KWS launches daily wildlife livestream to 16 global platforms, but not yet in China

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has begun broadcasting live, unscripted footage from nine national parks and reserves to more than 16 global platforms, in a partnership with South African broadcaster WildEarth aimed at drawing tourists before they ever set foot in the country.

Broadcasts began on 7 September 2026 and were formally launched by Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano on 22 September, which is World Rhino Day, during World Tourism Week. The programme, branded KenyaLIVE and also referred to as "Experience Wonder — Live From Kenya", is a joint initiative of KWS, the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) and WildEarth, according to multiple Kenyan outlets including Kenyans.co.ke, Citizen Digital and the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.

"Virtual tourism does not replace the physical safari. It creates curiosity, builds connection and inspires people to come and experience Kenya for themselves," Miano said, according to Citizen Digital and Eastleigh Voice.

Over a planned six-month run, cameras will rotate through Nairobi National Park, Amboseli, Tsavo East, Tsavo West, the Aberdares, Sibiloi, Meru, Ruma and Mount Elgon. Nairobi National Park — home to a black rhino sanctuary a short drive from the capital's skyline — has featured prominently in the launch coverage, alongside broader rhino-conservation messaging tied to World Rhino Day.

Kenya's 2025 national wildlife census recorded 2,102 rhinos, including 1,059 black rhinos and 1,041 southern white rhinos, plus the world's last two northern white rhinos.

KWS director-general Erustus Kanga said the initiative is about showing "the daily reality of conservation in Kenya — our rangers on patrol, our scientists monitoring wildlife, and the communities who share this land with our wildlife", according to Citizen Digital. Sessions run morning and afternoon, unscripted and without retakes, alongside WildEarth's existing SafariLIVE programming from Maasai Mara and reserves in South Africa.

KWS says the feeds are reaching more than 500,000 daily unique viewers across platforms that include DStv, YouTube, Samsung TV Plus and Roku. KTB chief executive June Chepkemei said the programme would expose viewers to Kenya's wider tourism offering beyond wildlife, according to ATTA. Organisers plan curriculum-linked "virtual school safaris" for Kenyan and international students from November, and a digital archive of past broadcasts.

Kenya has made Chinese visitors a stated priority: tourism officials have set a target of one million Chinese tourists a year, up from 105,000 in 2025 and roughly 90,000 in 2024, Tourism Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa told a Chinese New Year gala in February 2026, as reported by the Star.

Kenya has previously run a livestream aimed specifically at Chinese audiences: in July 2025, President William Ruto launched global live coverage of the Great Wildebeest Migration in the Maasai Mara in partnership with China Media Group Africa, giving an interview to China Global Television Network (CGTN) as part of the event, according to Capital FM Kenya. Miano attended that launch too. None of the platforms named for KenyaLIVE so far is Chinese.

The Chinese embassy in Nairobi has previously spoken out on the anti-poaching issue directly: in 2014, its then-acting ambassador publicly told the Chinese community in Kenya that involvement in the illegal wildlife trade is unacceptable, according to the wildlife-trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.