Richard Leakey Quotes

Hunted for sport by the rich, then driven from large tracts of its natural habitat by agricultural and housing development, the giant panda deserves better than to be scrubbed from conservation's ledger books through false accounting.

The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?

The threat of extinction is more real than many realise. And the damage done to elephants directly leads to destruction of the ecosystem.

The verdict is for the trumpeter swan and against the army. The army will have to find another nesting place.

I've often felt that the Indian tiger has not been unleashed.

I cannot concur with those who advocate saving gorillas from extinction by killing and capturing more free-living individuals only to exhibit them in confinement.

In the 1970s, Safari Club International asked the federal government to approve its import of 1,125 not-yet-killed trophies of 40 endangered species, including gorillas, orangutans and tigers, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

It is a drastic mistake to eliminate the provisions that have to do with the protection of habitat for endangered species. It is my opinion that the Endangered Species Act is 99 percent about protecting critical habitat.

Biological diversity is messy. It walks, it crawls, it swims, it swoops, it buzzes. But extinction is silent, and it has no voice other than our own.

The elephants were being slaughtered in masses. Some were even killed in the vicinity of big tourist hotels.

The snow leopard is absolutely magnificent. It represents really what endangered species are all about.

Maybe I should write 'Tiger Who?' on my cap.

Take the crocodile, for example, my favorite animal. There are 23 species. Seventeen of those species are rare or endangered. They're on the way out, no matter what anyone does or says, you know.

Elephant populations in India and also in the whole of Asia are under severe stress. The captive ones are rendered jobless due to changes in the mode of transport and lifestyle of people. The ones in the wild are also no better off, as the forests are shrinking.

Elephants seek food elsewhere if their route is blocked, and raiding crops and grain stores brings them into conflict with people, often resulting in deaths on both sides.

The rhino is now more or less extinct, and it's not because of global warming or shrinking habitats. It's because of Beyonce's handbags.

Chimpanzees are endangered. Severely.

I'm learning that human pressure on wildlife is becoming increasingly dangerous. You've got to be more alert because more animals have been pushed around, wounded, subjected to human harassment, ambushed, all kinds of stress. When they attack, it's totally predictable.

Just like birds, hunters know no borders.

In Africa, the rangers shoot poachers.

We wish to firmly demonstrate to the world our determination to eliminate all forms of illegal trade in ivory. Poachers and illegal trades in ivory must know that their days are numbered.

If mountain gorillas are to survive and propagate, far more active conservation measures urgently need to be undertaken. The question remains, is it already too late?

People get very passionate about saving the whale, but when something like a Florida indigo snake is endangered there are not a lot of people out there holding up placards.

Many locals in east Africa are calling for fences to separate wildlife and people. They argue it will reduce conflict and also make it easier to protect the wildlife from poachers. From my experience in Tanzania, no fence and no militia will hold back the tide of poachers drawn by the huge sums of money at stake.

Nepal is a magical country and one of the only places in the world where they are winning the fight against illegal poaching.