In keeping with the requests of conservationists, Kenya's president Mwai Kibaki rejected on December 31, 2004, a new law enacted by the parliament allowing sport hunting of wild animals straying into private lands. "The president will convey to the (parliament) speaker the reasons for his refusal, and proposals on the way forward," said a statement by Kibaki's office . On December 9, 2004, the parliament had amended Kenya's Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, 1977, to allow ranchers to kill wild animals that entered their land. Kibaki's approval was necessary to bring the legislation into effect. The statement said Kibaki believed that "wildlife is a national heritage in which the people of Kenya, in their totality, should have a say" and that its management should not be under a few interest groups.
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