I, too, am convinced that our ancestors came from Africa.
Richard LeakeyRead
Earlier, 100,000 elephants lived in Kenya and we didn't have any noteworthy problem with it. The problem that we have is not that there are now more elephants.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that the issue is not the number of elephants, but rather how humans manage their coexistence with wildlife.
Richard Leakey's statement reflects on the complex relationship between humans and nature, particularly regarding the elephant population in Kenya. He suggests that the rise in human-elephant conflicts is not due to an increase in elephant numbers but rather a failure in understanding and managing the ecological and social dynamics that allow for peaceful coexistence. This highlights the need for better strategies and policies to preserve wildlife while addressing human concerns.
Themes
ElephantsNatureConservationWildlifeHuman-Elephant ConflictKenya
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about wildlife conservation, one might say, 'As Richard Leakey pointed out, the issue isn't the number of elephants but how we manage our interactions with them.'
More from Richard Leakey
All quotes →For three million years we were hunter-gatherers, and it was through the evolutionary pressures of that way of life that a brain so adaptable and so creative eventually emerged. Today we stand with the brains of hunter-gatherers in our heads, looking out on a modern world made comfortable for some by the fruits of human inventiveness, and made miserable for others by the scandal of deprivation in the midst of plenty.
Richard LeakeyRead
To have arrived on this earth as a product of a biological accident, only to depart through human arrogance, would be the ultimate irony.
Richard LeakeyRead
We are concerned that, in a few years time, this place of discovery, with its wealth of human fossils, the like of which can be found nowhere else in the world, could be completely destroyed.
Richard LeakeyRead
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