NAIROBI, July 12 (Xinhua) -- A team of ten Kenyan environmentalists plan to walk to South Africa to raise awareness about elephant and rhino conservation, organizers said on Thursday.
Jim Nyamu, executive director of Elephant Neighbor Center, told a media briefing in Nairobi that he plans to traverse Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa over a period of 160 days.
"The historic walk dubbed East-Southern Africa Elephant Walk comes at a time when the elephant corridor is experiencing rapid depletion of elephants due to enhanced demand for wildlife trophies globally," Nyamu said.
The walk, which runs from July to December, is aimed to champion the ban on ivory trade and wildlife trophies as well as petition for enacting stringent laws to curb wildlife poaching.
Nyamu noted that the four-month journey also seeks to bring the world-famous corridor together to ensure that poaching is completely exterminated and the locals also play their part to conserve elephant for posterity.
During the expedition, it is expected that Nyamu will make numerous stops to educate the public and authorities on the importance of the elephants to the socio-economic development of the region's economies.
Nyamu, who has walked over 12,000 km in three continents since 2013, said that the elephant and rhino population in East African region faces a great threat from wildlife poachers.
"It is therefore imperative that all wildlife stakeholders take the necessary steps to save the elephant and rhino from becoming extinct," he said.
Nyamu said that the seven countries where the walk will talk place have been singled out due to their unique natural habitat for elephants as well as their vulnerability to lose iconic wildlife through poaching.