Editing Richard Leakey (section)

== Conservation ==
[[File:Richard Leakey cropped.jpg|thumb|right|Leakey in 2010]]
In 1989 Richard Leakey was appointed the head of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Department (WMCD) by President [[Daniel Arap Moi]] in response to the international outcry over the [[poaching of elephants]] and the impact it was having on the wildlife of Kenya.<ref>{{Cite web|website=Royal African Society|url=http://www.royalafricansociety.org/event/%E2%80%98kenya%E2%80%99s-wildlife-%E2%80%93-predictions-next-decade%E2%80%99-dr-richard-leakey|title='Kenya's wildlife – Predictions for the next decade' with Dr Richard Leakey|access-date=5 November 2016}}</ref> The department was replaced by the [[Kenya Wildlife Service]] (KWS) in 1990, and Leakey became its first chairman.<ref>{{cite web |title=Richard Erskine Leakey |url=https://www.aasciences.africa/fellow/richard-erskine-leakey |website=The African Academy of Sciences |access-date=3 January 2022}}</ref> With characteristically bold steps Leakey created special, well-armed anti-poaching units that were authorised to shoot poachers on sight.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jvI-JTP35jMC&q=leakey|title=Lonely Planet Kenya|first1=Anthony|last1=Ham|first2=Stuart|last2=Butler|first3=Dean|last3=Starnes|publisher=[[Lonely Planet]]|year=2012|isbn=9781743213063}}</ref> The poaching menace was dramatically reduced. Impressed by Leakey's transformation of the Kenya Wildlife Service, the [[World Bank]] approved grants worth $140 million.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dr Richard Leakey: A swashbuckler with intent |url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001433322/dr-richard-leakey-a-swashbuckler-with-intent |website=The Standard |access-date=3 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Richard Leakey, President Moi, and the WMCD made the international news headlines when a stockpile of 12 tons of [[ivory]] was [[destruction of ivory|burned in 1989]] in [[Nairobi National Park]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Perlez |first1=Jane |title=Kenya, In Gesture, Burns Ivory Tusks |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/19/world/kenya-in-gesture-burns-ivory-tusks.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=3 January 2022 |date=19 July 1989}}</ref>
{{external media| float = left| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?17614-1/wildlife-policy-kenya Presentation by Leakey to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., "New Wildlife Policy for Kenya", April 18, 1991], [[C-SPAN]]}} 
Richard Leakey's confrontational approach to the issue of human–wildlife conflict in [[national park]]s did not win him friends. His view was that parks were self-contained ecosystems that had to be fenced in and the humans kept out. Leakey's bold and incorruptible nature also offended many local politicians.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Perlez|first=Jane|date=7 January 1990|title=Can He Save the Elephants?|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/07/magazine/can-he-save-the-elephants.html|access-date=25 May 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 2016, Leakey was named Conservationist of the Year by [[The Perfect World Foundation]] and won "The Fragile Rhino" prize at the Elephant Ball in [[Gothenburg, Sweden]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Another great legend awarded the world's most prestigious conservation prize |url=https://news.cision.com/climate-aid-world-forum/r/another-great-legend-awarded-the-world-s-most-prestigious-conservation-prize,c3466091 |website=Climate and World Forum |access-date=3 January 2022 |language=en |date=4 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Perfect World Award |url=https://issuu.com/theperfectworldmagazine/docs/the_perfect_world_magazine_english/s/10821636 |website=The Perfect World Foundation |access-date=3 January 2022}}</ref>

===Plane crash===
In 1993, a small propeller-driven plane piloted by Richard Leakey crashed, crushing his lower legs, both of which were later amputated.<ref name="natgeo-obit" /> Sabotage was suspected but never proven.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Richard Leakey Tries to Save the Elephants—Again|url=https://www.newsweek.com/2014/09/05/richard-leakey-tries-save-elephants-again-267099.html|last=EDT|first=Graham Boynton On 08/28/14 at 6:33 AM|date=28 August 2014|website=Newsweek|language=en|access-date=25 May 2020}}</ref> While in the hospital, Leakey told President Moi, a religious man, not to pray for him, but act on matters pending for the Kenya Wildlife Service.<ref name=humanistinterview>Ryan Shaffer, [http://thehumanist.com/july-august-2012/evolution-humanism-and-conservation-the-humanist-interview-with-richard-leakey/ "Evolution, Humanism, and Conservation: The Humanist Interview with Richard Leakey"], ''The Humanist'', 29 June 2012.</ref> Thereafter, Richard Leakey walked on [[artificial limb]]s.<ref name="guardian2001"/> Around this time the Kenyan government announced that a secret probe had found evidence of corruption and mismanagement in the Kenya Wildlife Service. An annoyed Leakey resigned publicly in a press conference in January 1994.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lorch |first1=Donatella |title=Noted Kenya Conservationist Resigning in a Political Storm |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/15/world/noted-kenya-conservationist-resigning-in-a-political-storm.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=3 January 2022 |date=15 January 1994}}</ref> He was replaced by David Western as the head of the Kenya Wildlife Service.<ref>{{cite web |title=Leakey Renamed KWS Director |url=https://www.awf.org/news/leakey-renamed-kws-director |website=African Wildlife Foundation |access-date=3 January 2022 |language=en |date=1 January 1998}}</ref>

Richard Leakey wrote about his experiences at the Kenya Wildlife Service in his book ''[[Wildlife Wars|Wildlife Wars: My Fight to Save Africa's Natural Treasures]]'' (2001).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Leakey |first1=Richard |last2=Morell |first2=Virginia |title=Wildlife Wars: My Fight to Save Africa's Natural Treasures |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iIeWAwAAQBAJ |publisher=Macmillan |access-date=3 January 2022 |language=en |date=19 September 2001|isbn=9780312206260 }}</ref>