Excerpt from Conference Program:
"Although elephants have co-existed with people for millennia, recently their future has become clouded with uncertainty. Twenty years ago, the principle threat was the "Ivory Wars", which depleted the ranks of elephants. Today it is land subdivision which is forcing them into isolated sanctuaries. How can people and elephants co-exist in 21st century Africa? What about the idea of reintroducing the Elephant to North America? Is that an option or ecological folly?

Western is founding executive director of the African Conservation Centre and author of In the Dust of Kilimanjaro. Raised in Tanzania and now a Kenyan citizen, he has spent over 37 years engaged in research in Kenya studying the interactions between livestock, wildlife and humans with the aim of developing conservation strategies applicable at an ecosystem scale. As former director of Kenya Wildlife Service and conservation director for Wildlife Conservation Society, Dr. Western has been active in many areas of conservation, including community-based conservation, international programs, conservation planning, ecotourism, training, directing governmental and nongovernmental organizations and public education."