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The Kenyan government has increased compensation for people either killed or injured by wildlife by nearly 666 percent after years of lobbying by wildlife activists and local communities, officials said Thursday. Compensation for a human life lost has increased from 30,000 shillings (406 dollars, 319 euros) to 200,000 shillings (2,7112 dollars, 2,123 euros), while for an injured person it has been hiked from 15,000 (203 dollars, 159 euros) shillings to 50,000 shillings, they said. "Kenyans have suffered for a long time as a result of human-wildlife conflict and we want to at least recognise human life," Tourism and Wildlife Minister Morris Dzoro said. "Without the public interest in caring and co-existing with the animals, our tourism sector will be affected. That is why we want to take care of those who will suffer from the conflict," he told a conference reviewing the country's wildlife policy here. For decades, activists and local communities have pressed the government to review the compensation rates as a way of improving conservation and reducing human-wildlife conflict. The country's famed national parks and game reserves are the main contributor to the country's flourishing tourism sector, which last year earned the country about 648 million dollars (527.7 million euros). All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.
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