Virgin launches Kenya project to save endangered elephants
03.06.07
Virgin Atlantic chairman Sir Richard Branson announced a programme aimed at saving elephants in Kenya, as he celebrated the airline's first flight on a new route between Heathrow and Nairobi in the east African nation.
Sir Richard pledged US$250,000 to help create a 'Virgin Mount Kenya Elephant Corridor' that would benefit about 2,000 elephants threatened by human encroachment. He said:' Historically, the African elephant has roamed across the continent from South Africa to the Mediterranean coast but its population is under serious threat.'
'We need to build safe elephant corridors to protect the species, as well as the villages, people and crops around them, and our wider environment. We can create a vital lifeline for the entire animal and human population in the region.'
The project, which would cost US$1 million over 10 years, would link two ecosystems and enable the elephants to use their historic access routes, thus reducing the likelihood of their drifting into human settlements. In addition, it will slash poaching, logging, charcoal burning and illegal livestock grazing, which is blamed for human-wildlife conflict.
Virgin Atlantic's 240-seater Airbus A340-300 aircraft will daily operate the Nairobi - Heathrow route, targeting a quarter of the market share currently dominated by British Airways and Kenyan Airways.
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