Dr. Musyoki has extensive experience in endangered species research and conservation, including efforts to study and protect rhinoceros, elephants, bongo, lions, cheetahs, hirola, sitatunga, sea turtles,  primates, sable and roan antelopes, as well as coral reefs; and has published extensively in his field. The Head of State in 2011 awarded him an Order of the Grand Warrior of Kenya commendation for his accomplishments and contribution to national efforts to conserve and manage wildlife.

SAMSON PARASHINA is of Chairman of the Board of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust (MWCT), an organization headed by Edward Norton, which works to protect the ecosystems and biodiversity that directly benefit Maasai communities in Kenya. Samson was named a Champion of the Earth by the UN Environment Programme in 2012, and is a judge for the prestigious Tourism for Tomorrow Award. Earlier this year, Samson was invited by the Zoological Society of London to open, with Prince William, the launch of United for Wildlife, a partner initiative of seven major conservation organizations focused on wildlife crimes.

JOSEPHINE EKIRU is a Cultural Conservation Ambassador and celebrated performer from northern Kenya. As a singer and community leader, Ms. Ekiru works to promote peaceful relations between pastoralist communities and local wildlife. She has played a key role in building trust between local tribes in the region, and in the formation of a community-based conservation initiative, the Nakuprat-Gotu Conservancy, through which over 100,000 people have dedicated close to 3 million acres to wildlife conservation. In addition to chairing the Conservancy, Ms. Ekiru continues to urge peace and environmental conservation through song.

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