When Dr Richard Leakey was reappointed director of Kenya Wildlife Services, he found a depressing picture. The poaching of elephants had escalated while the KWS had been brought near to bankruptcy through widespread corruption and cooking of the books. Our correspondents report.

Escalating incidents of poaching and ivory trading has alarmed the recently-appointed director of the Kenya Wildlife Services, Dr. Richard Leakey, who has made an impassioned appeal to the government to curb the menace and to ensure that poachers don't undermine elephant conservation measures introduced in the country a few years ago.

It is the second time in two months that Leakey has raised the elephant poaching issue. He first raised it shortly before he was re-appointed director of the KWS in October.

At that time the deputy director of the KWS, Dr. John Waithaka, dismissed his claims that between 50 and 100 elephants a year had been killed in Kenya, saying the true figure was about 16 elephants.

But Leakey said that Kenya's elephant population faced increased threats of extinction since the lifting of the seven-year ban by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in June 1997, which allowed Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe to sell their stockpiles of ivory to Japan.

Waithaka said that between January and June 1997, 29 elephants had been killed by poachers compared to 15 killed between July and December last year.

But Leakey says that the ivory trade is flourishing. Poaching is on the increase though it has not yet reached crisis proportions.

"Recent evidence of illegal trading involving Zimbabwe, South Africa, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan indicates that a substantial demand for ivory existed," he said.

Other animals rights groups also protested that lifting of the ban has triggered more slaughter of elephants, increasing poaching and even shootouts between poachers and rangers which could ultimately threaten the lives of tourists.

Leakey is supported by Dr Ian Douglas-Hamilton, the chairman of the Save the Elephant Lobby Group. He fears that the floodgates of poaching have been flung open by the partial lifting of the ban. He said, "recent evidence of illegal trading involving Zimbabwe, South Africa, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan indicate that a substantial demand for ivory existed."

When Leakey reassumed control at KWS he found that the organisation was broke, with a deficit of £13m. Yet when he had left the organisation four years previously, its finances were in a good state and foreign organisations were only too keen to make further loans to ensure game preservation.

The KWS, which had been a model of efficiency, under his leadership then fell into decline. According to Leakey, massive stealing of revenue by his staff had brought the organisation to its knees. Money from the sale of park entry tickets had been stolen and invoices for supplies had been inflated. It was so bad that the police had to be brought in to prosecute blatant cases of corruption.

Leakey said that official statistics had been doctored to hide the fact that poaching had increased to about 100 a year. And elephant poaching was not alone. All kinds of game, buck, and giraffes had been killed for their meat.

It was this situation that made President Moi invite his political opponent back to do a job in which he had proved himself. Leakey had been head of KWS from 1989 to 1994 when he resigned following a campaign by his political opponents to undermine him.

The elephant is considered the most important game, vital to the tourist industry and the economic mainstay of most East African countries.

But its control is now more important than ever as elephants are in competition with the people that live near to the game parks who have been steadily encroaching on the huge tracts of land that elephants have traditionally occupied. So the elephant has become the enemy as it destroys crops, sometimes even killing villagers.

The ranchers and landowners in Kenya have responded magnificently to this challenge by establishing in Laikipia, Naivasha and other parts of the country private wildlife schemes that are once again enhancing Kenya's attempt to recapture the tourism market.

Among the private programmes is the Laikipia Wildlife Forum which was specifically established not only for wildlife bio-diversity but also to encourage conservation by involving local communities in the sustainable management of their natural resources.

The forum last year applied to the government for permission, through its chairman, JGL Powys, for a short-term pilot scheme on community land. There, controlled culling of common species was allowed, but some private ranches may have killed too many animals.

Leakey's job is to conserve Kenya's wildlife in the game parks. He travelled all over the world to raise millions of dollars for the purpose, money which was later squandered. Now he needs to start fund raising all over again.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel. The Kenya government has promised KShs200m and the US government $2m. Donors can be expected to respond generously now that Leakey is back in charge.