Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, centre, looks on as 15 tonnes of ivory confiscated from smugglers and poachers is burnt in Nairobi National Park. Photo: Reuters

A Kenya Wildlife Service officer next to the pile of contraband ivory. Photo: AFP

President Uhuru Kenyatta gave a boost to the international fight against poaching on Tuesday by setting fire to more than 15 tonnes of elephant ivory tusks during a ceremony at the Nairobi National Park. He was flanked by Dr. Richard Leakey a Kenyan politician, paleoanthropologist and conservationist who was once the Director of Wildlife Service (KWS).

The event was hosted by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to commemorate the World Wildlife Day which also coincides with the Africa Environment Day and the Wangari Maathai Day.

“This shows we are committed to save our elephants and we want the world to know that ivory belongs to the elephants,” Paul Udoto, spokesman for the…