Richard Leakey, the world-famous Kenyan paleontologist and conservationist, died at the age of 77, making a significant contribution to understanding the origins of humanity and fighting poaching. According to the AFP agency, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta informed about his death on Sunday.
In the 1970s, Leakey led several expeditions in which he made breakthrough discoveries, including the skulls of a skilled man and an upright man, the ancestors of today’s man, about 1.9 and 1.4 million years old.
He became best known for his discovery in 1984, when his team dug an almost complete, about 1.5 to 1.6 million-year-old skeleton of prehistoric man, nicknamed the Turkcan boy, on the shores of Lake Turkana.
Although Leakey did not have a formal education in his field, he received several honorary doctorates. His parents were well-known paleontologists Louis and Mary Leakey.
Since the late 1980s, he has led the Kenya Conservation Authority (KWS), which has focused on eradicating widespread elephant poaching. In 2015, he returned to the head of the institution for three years, despite deteriorating health at the request of President Kenyatta.
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