Richard Leakey, an environmentalist and leader of the expedition, died

Richard Leakey, Kenya’s world-renowned environmental activist and travel leader, owes much to mankind’s vital knowledge of its creation, he died at the age of 77.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a statement on Sunday evening that he was “saddened by the death of Dr. Richard Erskine Frere Leakey.”

Leakey was the second eldest son of the famous ancient anthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey. Although he was not a trained archaeologist, Richard Leakey led many expeditions in the 1970s during which amazing discoveries were made through the fossils of ancient human relatives. They helped to establish the theory of the origin of mankind in Africa.

Leakey’s most famous discovery came in 1984 with the almost complete skeleton of Homo erectus. It was known as the “Durgana Boy”.

In 1989, Lee was appointed President of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) by then-President Daniel Arab Moy. As head of the national parks of the East African country, he waged a fierce struggle against the widespread poaching of elephants in the hunt for precious ivory.

In 1993, Leakey crashed a small Cessna engine into the Rift Valley. He survived the crash but lost both legs.

Leakey also served as a politician and led various civil society organizations. Despite his ill health, he accepted the management of KWS for another three years in 2015 at the request of Kenyatta.

SDA