1
THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THE
AFRICAN ELEPHAN NUMBERED IN THE MILLIONS.
SEASONS WERE MEASURED BY
THEIR COMINGS AND GOINGS.
AND THEY HAD NO ENEMY.
BUT THEY POSSESSED ONE
FATAL FLAW
THEIR IVORY TUSKS-REPRESENTING
PERFECTION, PURITY...
AND, IN TIME, MONEY.
AND SO THE ELEPHANT BECAME
VICTIM OF ITS OWN MAGNIFICENCE.
TODAY ITS NUMBERS
HAVE PLUMMETED,
AND ITS VERY
SURVIVAL IS IN DOUBT.
David (anti poaching):
That was Venus,
she was a lovely
elephant; she was poached.
WHY DID OUR LOVE OF
IVORY TURN SO LETHAL?
David (game scout): Tusks
were in there and there;
there's nothing left.
Aidan: We're facing a situation
where elephant could become
extinct in the wild.
NOW TWO INVESTIGATORS GO
UNDERCOVER AND INSIDE THE
ILLEGAL IVORY TRADE AND REVEAL
IT FROM BOTH SIDES...
SUPPLY IN AFRICA...
Aidan: So my friend,
could you get 1,000 kilos?
Seller: Yes!
AND DEMAND IN ASIA.
Woman: You see the tusk
moving, it curves like this.
Bryan: You can feel the tusk.
Woman: Yes.
Bryan: You're seeing $20,000,
$100,000, $200,000 and more.
TODAY A LINE HAS BEEN
DRAWN-BETWEEN THOSE WHO WISH FOR
POSSESSIONS AND THOSE WHO
WISH FOR SOMETHING, MUCH,
MUCH LARGER...
IN WHAT MAY BE THE FINAL
"BATTLE FOR THE ELEPHANTS."
DUSK.
AFRICA.
AN ELEPHANT HERD FOLLOWS
A TRAIL INTO THE FOREST,
TRAVELING PATHWAYS THEY HAVE
USED SINCE LONG BEFORE RECORDED
TIME.
BUT BECAUSE OF MAN'S DESIRE
FOR THEIR IVORY TUSKS,
THEIR JOURNEY IS NOW MORE
PERILOUS THAN EVER BEFORE.
A BAN ON THE IVORY TRADE PU IN PLACE DECADES AGO
SHOULD BE PROTECTING THEM....
BUT THE BAN IS NOT WORKING.
5,000 MILES AWAY , CHINA AWAKES.
WITH ITS 1.3 BILLION PEOPLE, I EMBRACES A NEW IDENTITY AS THE
FASTEST GROWING MAJOR
ECONOMY IN THE WORLD .
BUT THIS IS A NATION IN
CONFLICT WITH ITSELF.
A LONG TRADITION OF DEEPLY HELD
SPIRITUAL BELIEFS-BUDDHISM...
TAOISM...CONFUCIANISM
-MUST NOW RECKON WITH SOMETHING
NEW-
MATERIALISM.
CHINA'S BOOMING MIDDLE CLASS
FUELS CONSUMER DEMAND...AND HIGH
ON THEIR WISH LIST IS IVORY.
CHINA IS ONE OF THE FEW
COUNTRIES WHERE RECENTLY
ACQUIRED IVORY CAN BE SOLD
LEGALLY
AND IT IS EXTREMELY POPULAR.
A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC STUDY
REVEALED THAT 84% OF THE CHINESE
MIDDLE CLASS OWN ONE OR MORE
PIECES OF IVORY
AND FURTHER:
SOME 83% SAY THEY INTEND TO
BUY IVORY IN THE FUTURE .
THAT'S A PROBLEM FOR
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIS BRYAN CHRISTY.
HE THINKS THE LEGAL
SUPPLY OF IVORY
COMES NOWHERE
NEAR MEETING DEMAND.
FOR 3 YEARS , HE HAS BEEN
RESEARCHING THE SCALE OF ASIAN
DEMAND FOR IVORY, ACUTELY AWARE
OF ITS CONSEQUENCES IN AFRICA.
BC: by every measure, China
is the world's villain when it
comes to the
illegal ivory trade.
Its culture does not have a
history of valuing the elephant
as a live animal,
but rather as ivory.
And you look at the scale
of its current development,
its purchasing power
is skyrocketing,
at the same time the elephant's
population is plummeting.
Those two things are
not disconnected.
NOW BRYAN, A ONE-TIME POWER
LIFTER TURNED LAWYER TURNED
JOURNALIST , IS INVESTIGATING
THE POWERFUL FORCES DRIVING THE
TRADE IN CHINA.
BC: When I was a boy, my
father said to me once,
you have a white knight complex.
It's a personal
weakness, really,
when I am exposed
to an unfair fight,
where there are organizations
involved, governments involved,
I have not
been able to turn away.
IN AFRICA, INVESTIGATIVE
JOURNALIST, AIDAN HARTLEY,
IS ALSO TAKING UP THE FIGHT.
HE HAS WITNESSED CHINA'S
PRESENCE IN AFRICA EXPLODE.
IN THE LAST TEN YEARS, TRADE
BETWEEN CHINA AND AFRICA JUMPED
FROM 6 BILLION TO OVER 100
BILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR .
AH: The Chinese are here
to trade and in many,
many ways they are key to the
economic revolution taking place
in Africa today, which is
exciting after decades of
poverty.
Because Africa wants
to do business,
they don't want to be an
aid basket-case forever.
So the Chinese are broadly
a positive influence here,
if only they would stop
eating the continent's natural
resources and wildlife products
at the same time it would all be
a good story.
TODAY THE CHINESE ARE HELPI NG
MODERNIZE AFRICAN INFRASTRUCTURE
BUILDING ROADS,
RAILROADS AND PORTS,
TO STREAMLINE THE
FLOW OF RESOURCES.
AH: But it's not only the copper
and the oil they can use to
build their economy; it's
also wildlife products.
Everything from turtles to shark
fins to rhino horn and elephant
ivory.
ACCORDING TO THE CONVENTION
ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN
ENDANGERED SPECIES,
KNOWN AS CITES,
SOME 70 ELEPHANTS ARE
POACHED EACH DAY .
AIDAN WILL GO UNDERCOVER TO FIND
OUT HOW THE TUSKS GET TO MARKET,
WHO'S SELLING AND WHO'S BUYING.
AH: My sources have told me that
there are ivory traders here who
are willing to sell
quantities of ivory,
so I wanted to test those
reports and find out
if it was true.
FOR HIM, IT'S A DEEPLY
PERSONAL ASSIGNMENT.
AH: I was born and
brought up in East Africa,
and all my life
I've seen elephant,
and I think they're majestic
beautiful creatures.
I think they're a symbol of
Africa's wealth and heritage,
and I think we're facing a
situation where elephants could
become extinct in the wild.
That is a scenario that I
find too grim to tolerate.
IT MAY BE GRIM, BUT HE KNOWS
HOW EASILY IT COULD HAPPEN.
AH: After the elephant has been
killed the tusks are carried
either on motorbikes or in
canoes or even on the backs of
bicycles to villages.
From there they're
put into trucks,
and they come up one of the
main roads to the capital city,
where traders are consolidating
thousands of kilograms of
poached ivory.
AH: The economies in East
Africa are starting to boom,
and a lot of the trade has
to go through Mombasa port.
Agricultural produce, timber,
and, hidden amongst those items,
smugglers can hide their ivory.
THE IVORY ROAD TO MARKET HERE
BECOMES A SHIPPING CHANNEL,
AS IVORY TRAVELS CONCEALED
IN CARGO CONTAINERS ACROSS
5, 000 MILES OF INDIAN OCEAN.
IN THE CONTAINER
PORT OF HONG KONG,
BRYAN CHRISTY PICKS
UP THE IVORY ROAD.
HERE 60,000 CONTAINERS
ARRIVE EACH DAY.
CUSTOMS AGENTS INSPEC FEWER THAN 1% .
IT'S A SMUGGLER'S DREAM.
Bryan: You can almost feel the
scale of elephant poaching here
as you look out on these
containers, massive containers.
Somewhere in here there's
a container with ivory,
you can almost feel it,
you can almost grab a tusk!
OFFICIALS SOMETIMES DO
GRAB A TUSK
TONS OF THEM.
ONE RECENT BUST NETTED 8
THOUSAND POUNDS OF IVORY .
THAT WOULD REPRESENT ROUGHLY 600
ELEPHANTS --LESS THAN 3% OF THE
25,000 ELEPHANTS THAT CITES
ESTIMATED WERE KILLED LAST YEAR.
BRYAN SUSPECTS THAT MUCH ILLEGAL
IVORY ENTERING CHINA FINDS ITS
WAY TO STORES.
TO FIND OUT HOW IT'S SOLD,
HE POSES AS A TV PRESENTER
EXPLORING CHINESE LUXURY GOODS.
BC: So we're on the 4th floor
of the Beijing arts and crafts
building.
This is a building dedicated
to traditional arts,
and now we're on the,
in the ivory shop.
Bryan talks with shop girls.
Hi, I'm Brian.
[I'm Amy] Amy, nice to meet you.
Bryan: My goal when I go into a
store is to see that world from
their perspective.
It's very important to find
inside myself something that
appreciates their world.
Bryan: And who is this one?
Amy: In China it's
"God of Money".
Bryan: God of Money,
he looks very happy.
Amy: He's rich.
Bryan: hahahaha Bryan:
People for the first time in
generations are able
to afford ivory.
They're looking back into their
past for symbols that they
associate with their
ancestors, with core values,
and they're expressing
their core values in ivory.
Lady: This one is good luck,
and this one is prosperity.
And that one is long life.
[Luck?]
Bryan: It's extraordinary
craftsmanship.
If you did not know
anything about the elephant,
you'd be moved.
BC: One piece?
Saleswoman: One piece, yes.
BC: Every layer?
Saleswoman: 36 layer,
BC: 36 layer?
You need the tusks, the
biggest one, very thick.
BC: Oh, so this would
have been a massive tusk?
Saleswoman: Yes.
BC: As I'm walking through
these shops, you're seeing
20, 000 dollars, 50,000 dollars,
100,000, 200,000 and more.
These aren't trinkets, these
are priceless sculptures.
BC: It's very unusual.
Saleswoman: Yes.
BC: How much is this?
Saleswoman: 6 million
Hong Kong dollars.
BC: million Hong
Kong dollars...
so a little under a
million dollars U.S.
Saleswoman: Yes.
BC: And how old is
this do you think?
Saleswoman: This
more than 20 years,
before they banned the ivory.
THE STORY LEADING UP TO THE
IVORY BAN BEGAN CENTURIES AGO.
IN 1800, AROUND 26 MILLION
ELEPHANTS ARE ESTIMATED TO HAVE
ROAMED AFRICA.
IN THE EARLY 1900'S, SHOOTING
AN ELEPHANT ON SAFARI WAS THE
HEIGHT OF MANLINESS
FOR WEALTHY WESTERNERS.
ALREADY THE MASS PRODUCTION OF
COMBS...BRUSH HANDLES...PIANO
KEYS...
AND POOL BALLS WAS
FUELING AN IVORY FRENZY.
BY 1913, THE UNITED STATES WAS
CONSUMING 200 TONS OF IVORY PER
YEAR , AND AFRICA'S ELEPHANTS
HAD DROPPED TO AN ESTIMATED
10 MILLION.
WORLD APPETITE FOR IVORY
CONTINUED TO DECIMATE ELEPHAN HERDS, UNTIL BY 1979, ONLY
1.3 MILLION WERE LEFT.
EVEN AS MANY WESTERNERS REALIZED
THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE TRADE,
ASIAN DEMAND PICKED UP.
BY 1989, ELEPHANTS
NUMBERED ONLY 600,000 .
FOR CONSERVATIONIS RICHARD LEAKEY,
JUST NAMED DIRECTOR OF THE
KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE,
TIME HAD ALMOST RUN
OUT FOR THE ELEPHANT.
RL: I felt, we've got to do
something really dramatic-that
if you can bring world attention
to the problem facing elephant,
you can stop it.
LEAKEY CONVINCED KENYA'S
PRESIDENT TO PUBLICLY BURN THE
COUNTRY'S STOCKPILE
OF ACCUMULATED IVORY.
THE IMAGES RALLIED THE WORLD.
WITHIN A YEAR, TRADE IN
IVORY WAS BANNED WORLDWIDE,
AND DEMAND EVAPORATED .
WITH LITTLE KILLING
FOR OVER 10 YEARS,
THE ELEPHAN POPULATION REBOUNDED,
GROWING TO NEARLY 1 MILLION .
BUT DECISIONS IN 1999 AND
2008 CHANGED EVERYTHING.
UNDER PRESSURE FROM SOUTHERN
AFRICAN AND ASIAN COUNTRIES,
CITES ALLOWED 2 SPECIAL
SALES OF STOCKPILED IVORY ,
THUS SANCTIONING A
LEGAL TRADE IN TUSKS.
THE RESULT HAS
BEEN DEVASTATION .
BC: The problem is, that auction
has given cover to illegal
traders across China.
These sales are driving the
price to 20 times what it was
in Africa and now there is just
enough confusion
in stores like this one.
Is it legal or illegal?
ACCORDING TO THE INTERNATIONAL
FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE,
ONLY 16% OF THE IVORY
SOLD IN CHINA IS LEGAL .
IF SO, THAT MEANS 84% OF THE
ITEMS ON DISPLAY
COULD BE ILLEGAL.
BC: As I'm walking around a shop
with someone who knows I'm a
journalist, there's a bit of a
dance...they know the political
reality of the ivory trade.
Bryan: So it's not
carved recently?
How old is this one?
BC: When a sales person is
telling me that ivory is old,
they're pegging it to a
pre-ban number, in other words,
they're telling me
that it's legal.
Sales girl 1: Over ten
years old, twenty years...
Bryan: Oh, 10 or 20 years old?
Sales girl 1: Yeah.
Sales girl 2: This is before.
Now it's never
kill the elephant.
BC: When the odds, I know,
are that it's illegal.
Or that she doesn't know at all.
Bryan: What do you think about
the African elephant issue,
and then...
you're in the business of
selling this beautiful art.
How do you think of
these 2 things together?
Saleswoman: I don't
know how to say, sorry.
Bryan: It's okay.
RANGERS WHO PROTECT ELEPHANTS I
N AFRICA CAN'T DODGE THE PROBLEM
SO EASILY.
THEY KNOW THE HORROR STORIES:
HOW IN JANUARY, 2012,
MARAUDERS ENTERED A
NATIONAL PARK IN CAMEROON,
KILLING NEARLY 300 ELEPHANTS .
HOW IN APRIL, POACHERS IN A
HELICOPTER MACHINE-GUNNED 22
ELEPHANTS IN A CONGOLESE PARK .
AND HOW, OVER THE
PAST 26 YEARS, 125,000
ELEPHANTS IN SOUTH
SUDAN HAVE BEEN KILLED,
LEAVING FEWER THAN 5000 TODAY .
IN BATTLE ZONE COUNTRIES, THE
ELEPHANT CONSERVATION MOVEMEN FIGHTS BACK WITH
AN ARMY OF ITS OWN.
David chatter in helicopter
FOR THE MOMENT THERE IS
ONE COUNTRY, KENYA,
THAT CLAIMS SOME SUCCESS IN
THE BATTLE FOR THE ELEPHANTS,
THANKS IN LARGE PART TO
PRIVATE PHILANTHROPY .
HERE THE ORGANIZATION 'SAVE THE
ELEPHANTS' FUNDS A PARAMILITARY
FORCE TO PATROL IN AND AROUND
SAMBURU NATIONAL PARK .
KENYA'S ANTI-POACHING
POLICY IS UNCOMPROMISING.
IF AN ARMED POACHER RESISTS,
WILDLIFE RANGERS ARE AUTHORIZED
TO SHOOT TO KILL.
KIP: The law allows
our rangers to shoot.
This year alone we have
killed more than forty.
We have also lost 5
rangers this year.
So this is a deadly game,
and people lose lives in the
protection of this
precious heritage.
David: I knew about 75% of these
animals, and I could tell you,
you know, all of
them, the names.
For example, this fresh lower
jaw here is a big bull called
Pretty Boom Boom.
He would actually walk and hit
using his trunk on the ground,
going 'boom boom.'
So that was Pretty Boom Boom.
That guy was Mandela.
That was Enthusiasm,
she was poached.
That was Venus, she was poached.
That was Racili, she
was a lovely elephant,
it was very sad.
But pretty much all of them
are animals that we know.
ON KENYA'S SOUTHERN BORDER,
A RESEARCH PROJECT HAS BEEN
STUDYING ONE POPULATION OF
ELEPHANTS FOR OVER FORTY YEARS.
IT HAS REVEALED JUST HOW
COMPLEX ELEPHANT SOCIETY IS .
SOILA SAYIALEL, A MEMBER
OF THE MAASAI TRIBE ,
HAS BEEN WITH THE AMBOSELI
TRUST FOR ELEPHANTS SINCE 1986 .
OF THE 15 HUNDRED ELEPHANTS
THAT COME AND GO HERE,
SHE KNOWS 950 BY NAME .
Soila: The big female
with the long tusk,
her name is Aurabelle.
I've seen a couple of times,
Aurabelle helping young females,
trying to make the young
calf cross a river.
And you know she
knows how to do it,
because she's already old to
a point where she has a lot of
experience.
And you know, that's a
way of also teaching.
Old elephants teach young
elephants how to behave and what
exactly to do at a certain time.
Elephant families love
being with each other,
how tight they are.
At certain times you can see
a female approaching another
female, and they rub, you know,
you see her rubbing against the
other, and they'll say hello.
Every time, you know, there'll
be some greetings going on and
you'll hear that.
WE'VE LEARNED THAT ELEPHANTS
ENJOY A RICH SOCIAL LIFE;
THAT THEY REMEMBER FROM BIRTH;
THAT FEMALES STICK TOGETHER
UNTIL DEATH; THAT ALL
COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER
THROUGH SUBSONIC SOUND; AND THA THEY CAN EVEN LISTEN THROUGH
THEIR FEET.
ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE
FINDINGS IS THE ELEPHANT'S
WRENCHING RESPONSE TO LOSS, UPON
ENCOUNTERING THE REMAINS OF A
RELATIVE.
Soila: Elephants
mourn for their dead.
You know it makes me have
that kind of feeling,
it's just like when a human
being has lost a member of a
family, which really,
you know, touches me.
It's not one time that I've
sat around and started shedding
tears, but maybe when you do
something like that people will
think you're crazy.
But I think it's that kind of
attachment that I have with the
elephants.
ALTHOUGH THE ELEPHANT POPULATION
IN AMBOSELI IS HOLDING STEADY ,
SOILA FEARS FOR THE FUTURE.
Soila: What is happening
at this particular moment,
we're seeing that the demand
of ivory is very high.
So then it comes down to here,
a man down here on the ground
would be forced to kill an
elephant because of the amount
of money they've been offered.
MEANWHILE IN TANZANIA,
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST AIDAN
HARTLEY WANTS TO UNDERSTAND
HOW BIG MONEY IMPACTS ELEPHAN POACHING.
AH: We have an appointment with
the minister who deals with
wildlife in Tanzania, and
we're in the waiting room,
where I've found magazines that
have obviously been given by the
embassy from China here.
For example, there's one
here called ChinaAfrica,
it's quite incredible.
There's this howler in a
magazine that's been produced by
the Chinese Government, that
shows the Chinese ambassador
rejoicing over the
corpse of a crocodile,
which is another species that's
under threat as a result of the
wildlife trade in
this continent.
And here's the ambassador,
smiling over the carcass.
I'm astonished.
FINALLY, AIDAN GETS HIS CHANCE.
AH: In the last 3 years figures
suggest that you've lost more
than 30 thousand
elephants to poachers.
That's 40% of your
elephant population.
It's a genocide isn't it?
Kag: People can put up
whatever figures they want,
but this kind of information
puts us in a bad light.
AH: many sources allege that
actually the largest number of
elephant that are being
slaughtered are being killed in
the Selous Reserve.
Kag: There is
nothing to lie about,
of course there has been a lot
of illegal activity into the
Selous.
AH: But is it dozens or
hundreds or thousands a year?
Kag: I'd rather not comment
on that for the time being.
AH: If I went to one of the
markets in Dar Es Salaam
today, how easy would it be
for me to buy ivory?
Kag: It would be impossible
AIDAN SETS OUT TO SEE IF THE
MINISTER IS CORREC AH: Well I thought it was
9 o'clock,
but you want to do it at 10?
JUST TWO HOURS AFTER LEAVING
THE MINISTER'S OFFICE,
AIDAN MAKES CONTACT WITH A
SELLER CLAIMING TO HAVE HUNDREDS
OF KILOS OF IVORY.
AH: But I don't want to waste
much time this morning, okay?
So please, you
come at 10 o'clock,
and then we go immediately to
go and see what you've got.
Otherwise I'm going to start
believing that you don't have
anything.
AS A WESTERNER, AIDAN CAN' PENETRATE THE ILLEGAL MARKE WITHOUT THE HELP OF LOCAL
OPERATIVES...AND A LOT OF
SPECIALIZED UNDERCOVER GEAR.
AH: These are the cameras that
we're going to be using in our
secret filming sequences.
The first one is
a simple key fob.
And this one has
got the lens there.
So now that is filming.
Yeah, it does audio
as well as pictures.
And that's good because you can
put the camera very close your
subject's face, and you can
have some keys hanging off it.
And that allows you to
film without being exposed.
Then we've got two
button cameras.
And then finally there is this
item here, which is a pen,
and the lens is there.
AH: This is comparable
with the narcotics trade.
You can find yourself in a
room negotiating with hardened
criminals, people who are a part
of organized crime networks,
people who are backed by
powerful and politically
connected gangs.
BUT GADGETS ARE NO MATCH
FOR AUTOMATIC WEAPONS.
ON A CONTINENT BURDENED BY
VIOLENT REGIONAL CONFLICT,
WITH GUNS AND
AMMUNITION EVERYWHERE,
ODDS ARE STACKED
AGAINST THE ELEPHANT.
THE IVORY FLOODING INTO DAR ES
SALAAM IS SAID TO COME FROM ALL
OVER AFRICA.
BUT DNA ANALYSIS OF RECENTLY
SEIZED TUSKS REVEALS THAT MUCH
OF IT IS FROM ONE
LOCATION: THE SELOUS .
THIS WORLD HERITAGE SITE IS
THE LARGEST GAME RESERVE IN ALL
AFRICA , ABOUT THE SIZE OF
VERMONT AND NEW HAMPSHIRE .
HOME TO 60% OF
TANZANIA'S ELEPHANTS ,
TODAY THE SELOUS HAS BECOME
AFRICA'S "KILLING FIELDS."
NOBODY SEES THE EFFECTS OF
POACHING MORE CLEARLY THAN THE
GUIDES, WHO COME ACROSS
THE EVIDENCE EVERY DAY.
Game Guide: This is a 15 year
old elephant that's been hacked
in half for its ivory.
Tusks were
in there and there.
There's nothing left.
12 to 15 years old, that would
have had tusks maybe like this
And it's been shot
just for, for nothing.
THE MOST COMPELLING SIGN OF
THE ONGOING SLAUGHTER IS THE
BEHAVIOR OF THE
ELEPHANTS THEMSELVES.
IT ALL BEGAN ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO,
WHEN GUIDES STARTED OBSERVING
DRAMATIC DISPLAYS OF FEAR
WHENEVER ELEPHANTS ENCOUNTERED
HUMANS.
THEY BEGAN RETREATING
WITHOUT PROVOCATION.
OR GOING ON HIGH ALERT--
SMELLING THE AIR FOR DANGER,
POSTURING AGGRESSIVELY.
AND FREEZING, TO BETTER
DETECT SOUNDS AND MOVEMENT,
ASSESSING THE
NATURE OF THE THREA THEY ALSO STARTED BUNCHING
UP, CIRCLING THEIR YOUNG.
AND NOTABLY, SECRETIONS POUR
FROM THE TEMPORAL GLANDS,
AN INDICATOR, IN THIS
CONTEXT, OF FEAR.
FOR ELEPHANTS IN THE SELOUS,
NEARLY EVERY HUMAN
COULD BE AN ENEMY .
Game Guide: Elephant is probably
the most charismatic land mammal
there is, isn't it?
It's not just the largest.
Who doesn't love elephants?
They're intelligent enough
for you to connect with them,
to humanize them, which
everybody does when they see
them.
You know, when you're watching
you see their capacity to play.
You notice their
capacity to mourn.
They're wonderful
creatures in every way.
BACK IN DAR ES SALAAM, AIDAN
IS ABOUT TO GO UNDERCOVER.
HE WILL POSE AS A
PROSPECTIVE BUYER,
WHILE FILMING COVERTLY
AH: At the restaurant, the caf,
it's called Chicken Hut,
Milimani City, yeah.
How many minutes away are you?
Okay, please hurry up.
AH: So, so my friend,
can you get 1,000 kilos?
Seller: 1,000 kilos?
Yeah, but not in one day.
That's for one week
or one weekend.
AH: So in a week you
could get 1,000 kilos.
[Banter in Swahili:]
The seller wants to make sure
they are serious buyers.
AH: Okay,
let's start with a sample.
[4, 5, or 6 pieces].
Okay, let's go have
a look at those.
Then we'll talk.
I want to see the quality.
TO GET TO WHERE THE
IVORY IS STASHED,
THE SELLER INSISTS THA AIDAN TRAVEL WITH HIM.
DURING THE DISORIENTING HOUR
DRIVE THROUGH THE SLUMS OF DAR
ES SALAAM, THE SELLER OPENS UP.
AH: So you're saying that
powerful people in Tanzania are
selling ivory?
Politicians?
Seller: Yea.
The people who work with the
government in Tanzania they're
in this business they have too
much money.
Aidan: How do you know?
Seller: I know because I am
Tanzaian
AH: But you said an
airplane was coming today?
Seller: That's
the VIP, you know,
that's the government of China.
They are passing through,
'cause there's no checking,
they're VIP.
AH: Oh, I see,
they're diplomats.
So they go out in
the diplomatic bag.
[Yeah] Yeah, the ivory?
THE SELLER'S CLAIM THA DIPLOMATS ARE SMUGGLING IVORY IS
FAMILIAR, BUT HAS
NEVER BEEN PROVEN.
A CBS NEWS REPORT FROM 2012
UNCOVERED A SIMILAR STORY IN
EGYPT.
CBS Reporter: One shop owner
told us that his clients
included Chinese officials
who had visited Egypt on state
business.
Seller: The special airplane
going back, they put the stuff.
Reporter: You get Chinese
government officials?
Seller: Yea
Reporter: They bought from you?
Seller: Yea.
THIS IS A PATTERN THAT THE
ENVIRONMENTAL
INVESTIGATION AGENCY HAS
DOCUMENTED-REPEATED ALLEGATIONS
THAT HIGH LEVEL DIPLOMATS BUYING
IVORY AND RHINO HORN AND THEN
TRANSPORTING THEM BACK TO
ASIA ON GOVERNMENT AIRCRAFT.
Seller: The Chinese who
is coming on the airplane,
they are sending money
before the Chinese,
they are sending in Tanzania.
They buy the stuff for
them, you understand?
AH: So the Chinese in China are
sending money in order to buy
ivory, which can go
back on the plane?
[Yes] Very organized.
[Yeah.]
THE CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY
IS ON RECORD AS
OPPOSING IVORY SMUGGLING.
WHEN CONTACTED ABOU THESE ALLEGATIONS,
NEITHER THE CHINESE NOR THE
TANZANIAN GOVERNMENT RESPONDED .
Seller: This is my business.
[Oka Close the door.
AH: Alright, let's have a
look at the rest of them.
How many have you got here
[here, just 6 or 7].
I just want to see because you
said some of them were cut.
Seller: No, this is no cut.
This is no cut.
So if you give us money
today, I keep for you.
Others are cutting.
But this is no cut.
AH: What we secretly filmed
with that ivory trader gave us
incredible evidence of just how
rampant the illegal ivory trade
is in Tanzania.
He showed us 8 tusks.
I was very struck as we looked
at these things lying on his bed
that they represented
4 dead elephant.
You could still see the
dried blood on them.
He said that it was 20 kilograms
of ivory and he wanted the cash
then and there - 8,000
dollars is what he wanted.
On the open market in China
that could fetch up to
40,000 dollars.
And he promised to gather
within 3 days perhaps up to 300
kilograms of the stuff.
Incredible!
Bryan: It's not very difficult
to understand the incentives of
an elephant walking by with
these huge white lines of money
on their faces.
That's a chance to change a
person's family for generations
perhaps.
And you've got on the other side
of the world 1.3 billion people
with unprecedented
purchasing power.
The smallest fashion interest
reverberates throughout the
world.
BRYAN SUSPECTS THERE IS ANOTHER
COMPLICATING FACTOR: FAITH.
Brian: The elephant symbolizes
happiness in Buddhism?
IN BEIJING, BRYAN
VISITS XUE PING,
A WEALTHY BUSINESS MAN WHO HAS
INVESTED A FORTUNE INTO IVORY,
NOW ON PUBLIC DISPLAY.
THE COLLECTION EXPRESSES HIS
VENERATION OF TRADITIONAL ARTS,
AND HIS PIETY AS A BUDDHIST .
Bryan: It's okay?
That's extraordinary!
I'm going to ask you this
because I think you have a very
good heart, and you know there
is an element to the ivory story
that is also very difficult.
So I wonder how you think
people should think about the
relationship between the
elephant and ivory and the
Buddha and man?
XP: Elephants are our friends.
After an elephant dies, it
devotes its ivory tusks to us so
we can make these Buddha statues
and let the love of religion
arise in our people.
So we believe that the elephant
themselves should feel happy and
joyful that they have
left their tusks for us.
Brian: When I hear someone say
that elephants are smiling when
they die, because their tusks
are going to celebrate the
Buddha, he is painting this
with a religious brush,
with a spiritual brush,
this terrible tragedy,
this rampant killing.
Criminal prosecutors might say,
well, you were willfully blind.
You knew, you should have known,
and it's even worse than that.
You were blind on purpose.
The Buddha is not smiling.
IN AFRICA, THE ELEPHAN DOESN'T ALWAYS HELP ITS CAUSE.
AS HUMANS ENCROACH
ON ITS HABITAT,
IT FREQUENTLY TRESPASSES, OFTEN
INCITING VILLAGERSTO FIGHT BACK.
WITH THE DOUBLE BENEFIT OF
PROFITING FROM THE IVORY
WHILEPROTECTING THEIR FIELDS,
ELEPHANT CONSERVATION IS A HARD
SELL.
SO HOW DO YOU TURN
PEOPLE AROUND?
ON THE EDGE OF
AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK,
RICHARD BONHAM AND BIG LIFE
FOUNDATION MAY HAVE FOUND A WAY.
FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS RICHARD HAS
EMPLOYED LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS
TO JOIN IN THE BATTLE.
BY OFFERING COMPETITIVE WAGES ,
MANY ARE MOTIVATED TO FIGHT FOR
THE ELEPHANTS, INSTEAD
OF AGAINST THEM.
RB: Some of the best rangers
we've got are actually
ex-poachers.
So a lot of what we do is trying
to gain the trust and the hearts
and the minds of the community,
who are living with these
animals.
Once you've done that, you have
no need to have highly trained,
special unit Ops,
armed to the teeth.
You can do it just
on a community level,
and bring them onside.
RB: We employ now about 230
game rangers from within the
community.
The morale is incredible.
We have people every day
applying for jobs as game
scouts.
They've got prestige
in the community,
they enjoy the discipline,
the comradeship,
the spirit de corps, they
start seeing their livelihood
improving, their standard
of living going up.
The reality is, we've got all
their families backing us.
AND THAT HAS MADE ALL THE
DIFFERENCE FOR THE ELEPHANTS.
RB: In the last 18 months
we've lost 16 elephants.
When you compare
that to 30 a day,
which are the numbers
coming out of Tanzania,
things are going very well here.
RB: Right now we seem to be
keeping the situation under
control, but it could go
out of control so easily.
If prices continue to go up, we
get gangs coming in we could be
losing the same amount of
animals as they are in Tanzania.
FOR NEARLY 25 YEARS , DECISIONS
ABOUT WHETHER IVORY CAN OR
CANNOT BE TRADED HAVE
BEEN DETERMINED BY CITES,
THE ORGANIZATION THA ADMINISTERS THE BAN ON IVORY
TRADE.
Julian Blanc: The purpose is
to regulate trade in endangered
species, so that trade can
happen in such a way that it
does not compromise
their long-term survival.
Patrick Omondi: Kenya is
convinced that the experimental
sale that was done to Japan and
particularly to China has caused
high demand, and with the high
demand we haveeen now an
increase in poaching.
Ming: As you know, the ivory art
or ivory processing technology
have stayed in China almost 2000
years, more than 2000 years.
But I don't believe just
that China has a problem.
CITES DELEGATES FACE A CRUCIAL
DECISION: WHETHER OR NOT TO
ALLOW MORE CONTROLLED
SALES OF STOCKPILED IVORY .
MR: The answer is really, I
guess, if you have no trade,
no trade anywhere,
domestic oinatl,
then there can be no confusion.
Rowan: Well, that's rubbish.
Having died, an elephant
is a very valuable animal.
You don't throw it away.
MR: This meeting at CITES is
marking the beginning of another
tipping point, if you like.
We've been here before,
it's Groundhog Day.
We have all the
alarm bells ringing,
and we have to do something.
AH: How long will you be?
How long...? He's got the
most annoying ringtone,
it's the most...
hello?
AIDAN IS MANEUVERING
FOR A BIGGER PURCHASE,
TO GAUGE HOW MUCH
IVORY IS AVAILABLE.
SUDDENLY, THE GAME CHANGES.
AH: Take us, take us
to the two places.
[Seller: Yes] You're saying
there are two places,
is that right?
Seller: Yeah.
You know what, the problem
is I'm very small for this
business, so why I'm here?
This business is very dangerous.
So I don't want later me to get
in problem, to get in trouble.
AH: What have you
got to show us,
how many kilos have
you got to show us now?
Seller: More than 100.
Like 2...
or 150.
AH: That's quite disappointing,
because you promised 300.
Seller: You know, that quantity
you cannot get for one time.
Just today 50, tomorrow 50, or
tomorrow 100, after tomorrow...
AH: You know what, all you've
done is give me excuses.
Seller: No, I'm serious!
AH: You make promises to me that
you're going to gather a big
quantity, and then you
just show me a few teeth.
AIDAN IS BAFFLED.
JUST TWO DAYS AGO THESE
SELLERS WERE KEEN TO DEAL.
NOW THEY APPEAR TO BE
CLEANED OUT OF MERCHANDISE.
AH: Okay, what's been happening
is we've been in these
negotiations with this ivory
trader who said that last week
the Chinese bought just about
everything that was available in
the city.
Even the stuff we were looking
at a few days ago has allegedly
already been sold
to the Chinese.
AIDAN CAN'T PROVE THAT THE IVORY
HAS BEEN SOLD TO CHINESE BUYERS.
ONLY THAT THE IVORY HE'D SEEN
THREE DAYS BEFORE IS GONE.
THOSE WHO CARVE IVORY
PRACTICE A GENTLE ART,
FAR FROM THE
CRIMINAL UNDERWORLD.
THE CHINESE PASSION FOR IVORY
COMES TO LIFE IN THE WORK OF
MASTER LEUNG LEE CHEONG .
BC: Mr. Leung, this
is extraordinary work.
How long have you
been carving ivory?
Mr. Leung: 58 years.
BC: So you started as a boy.
MASTER LEUNG SPENT 2
YEARS CARVING THIS PIECE.
IT IS VALUED AT OVER
A MILLION DOLLARS.
BC: When I see an older
master carver at work,
I can understand this is an art
form that is unique to China,
that they've developed
over thousands of years.
And the Chinese
Government is saying,
when you look at
a master carver,
this is what we
want to preserve.
But then we move to a factory.
BC: You walk through any of
the major Chinese factories,
and you see row upon row
of young people at work.
And you see in the largest
factory empty seats.
These aren't empty seats
because people have been fired.
These are empty seats because
people have not yet been hired.
The Chinese Government intends
to expand its ivory market.
It's for this world to
choose: is this craft,
or is this species
more valuable?
BC: The only realistic solution
is if the Chinese Government
says "no" to ivory.
AFTER SEVERAL DAYS
IN DAR ES SALAAM,
AIDAN HAS TERMINATED
HIS EFFORT TO BUY IVORY.
HE FEARS THAT CONTINUING
HIS APPROACH MIGHT PUT MORE
ELEPHANTS AT RISK .
WITH HARD EVIDENCE IN HAND, HE
RETURNS TO MINISTER KAGASHEKI.
AH: The other day we talked
about whether or not there is
ivory flooding the market
here in Dar Es Salaam.
Would you be shocked if you
heard that we ourselves have
already been offered ivory?
Can I show you a film?
(shows minister clip)
Minister: Well, honestly,
I must say I'm shocked.
It's a question of
our enforcement,
enforcement people...maybe
they are not doing enough.
But this is shocking,
quite frankly,
and I'm really surprised.
AH: It took us only a few hours
for a trader to approach us,
and it was no problem for them
to fill a consignment of up to
2000 kilograms of ivory, and
they would be able to find ways
of exporting it to the far east.
Minister: Then that underlines
the fact that of course there is
a big, big element
of corruption there,
because this is not something
that would just be done by the
traders and the Chinese alone.
AH: We have been told that
Tanzania has 90 metric tons of
ivory in its ivory room, and
that's what we're hoping to see.
AH: Why doesn't
Tanzania burn its ivory?
Why put a value on it, and
why do you want to sell it?
Minister: But why
should we burn it?
I think the money, for example,
that could be obtained from an
exercise of selling, genuinely,
we could do conservation,
and we could do of course the
preservation of these wild
animals.
LATER IN A GESTURE
OF TRANSPARENCY,
MINISTER KAGASHEKIGRANTS AIDAN
ACCESS TO THE IVORY ROOM.
NOW, AIDAN WILL GET A RARE
GLIMPSE OF LIKELY THE LARGES KNOWN CACHE OF RAW
IVORY IN THE WORLD .
TANZANIA WANTS TO SELL THE
CONTENTS OF THIS WAREHOUSE AND
HAS ASKED CITES FOR AN
EXCEPTION TO THE BAN .
AH: We're now standing
outside the ivory room.
I believe that there have never
been any pictures of this room,
certainly no film of this room,
so this is a historic moment.
AH: Push it open, it's like
going into some ancient tomb.
Can we go in?
Wow, there are piles
of tusks, on the floor,
stacked in shelves.
ACCUMULATED OVER
THE LAST 23 YEARS,
THIS STOCKPILE IS REPORTEDLY
VALUED AT OVER 50 MILLION
DOLLARS .
AH: This reminds me of some kind
of genocide memorial or some
solemn place that records what
could be the end of the elephant
in the wild.
AH: And the absolute shame of
what is going on can be seen in
this comparison.
These are the magnificent
creatures that used to roam
Africa, and the poachers are now
slaughtering animals that have
barely had any time to grow.
I think that tells an
unbelievably sad story.
AH: As one of the poorest
countries in the world,
Tanzania should try to get
some sort of compensation from
somewhere, if they
have a resource,
in order to be able to police
the parks and national reserves
against the poachers.
But if international donors came
and paid Tanzania money to burn
it, would you support that?
Aide: Definitely, yes, what I
need is just the money out of
that.
I would support that
idea very strongly.
ONE CONSEQUENCE OF THE IVORY
TRADEIS A GROWING NUMBER OF
ELEPHANT ORPHANS.
HERE AT THE DAVID SHELDRICK
WILDLIFE TRUST IN NAIROBI,
THEY ARE NURTURED AND
REHABILITATED FOR RETURN TO THE
WILD.
MAN: The baby quite close
to me is called Barsilinga.
Barsilinga's mother was shot
by poachers when he was only 2
weeks.
And this is because
of the ivory trade,
which is a big challenge for
the lives of these animals.
And at 2 weeks he could not have
survived if left in the wild.
When they are very
young, it's very sad,
because elephants are emotional
animals like humans and some of
them actually don't make it.
So we have to give a
24 hour care with them.
So that we can wipe away the
trauma they have experienced
after they had
lost their family,
and protect and care for them.
SOILA: Elephants have
very good memories,
and if humans do some damage,
like killing one of the members
of a family group, they'll never
forget even the location where
it happened.
Those elephants will remember
for the rest of their life.
AH: We shouldn't give up hope,
but it is a race against time,
because at the moment we're
losing elephant populations at
such a fast rate, that by the
time that the Chinese middle
classes wake up, and by the time
they stop buying all of this
stuff, it will be too late.
Bryan: One day I hope
to return to China,
and meet the same people I've
met during this investigation,
shake hands and say,
"We're proud of each other.
We made the right decision,
and the elephant is safe."