"Earlier, 100,000 elephants lived in Kenya and we didn't have any noteworthy problem with it. The problem that we have is not that there are now more elephants"

This quote by Richard Leakey is referring to the present state of the elephant population in Kenya. He is saying that in the past, when there were 100,000 elephants living in Kenya, there were no significant concerns. The problem that exists now is not that there are more elephants, however rather that the population has actually decreased considerably. This decrease in the elephant population is due to poaching, habitat loss, and other human-related activities. Leakey is stressing that the current issue is not the number of elephants, but rather the truth that their numbers have actually decreased so drastically. He is also suggesting that if the population of elephants can be brought back to its former level, then the issues connected with their decrease can be dealt with.