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Kenya to hold wildlife festival to raise awareness of protection

Xinhua, February 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenya's wildlife agency has teamed up with conservation organizations to hold a week-long festival starting this Saturday to raise awareness of wildlife protection among the public and celebrate the country's wealth and natural heritage in wildlife.

First of its kind, the Kenya Wildlife Festival, hosted by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), will be held from Feb. 28 to March 3 -- the World Wildlife Day.

"The Kenya Wildlife Festival is an opportunity for all Kenyans to learn about wildlife through a variety of means, including music, theatre, debates, films, and citizen science projects," KWS said in a statement on Thursday.

The Festival comes as wildlife are facing challenges such as habitat loss, poaching, human wildlife conflict, climate change and illegal trade, which KWS said threaten the future of wildlife heritage and the survival of some of the most charismatic species.

"For instance, three of the "Big Five" -- elephants, lions, rhinos, cheetah and several antelopes, are under extreme threat," it said.

"Most of the vital wilderness areas including forests, savannas, rivers and lakes, as well as marine environments are under heavy pressure and are increasingly becoming highly degraded," it added.

KWS and WildlifeDirect, a Kenya and U.S. registered charitable organization, will on Saturday stage the Ndovu Zetu, a concert for elephants at the United Nations (UN) compound in Nairobi, and have invited artists from Tanzania, South Sudan and Congo to perform.

"We are excited to be hosting a show just for elephants," said Paula Kahumbu, CEO of WildlifeDirect.

"We're doing this for elephants because we love them. Like humans, elephants feel, worry, play, hurt, mourn, remember." Kahumbu said.

Kahumbu said the Ndovu Zetu Concert showcases the talent and passion of young musicians who are willing to share their musical gifts to benefit elephant conservation and environmental sustainability.

In 2013, the UN General Assembly proclaimed March 3 as World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world's wild fauna and flora.

Wildlife is the major tourist attraction in Kenya and generates around 12 percent of the national Gross Domestic Production and employs over 300,000 people. Endi