Dr Richard Leakey

19.12.44-02.01.22

The GRASP secretariat is very saddened to hear of the passing of GRASP Patron, Kenyan conservationist and paleoanthropologist Dr Richard Leakey. Dr Leakey has written hundreds of scientific papers, popular articles and books, including The Origin of Humankind (1994), The Sixth Extinction (1995) and Wildlife Wars (2001).

Dr Leakey spent the early years of his career conducting field research in palaeoanthropology, and in 1968 he was appointed as the director of the National Museum of Kenya. He undertook intensive excavations at Lake Turkana, and over a period of 30 years the site yielded over 200 fossils including two of the most spectacular finds of all time, a virtually complete Homo habilis skull in 1972 and a Homo erectus skull in 1975. In 1989, he was appointed as the head of the Kenyan Wildlife Services (KWS) in which he successfully combatted elephant and rhino poaching and assisted in reorganizing Kenya’s troubled national park system. A publicity stunt which saw the burning of a cache of ivory brought global awareness to the threat of the ivory trade for elephant conservation. Dr Leakey turned to politics between 1994 and 2001 before becoming the founder and chair of Wildlife Direct in 2004, a Kenya-based charitable organization that is a partner of GRASP. As a patron for and advisor to GRASP, Dr Leakey served as a leading spokesperson, promoting the mission of the partnership at numerous high-profile conferences including at the London Royal Geographic Society on the subject of climate change and the future of great apes.

It is undeniable how significant Dr Leakey’s work has been in shaping conservation for wildlife in Kenya. His leadership and expertise have been highly valued, and his death will leave a huge gap in the global conservation world; Time magazine included him among the 100 Greatest Minds of the 20th Century. His recent vision, to build a museum of humankind called Ngaren, is set to open in 2026 and will serve as a reminder of his incredible work.  We offer our sincere condolences to Dr Richard Leakey’s family and to the wider conservation community for this devastating loss.

“I want Ngaren to address that what is was not always, and that what is won’t always be. We’ve got to introduce the notion that the Earth is a dynamic place, that there are factors that we can influence, and there are others that we cannot control.” – Dr Richard Leakey.