A Memorial to Bill
The sudden tragic death of Bill Holden in 1981 was a great shock for Don and Iris and an irreplaceable loss for the partnership. But the couple recommitted themselves to the project and continued to meet most of the cost over-runs from their own personal earnings and savings.
They joined with actress Stefanie Powers in contributing to the creation of a unique permanent memorial to their close friend through the fulfillment of his long-standing wish to draw the new generations of young Africans into the cause of preserving their own natural heritage. He'd had in mind a structured program of encouragement, information and education and it was for this purpose that the William Holden Wildlife Education Center was conceived and developed.
Don and Iris donated the land for the Education Center and the investment finance was provided by Stefanie and the legions of people who had valued what Bill Holden had given them, either personally or through his accomplished work.
The facility was duly constructed and, since 1982, the student intake from Kenyan Schools for its program of short courses has built up to a total of 7,000 a year.
Some time after the inception of the project, Stefanie joined the Mount Kenya Game Ranch Board of Directors. She has remained deeply involved in the Foundation, but also frequently works with Iris and the staff of the Orphanage, helping in whatever way she can.
Along with Iris, she has almost a religious conviction that all creatures have a right to a secure life on the planet and that humans, the dominant species at the top of the food chain, have a duty to ensure that African wildlife - not exclusively, but in particular - continues to share the earth's natural resources in its natural environment.
The Mount Kenya Game Ranch/Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy is now a recognized and significant link in the world-wide network of conservation organizations.
- A breeding herd of the rare mountain bongo, now extinct on Mount Kenya, which forms part of a program to return the species to the wild.
- A breeding herd of 30 very rare white zebra, offspring of the last of their kind, rescued from extinction many years ago in the arid northern Kenya range. these are now the only specimens of their kind left alive in africa.
It is currently home to some 28 species - around 1500 animals - all of which are the progeny of the individuals and small family groups rescued from threatened wildlife range and forest areas under the direction of the Kenya Government in the seventies and eighties.
Kenya has come a long way in the field of conservation, with its various Tourism & Wildlife Services still maintaining the largest land area in Africa given over exclusively to wild flora and fauna.
Mount Kenya has been recognized by the United Nations as a World Heritage Site and with a renewed commitment made by the new government of President Mwai Kibaki, it will almost certainly remain a primary world ttraction for the present and hopefully for future generations.
As always, the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy will make its contribution, not least with a main objective of restocking the forest parks with its own emblematic Bongo Antelope.
Read more about this and other ongoing projects on our pages...
