Richard The Lionhearted

By EUGENE LINDEN

Proper appreciation of Richard Leakey's career requires a course in ballistics. Since he brashly launched his first expedition in search of human fossils in 1964 at the age of 19, he has careered through the African landscape, colliding at different times with his parents and siblings, with rival scientists over the interpretation of discoveries, and with other conservationists over his adamant support of a ban on the ivory trade.

But these collisions were nothing compared with what happened last month in the rough country north of Nairobi. A single-engine Cessna that Leakey was piloting with four passengers aboard lost power and crash-landed. "It occurred to me that if I did not handle the crash correctly, there would be no survivors," recalled Leakey, speaking last week from a hospital bed in Nottingham, England. "So I told the passengers in as lighthearted a way as possible that they were going to have to find their own way from this point on, looked for friendly trees to hit, turned off the ignition and tried to come in level. Unfortunately, I could not see one stout old mango tree." Leakey suffered worse injuries than any of his passengers: shattered bones in both legs and ankles.

The days following the crash showed both the depth of Leakey's courage and the strength of his commitment to saving African wildlife. Hour after hour, he lay in pain in a Nairobi hospital that could not adequately deal with the infections he developed. Septicemia posed a mortal risk, as he had only one kidney (transplanted from his brother years ago after both kidneys failed). But for 10 days he refused to leave Kenya to receive better treatment. Ignoring pleas from friends and family, he decided he had to stay in Nairobi to oversee the receipt of part of a $155 million conservation aid package from an international group of donors led by the World Bank.

Leakey finally agreed to be evacuated when British bone specialist Christopher Colton helped convince him that his life was in danger. As it is, he may yet lose part of his left leg and his right foot. Without health insurance because of his kidney problems, he faces medical bills that may mount to $500,000.

The second son of famed paleontologists Louis and Mary Leakey, Richard first burst into global prominence in 1972 when his team in Kenya unearthed a beautifully preserved 1.9 million-year-old skull of Homo habilis, an early hominid species first discovered by his parents. Ian Tattersall, an anthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, observes that the younger Leakey has more than his share of luck. "Louis Leakey had to crawl over hot rocky outcrops for 30 years before he found anything of importance; Richard struck gold from the start." Roger Lewin, collaborator on three of Richard's seven books, points out that his larger- than-life personality, amplified by coverage in National Geographic magazine and a 1977 TIME cover, raised the profile of paleoanthropology, helping ensure the flow of funds to its practitioners. "You can't do anything without fossils," says Lewin, "and he helped make it possible for fossils to be found."

Eventually, digging up the past became less important to Leakey than preserving Africa's heritage for future generations. Asked in 1989 to head Kenya's wildlife department -- which included a disorderly paramilitary force ^ that failed to protect elephants, rhinos and other animals from poachers -- he insisted that the agency be freed from government control. He then fired dishonest employees and raised the low salaries that made officials and troops vulnerable to bribes from poachers. Today morale is up, poaching is down, and bribe taking is nonexistent.

Just as important, Leakey persuaded international donors to pour money into Kenya. The World Bank has promised that if the $155 million aid package to develop tourism and protect vital areas produces good results, a similar amount will follow. Leakey believes that the wildlife service can be well managed and attract financing without his leadership -- but not yet. When the plane crashed in June, many of his deputies were out of Kenya, and Leakey was afraid the conservation project would go awry if he left for England.

If Leakey regrets his decision, he will not say so. He figures his condition was so bad that it would have been difficult to move him much earlier anyway. Although he has been flat on his back for more than six weeks, he is in constant touch with his staff and says he expects to resume duties in mid- August. After nine surgical procedures, he estimates that he has a 50% chance of losing his left leg below the knee. "Some people used to believe I think with my feet, but I don't, actually," he jokes. Says National Geographic editor William Graves, a close friend: "Richard has the same old guts and determination. If spirit has anything to do with recovery, he will make it."

With reporting by Andrea Dorfman/New York and Clive Mutiso/Nairobi