On 31 August 2021, President Uhuru Kenyatta received the 2021 National Wildlife Census Report at State House, Nairobi, where he praised Kenya's wildlife conservation agencies for their successful anti-poaching efforts.
The President commended the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife for their great work in protecting the country's wildlife heritage.
"The reduction in losses in terms of elephants, rhinos and other endangered species is because of the great work that KWS, its officers and men are doing to ensure that the (wildlife) heritage is protected," the President said.
President Kenyatta also challenged the agencies to continue finding new innovative approaches for the sustainable management of Kenya's rich wildlife heritage.
He emphasized the importance of wildlife conservation, stating that it is an important national heritage which needs to be protected and conserved for posterity and for the benefit of all Kenyans.
"(Wildlife) is our heritage, this is our children's legacy and it is important for us to be able to know what we have in order to be better informed on policy and also on actions needed as we move forward. And it being a national heritage, it is something we should carry with pride," President Kenyatta said.
The census report revealed that Kenya has a total of 36,280 savanna elephants, the fourth largest population in the world after Zimbabwe, Botswana and Tanzania respectively.
According to the report, the country is home to 1,739 rhinos among them two northern white rhino species, 897 black rhinos and 840 southern white rhinos.
