ABSTRACT
In order to put the current controversies concerning the ban of wildlife hunting in Kenya into perspective (since 1977 to the present, no form of wildlife hunting is allowed in and outside the country’s wildlife park and reserves), it is important to provide an historical evaluation of the country’s wildlife policies and tourism programmes as they relate to wildlife hunting. The arrival of Europeans in the rural African landscape, in the early nineteenth century, and Kenya’s incorporation into the global market economy was a turning-point in its nature-society relationship. Many of the contemporary issues and problems concerning wildlife conservation and the development of wildlife-based tourism can be traced back to that period. Since 1977, it has been an offence to kill wildlife whatever the circumstance, punishable with imprisonment.
