Tiassa Mutunkei founded a youth movement to fight poaching and illegal trade in wildlife at 15. Now 17, she discussed with Kaddu Sebunya the future of conservation in Africa.

Some call you ‘The Elephant Girl’, others the ‘Wildlife Warrior’. How did you become a conservation soldier in your teens?

I have been fascinated by animals, especially the elephant, from a very young age. I tried my best to learn more about them by visiting national parks and animal orphanages.

When I was about eight years old, my classmates nicknamed me “The Animal Girl” because I had the weirdest of pets. For my ninth birthday, for instance, my cousin got me a chameleon as a present.

I started a wildlife club in my school, Rusinga School, to create awareness about the threat of poaching elephants for ivory.

I organised a fundraising bake-sale and raised Sh63,000 to support adoption of elephants. This is what earned me the name “Elephant Girl”.

I decided to become a ‘Wildlife Warrior’ because I needed to be the voice for our animals.

You started “Teens For Wildlife” when you were 15. What motivated you?

Teens for Wildlife (T4W) is a space for young people to share their thoughts and ideas, explore and discover the magic of our wildlife – then act to protect it!

I realised that many young people do not know how fast we are losing wildlife to poaching and illegal trade. T4W creates awareness about our wildlife and the need to stop the killings.

I often say that we will not be the generation that will allow our wildlife to become extinct; we are the generation that will save it.

Are young voices in conservation in Africa being heard?

No. Conservation has remained largely an exclusive club of ‘westerners’ and middle-aged men and women.

AWF President Kaddu Sebunya (left) speaks to Tiassa Mutunkei (right), popularly known as the Elephant Girl. Tiassa, 17, founded Teens for Wildlife to push for conservation of endangered species. PHOTO | COURTESY

Where did conservationists go wrong?

The most damaging mistake was to lock local people out of the conversation on conservation.

For many years conservation has been treated as a “White man’s job” and Africans are seen as the problem instead of being part of the solution.

If you were appointed to head the Kenya Wildlife Service and given adequate resources for five years, what would be your three priorities?

First, I would push for conservation to be at heart of the Big Four development agenda and link it to education, health, technology culture and our heritage.

Secondly, I would reach out to young people in countries creating demand for illegal wildlife trade to push for a global ban of the trade.

Thirdly, I would make Kenya the African Wildlife Hub for research and learning.

Are young people concerned about wildlife and wildlands? How can we bring them on board?

Yes, many young people are conservation champions. The problem is that we are not recruiting may more as fast as I would want because conservationists operate in an echo chamber.

Most conservation functions and events I attend are organised by and target the same group of people. We need to stop preaching to the converted if we are to attract more young people.

There are many ways to engage young people:

The use of technology is a must because most young people are connected through mobile phones.

Have activities that young people can engage with. Just like local music shows that many young people attend – these conservation initiatives must speak like us. They must be exciting, fun, and engaging.

Identify four months in a year and focus on specific wildlife species with information and other fun activities, awards, and competitions across the country.

You attend many conservation events globally. What do you hear that encourages you to push on? And what don’t you hear that you wish they spoke about?

I am encouraged to meet people who are passionate and doing something positive about conservation. These forums give me a lot of information about wildlife that I cannot get, say, in school or other places.

I would like to hear more facts about our fragile co-existence with other species. For example, if all insects became extinct, would humans survive for 10 years?

I would like to hear more about the Kenyan/African conservation heroes/heroines and role models.

I would also like to hear more about career and job opportunities in the conservation area. And I would like to learn more about how our ancestors lived in harmony with wildlife.

AWF President Kaddu Sebunya (left) and Tiassa Mutunkei (right), popularly known as the Elephant Girl. Tiassa, 17, founded Teens for Wildlife to push for conservation of endangered species. PHOTO | COURTESY

Some conservationists argue that controlled hunting should be allowed in countries that have many lions to help pay for the services necessary to save the rest of wildlife. Do you think hunting should be allowed?

No. There is no such thing as too many lions in a country, continent or planet. Nature has its own way of balancing life and death.

If you could turn back the hand of time, which three conservation tragedies in Africa would you reverse?

First is ivory trade. We have lost too many elephants just for trinkets, toothpicks, jewellery and chopsticks.

The second tragedy is trophy hunting. Allowing people to kill wildlife has opened the doors for illegal killing of endangered species that has become a problem to stop and has promoted corruption across Africa.

The third tragedy is not putting local people at the heart of issues of conservation.

Are you optimistic that we can save wildlife for future generations?

Yes, I am optimistic. People are becoming aware of the wildlife crisis of our time. I believe the power to save our wildlife is in our hands.

We are running out of time to save our wildlife and as young people we cannot wait for the current generation to “give” us back our wildlife, we must get it before it is too late.

And if we fail, we are all doomed. There’s no two ways about it.

Kaddu Sebunya is President of African Wildlife Foundation [email protected]