PRINCE WILLIAM: WILDLIFE POACHING IN AFRICA MUST STOP

  There have been several recent reports of rhino poaching

Prince William has given a passionate speech urging more to be done to protect African wildlife at the UK premiere of the film African Cats. Here is what he said:

"Films like African Cats remind us of the dramatic beauty, and the harshness, of the natural world – and there is nowhere more awe-inspiring or beautiful than the vast plains of Kenya’s Maasai Mara. Africa’s natural heritage is the world’s natural heritage. We have to preserve places like this - not just for us, but for future generations. 

African Cats shows graphically the battle for survival facing every lion and cheetah born in the wild. The natural challenges are formidable enough, without man’s interference. Loss of natural habitat, due to encroachment by human beings, is the principal reason that there are today around just 25,000 lions remaining in the African bush – 50 per cent less than 20 years ago. 

There could be as few as 12,000 cheetahs. The population distribution of these marvellous creatures is patchy too. Kenya, with around 2,000 lions, has as many as all of West and Central Africa put together. This uneven geographic spread further lowers the species’ chances of achieving stable populations and, therefore, longer term survival.

I say this not to be despondent, but to sound a rallying call. We must act now, coherently and together, if the situation is to be reversed and our legacy - our global, natural legacy – preserved. Tomorrow will be too late

This story from my best friend Dotto Kahindi katika  http://tabianchi.blogspot.com/