Nairobi, November 01, 2019: First African produced Wildlife documentary series, from Kenya Wildlife Warriors goes continent-wide via Nigerian channel EbonyLife TV in November.
WildlifeDirect is thrilled to announce partnership with Africa’s first global black entertainment and lifestyle network, EbonyLife TV to air Season One of the Wildlife Warriors TV Series will premier on November 6, on EbonyLife TV in Nigeria. “I am pleased to see us as Africans telling our own stories. I am particularly excited that amongst the genres now is wildlife”. Mo Abudu, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of EbonyLife TV
The series has been on air since April 2019 on Kenya’s most popular channel Citizen TV. It provides an African perspective on conservation through the stories of Africa’s own conservation heroes, front line soldiers, and cutting edge scientists. The first season features 14 Kenyan conservation heroes and the endangered animals they are working to protect. The TV series, shot and edited by Nairobi based production house Vivid Features, also celebrates Kenya’s iconic landscapes and is hosted by Dr. Paula Kahumbu a renowned Kenyan conservationist and Chief Executive Officer of WildlifeDirect. Two episodes were selected for screening at the New York Wildlife Film Festival in October.
“We started making wildlife documentaries to counter the persistent negative wildlife stories in the news, and to give the general public access to awe-inspiring wildlife documentaries for the first time. By reframing our conservation narrative in Africa we take ownership of the challenges and successes. People stop me in the street to tell me how proud they are that our own people are making such a huge difference at the conservation front line”. Paula Kahumbu.
This partnership with EbonyLife TV allows WildlifeDirect to further its mission of connecting people to wildlife and nature and inspiring them to treasure and act to conserve it. The show shines light on Africa’s own conservation heroes who are fighting grave battles, breaking new ground and risking everything to preserve what they hold most dear, the land of their ancestors and the animals they have lived closely with for generations. Produced by Africans for Africans, Wildlife Warriors aims to excite, entertain, wow, educate and inspire viewers to care about nature and wildlife, and take actions that save it and natural habitats.
On hearing the news about the partnership between WildlifeDirect and EbonyLife TV, Timothy Owase, Chief Executive Officer of Kenya Film Commission stated, “I am so elated with this news and proud of your effort and the fact that you have set the bar on the quality of your production. The Commission commits to continued support for more productions to such high standards”. He further added that the Commission would like to export more content hence encourage co-productions as the government puts fiscal policy to bolster the sector. He noted that with such success, we are guaranteed job creation, tourism, wildlife conservation, reduction of human-wildlife conflict and influence to policies.
The production of this series was funded by the U.S. Government, through USAID and in partnership with U.S. Department of the Interior, Wild Lives Foundation, and National Geographic.
For more information, please contact:
Trish Sewe – WildlifeDirect
+254 (0) 705 515 709
About WildlifeDirect:
WildlifeDirect is a Kenyan based conservation organization that has transformed anti-poaching results in Kenya through the award-winning conservation campaign “Hands Off Our Elephants” and the production of Africa wildlife documentaries. The vision of WildlifeDirect is to change hearts and minds and laws to ensure that Africa’s wildlife endures forever. Wildlife Warriors is the third wildlife television series that WildlifeDirect has produced as part if it’s mission to connect Kenyans to their wildlife and nature and inspire them to treasure it and act to conserve it.
About EbonyLife TV
EbonyLife TV is a flagship channel on both DStv and Startimes, with a combined reach of more than 20 million households in 52 African countries including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Kenya. EbonyLife TV is also viewed and across the Caribbean on the FLOW network and online through EbonyLife ON, a global video on demand service. Each year, EbonyLife TV produces 1000 hours of premium content with the express purpose of promoting the idea that Africa is changing—and changing for the better. EbonyLife TV has the largest self-owned library on the continent, which appeals to Africans and African Americans in the Diaspora.