This paper from the Overseas Development Institute examines whether and how wildlife is a source of rural growth and development in East Africa, and whether its potential could be tapped more fully. It focuses particularly on the wildlife tourism industry, pulling together issues from a range of work and comparisons from Southern Africa, rather than presenting conclusive results based on detailed research specific to this topic. The paper reports that although wildlife-based tourism is a thriving industry in some well-established tourism destinations in East Africa, evidence suggests that the wider potential of wildlife enterprise in other rural areas is not being harnessed to the full.