1 00:00:03,544 --> 00:00:06,377 (dramatic music) 2 00:00:08,552 --> 00:00:10,054 - [Narrator] There is a war against nature 3 00:00:10,054 --> 00:00:12,184 raging in the Savannahs and jungles 4 00:00:12,184 --> 00:00:14,631 of Africa and Asia in a greedy, 5 00:00:14,631 --> 00:00:18,542 brutal battle over a limited resource. 6 00:00:18,542 --> 00:00:19,901 - It's a war. 7 00:00:19,901 --> 00:00:22,192 And we're losing it. 8 00:00:22,192 --> 00:00:24,202 - [Narrator] Poaching and wildlife trafficking 9 00:00:24,202 --> 00:00:26,878 have reached unprecedented dimensions. 10 00:00:26,878 --> 00:00:29,488 (dramatic music) 11 00:00:29,488 --> 00:00:31,394 - I'll make a special deal for you. 12 00:00:31,394 --> 00:00:33,027 - [Narrator] Ivory and rhino horn 13 00:00:33,027 --> 00:00:35,708 have become lucrative commodities. 14 00:00:35,708 --> 00:00:38,976 - Essentially this is the dark side of globalization. 15 00:00:38,976 --> 00:00:39,809 - [Narrator] Increasingly, 16 00:00:39,809 --> 00:00:41,656 criminal networks and terrorist groups 17 00:00:41,656 --> 00:00:44,613 use wildlife smuggling to fund their activities. 18 00:00:44,613 --> 00:00:46,432 (men shouting) (guns shooting) 19 00:00:46,432 --> 00:00:49,517 - There's many people that have a big interest in 20 00:00:49,517 --> 00:00:53,141 investing in extinction and we have to prevent 21 00:00:53,141 --> 00:00:55,491 those people from wiping those species out. 22 00:00:55,491 --> 00:00:57,600 (elephant trumpets) 23 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,433 (dramatic music) 24 00:01:13,910 --> 00:01:15,241 - [Narrator] This is Rukinga, 25 00:01:15,241 --> 00:01:18,491 a wildlife sanctuary in southern Kenya. 26 00:01:19,392 --> 00:01:22,240 An elephant was slaughtered five days ago. 27 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:26,407 Before we can see what has happened here, we can smell it. 28 00:01:32,634 --> 00:01:36,801 Three large bulls were all killed in the same night. 29 00:01:45,533 --> 00:01:46,642 - [Narrator] This area is visited 30 00:01:46,642 --> 00:01:49,225 regularly by gangs of poachers. 31 00:02:15,671 --> 00:02:17,949 - [Narrator] In 1900, 10 million elephants 32 00:02:17,949 --> 00:02:19,782 lived all over Africa. 33 00:02:21,028 --> 00:02:24,111 By 1989 the number dropped to 600,000 34 00:02:26,359 --> 00:02:30,526 Now there are around 470,000 wild elephants left in Africa. 35 00:02:32,937 --> 00:02:35,106 We are facing the greatest mass extinction 36 00:02:35,106 --> 00:02:37,988 since the era of the dinosaurs. 37 00:02:37,988 --> 00:02:40,239 In Kenya alone, 10 elephants are killed 38 00:02:40,239 --> 00:02:42,489 every day, that we know of. 39 00:02:43,327 --> 00:02:45,657 It's believed the total is much higher. 40 00:02:45,657 --> 00:02:47,377 - Elephants really do represent 41 00:02:47,377 --> 00:02:49,107 something about our greatness. 42 00:02:49,107 --> 00:02:52,026 They are such a magnificent species. 43 00:02:52,026 --> 00:02:55,208 Losing them is something that very few people could imagine. 44 00:02:55,208 --> 00:02:57,999 We take it for granted that they will always be there. 45 00:02:57,999 --> 00:03:00,026 The fact that elephants are being poached 46 00:03:00,026 --> 00:03:04,193 at such a rapid rate, is a surprise to many, many people. 47 00:03:05,175 --> 00:03:07,352 - [Narrator] An average of 33,000 elephants 48 00:03:07,352 --> 00:03:10,264 are killed each year in Africa for their ivory. 49 00:03:10,264 --> 00:03:12,597 That's one every 15 minutes. 50 00:03:14,394 --> 00:03:16,754 Here in Cameroon, 400 hundred elephants 51 00:03:16,754 --> 00:03:18,821 were killed in one night. 52 00:03:18,821 --> 00:03:20,344 A band of Janjaweed rebels 53 00:03:20,344 --> 00:03:23,285 from Sudan slaughtered these animals using 54 00:03:23,285 --> 00:03:25,368 AK-47s and hand grenades. 55 00:03:28,274 --> 00:03:31,184 Central Africa has lost 65% 56 00:03:31,184 --> 00:03:35,613 of its elephant population in the last decade. 57 00:03:35,613 --> 00:03:39,613 Forest elephants are on the brink of extinction. 58 00:03:43,704 --> 00:03:45,992 If poaching continues at this pace, 59 00:03:45,992 --> 00:03:48,154 elephants could be gone from the wild 60 00:03:48,154 --> 00:03:49,987 in less than 15 years. 61 00:03:57,752 --> 00:03:59,482 Kruger National Park is the biggest 62 00:03:59,482 --> 00:04:02,232 wildlife reserve in South Africa. 63 00:04:04,140 --> 00:04:07,973 Home to the largest rhino population on earth. 64 00:04:11,402 --> 00:04:13,867 Park rangers and forensics experts 65 00:04:13,867 --> 00:04:16,896 are going out to inspect a kill. 66 00:04:16,896 --> 00:04:20,724 A white rhino has been hacked to death for his horn. 67 00:04:20,724 --> 00:04:24,557 The rangers claim by poachers from Mozambique. 68 00:04:30,376 --> 00:04:34,355 - [Kobus] The front horn would be here, the back horn here. 69 00:04:34,355 --> 00:04:37,355 So they went in deep into the skull. 70 00:04:40,786 --> 00:04:44,337 - [Narrator] The rhino has gunshot wounds. 71 00:04:44,337 --> 00:04:46,518 It's very likely the animal was still alive 72 00:04:46,518 --> 00:04:48,827 when the poachers took his horn. 73 00:04:48,827 --> 00:04:51,515 (flies buzzing) 74 00:04:51,515 --> 00:04:54,795 - What the people also did at the back, 75 00:04:54,795 --> 00:04:58,325 they started to open it for the vultures 76 00:04:58,325 --> 00:05:00,075 and those to come in, 77 00:05:01,396 --> 00:05:04,163 to move into the carcass. 78 00:05:04,163 --> 00:05:05,830 To destroy evidence. 79 00:05:07,033 --> 00:05:10,104 - [Narrator] Kruger National Park is a vast area, 80 00:05:10,104 --> 00:05:13,994 almost as big as Israel and hard to control. 81 00:05:13,994 --> 00:05:17,855 Between one and two rhinos are killed here every day. 82 00:05:17,855 --> 00:05:20,796 Poaching has hit a crisis point. 83 00:05:20,796 --> 00:05:24,963 Until 2007, fewer than 50 rhinos per year were poached. 84 00:05:26,369 --> 00:05:29,452 Since then the numbers have exploded. 85 00:05:30,361 --> 00:05:31,944 In 2013, over 1000. 86 00:05:35,281 --> 00:05:37,849 (gun shoots) 87 00:05:37,849 --> 00:05:40,657 (men chattering) 88 00:05:40,657 --> 00:05:43,076 (rhino screeching) 89 00:05:43,076 --> 00:05:45,436 The numbers continue to rise. 90 00:05:45,436 --> 00:05:49,335 This has led the park authorities to take drastic measures. 91 00:05:49,335 --> 00:05:50,916 Rhinos are being relocated from 92 00:05:50,916 --> 00:05:53,674 the Kruger Park to safer areas, 93 00:05:53,674 --> 00:05:57,007 further away from the Mozambican border. 94 00:06:00,305 --> 00:06:03,605 There's a ring of private reserves around the park. 95 00:06:03,605 --> 00:06:07,772 Like Kruger, Manyeleti is being hit hard by poachers. 96 00:06:09,596 --> 00:06:14,465 Loot Schultz runs a small bush camp in Manyeleti Reserve. 97 00:06:14,465 --> 00:06:17,085 - It's escalating on a monthly basis. 98 00:06:17,085 --> 00:06:19,124 If you look at the figures, 99 00:06:19,124 --> 00:06:23,708 it goes up 50 to 70% every month, rhino deaths, 100 00:06:23,708 --> 00:06:26,922 and we don't seem to get to grips with it. 101 00:06:26,922 --> 00:06:27,839 It's a war. 102 00:06:29,042 --> 00:06:30,709 And we're losing it. 103 00:06:31,693 --> 00:06:33,293 That's the bottom line. 104 00:06:33,293 --> 00:06:36,126 (dramatic music) 105 00:06:39,961 --> 00:06:41,940 - [Narrator] The Manyeleti rangers are constantly 106 00:06:41,940 --> 00:06:44,357 on the look out for poachers. 107 00:06:47,009 --> 00:06:48,780 It's not long until we find the remains 108 00:06:48,780 --> 00:06:50,940 of a female white rhino. 109 00:06:50,940 --> 00:06:53,152 - These were amateurs. 110 00:06:53,152 --> 00:06:54,250 They damaged the whole horn. 111 00:06:54,250 --> 00:06:57,152 You see there, where they hacked it here? 112 00:06:57,152 --> 00:07:01,112 If you get professionals, they take it off cleanly. 113 00:07:01,112 --> 00:07:04,934 Really often what happens is they cut it so deep, 114 00:07:04,934 --> 00:07:07,796 it impairs the breathing of the rhino. 115 00:07:07,796 --> 00:07:10,575 Then he might still be alive and impairs the breathing 116 00:07:10,575 --> 00:07:14,694 and he smothers to death, can't breathe anymore. 117 00:07:14,694 --> 00:07:15,661 It's a bad thing. 118 00:07:15,661 --> 00:07:18,411 (dramatic music) 119 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,280 - [Narrator] The fence is checked for signs of poachers. 120 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:24,140 - You see the poaching spot there? 121 00:07:24,140 --> 00:07:25,999 They went out from here. 122 00:07:25,999 --> 00:07:29,599 You see where they put their footsteps there? 123 00:07:29,599 --> 00:07:31,311 - [Narrator] The rangers' job has become 124 00:07:31,311 --> 00:07:33,228 increasingly dangerous. 125 00:07:34,105 --> 00:07:35,959 We are at a spot where the rangers had 126 00:07:35,959 --> 00:07:40,126 a firefight with poachers, just a couple of weeks ago. 127 00:08:25,847 --> 00:08:27,118 - [Narrator] Our question whether he regrets 128 00:08:27,118 --> 00:08:30,783 having killed the poacher seems rather strange to Sam. 129 00:08:30,783 --> 00:08:33,200 (Sam laughs) 130 00:08:55,239 --> 00:08:58,397 - For these people that do the poaching, 131 00:08:58,397 --> 00:09:00,358 the rhino means nothing to them. 132 00:09:00,358 --> 00:09:02,599 It gives them no pleasure, it gives them no benefit, 133 00:09:02,599 --> 00:09:04,037 it gives them nothing. 134 00:09:04,037 --> 00:09:05,612 They just see it, it's just an animal, 135 00:09:05,612 --> 00:09:08,212 it's a white man's toy. 136 00:09:08,212 --> 00:09:10,879 But if I take that horn from that rhino, 137 00:09:10,879 --> 00:09:12,300 I can buy myself a cell phone, 138 00:09:12,300 --> 00:09:14,050 I can buy myself a motor car, 139 00:09:14,050 --> 00:09:16,071 I can buy some presents for my girlfriend. 140 00:09:16,071 --> 00:09:18,071 That's what's important. 141 00:09:26,018 --> 00:09:27,759 - [Narrator] Johannesburg investigative journalist 142 00:09:27,759 --> 00:09:30,089 Julian Rademeyer has made it his mission 143 00:09:30,089 --> 00:09:33,256 to expose illegal trade in rhino horn. 144 00:09:34,858 --> 00:09:38,746 - Suddenly you begin to see this uptake from 2003 onwards 145 00:09:38,746 --> 00:09:42,804 and all of that seems to be traced back to Vietnam. 146 00:09:42,804 --> 00:09:44,444 - [Narrator] One of the reasons for the spike 147 00:09:44,444 --> 00:09:46,271 is that South Africa is one of the few 148 00:09:46,271 --> 00:09:47,714 countries in the world where you can 149 00:09:47,714 --> 00:09:51,034 still get a permit to trophy hunt. 150 00:09:51,034 --> 00:09:52,564 - You begin to see Vietnamese names 151 00:09:52,564 --> 00:09:55,196 cropping up and again and again and initially 152 00:09:55,196 --> 00:09:58,613 it's a small blip and then by 2008, 2009, 153 00:10:00,715 --> 00:10:04,645 it really picks up and by the end of 2009, 2010, 154 00:10:04,645 --> 00:10:07,727 the Vietnamese hunters dominate 155 00:10:07,727 --> 00:10:09,967 the trade in rhino horn trophies. 156 00:10:09,967 --> 00:10:12,166 So you have dozens and eventually hundreds 157 00:10:12,166 --> 00:10:15,125 of horns going out from South Africa as trophies, 158 00:10:15,125 --> 00:10:16,995 arriving in Vietnam, not being declared 159 00:10:16,995 --> 00:10:19,316 to Vietnamese customs and just vanishing. 160 00:10:19,316 --> 00:10:21,218 Two years ago, the Vietnamese government went 161 00:10:21,218 --> 00:10:23,527 and did a snap survey of some 162 00:10:23,527 --> 00:10:25,876 of the hunters that had shot rhinos 163 00:10:25,876 --> 00:10:27,956 in South Africa and taken the trophies out. 164 00:10:27,956 --> 00:10:29,836 Very few of them still had the trophies. 165 00:10:29,836 --> 00:10:31,746 You know, these were not trophy hunters, 166 00:10:31,746 --> 00:10:33,446 these were people coming in under the guise 167 00:10:33,446 --> 00:10:34,768 of trophy hunting to try 168 00:10:34,768 --> 00:10:38,358 and get as much rhino horn as possible. 169 00:10:38,358 --> 00:10:40,420 - [Narrator] After decades of isolation, 170 00:10:40,420 --> 00:10:43,307 Vietnam opened its economic doors to the world 171 00:10:43,307 --> 00:10:46,505 and has since experienced an unprecedented boom 172 00:10:46,505 --> 00:10:48,922 in prosperity and population. 173 00:10:54,464 --> 00:10:56,382 It has also become ground zero 174 00:10:56,382 --> 00:11:00,549 for the illegal international trade in rhino horn. 175 00:11:04,103 --> 00:11:05,915 Rhino horn was traditionally used 176 00:11:05,915 --> 00:11:08,606 to treat fever or headaches. 177 00:11:08,606 --> 00:11:12,773 Now it is being touted as a miracle cure for fatal diseases. 178 00:11:33,867 --> 00:11:35,907 - There was a myth that started doing the rounds 179 00:11:35,907 --> 00:11:39,375 in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City about an army general. 180 00:11:39,375 --> 00:11:41,537 It's sometimes said, sometimes a senior politician, 181 00:11:41,537 --> 00:11:42,998 sometimes a former prime minister, 182 00:11:42,998 --> 00:11:46,267 he was cured of cancer by using rhino horn. 183 00:11:46,267 --> 00:11:49,595 - [Narrator] Do Hoang is a well-known journalist in Vietnam. 184 00:11:49,595 --> 00:11:52,379 He has investigated the illegal trade in rhino horn 185 00:11:52,379 --> 00:11:56,046 and says demand and prices are skyrocketing. 186 00:12:31,631 --> 00:12:32,900 - [Narrator] Hoang promises to try 187 00:12:32,900 --> 00:12:36,311 to arrange a meeting with a rhino horn user. 188 00:12:36,311 --> 00:12:40,532 Days later Do Hoai, who sells telecommunication devices, 189 00:12:40,532 --> 00:12:43,115 agrees to meet us at his house. 190 00:12:44,380 --> 00:12:48,058 Hoai claims to have inherited the piece from his father. 191 00:12:48,058 --> 00:12:51,361 Owning rhino horn is not illegal in Vietnam. 192 00:12:51,361 --> 00:12:52,611 Trading it, is. 193 00:13:09,332 --> 00:13:11,161 - [Narrator] Hoai admits that he also 194 00:13:11,161 --> 00:13:15,727 uses the rhino horn for himself and for friends. 195 00:13:15,727 --> 00:13:19,477 (speaking foreign language) 196 00:13:30,761 --> 00:13:32,885 - [Narrator] Hoai's father had cancer, 197 00:13:32,885 --> 00:13:37,052 they believed drinking rhino horned prolonged his life. 198 00:13:47,104 --> 00:13:49,058 - [Narrator] But numerous studies have proven that rhino 199 00:13:49,058 --> 00:13:51,885 has no curative qualities. 200 00:13:51,885 --> 00:13:53,733 Essentially, it's the same material 201 00:13:53,733 --> 00:13:56,483 as your own fingernails, keratin. 202 00:13:57,467 --> 00:14:01,217 (speaking foreign language) 203 00:14:05,475 --> 00:14:07,414 - [Narrator] There has been an international ban 204 00:14:07,414 --> 00:14:11,513 on trading rhino horn for the past 30 years. 205 00:14:11,513 --> 00:14:15,596 And yet consumers still manage to get hold of it. 206 00:14:20,045 --> 00:14:21,976 We send in an experienced undercover 207 00:14:21,976 --> 00:14:25,893 investigator posing as a wealthy Chinese buyer. 208 00:14:27,896 --> 00:14:30,420 She heads for Hanoi's medical street. 209 00:14:30,420 --> 00:14:33,587 Rhino horn used to be sold openly here. 210 00:14:33,587 --> 00:14:37,337 (speaking foreign language) 211 00:14:51,468 --> 00:14:53,958 - [Narrator] Succumbing to international pressure though, 212 00:14:53,958 --> 00:14:56,767 authorities have been cracking down on illegal traders, 213 00:14:56,767 --> 00:14:59,184 making shopkeepers very wary. 214 00:15:00,985 --> 00:15:03,583 The investigator tries another shop. 215 00:15:03,583 --> 00:15:05,655 Here she makes some headway. 216 00:15:05,655 --> 00:15:06,983 The owner says that he could get 217 00:15:06,983 --> 00:15:09,316 a rhino horn from Singapore. 218 00:15:13,524 --> 00:15:15,691 Our investigator moves on. 219 00:15:16,810 --> 00:15:18,727 Finally she gets lucky. 220 00:15:20,641 --> 00:15:23,208 - When we visit a store and the store owner says 221 00:15:23,208 --> 00:15:26,460 "Oh, we have, just have a guy who come in and out 222 00:15:26,460 --> 00:15:29,294 "quite frequently, bring the stuff to us." 223 00:15:29,294 --> 00:15:32,003 So we ask him, can you arrange us to meet 224 00:15:32,003 --> 00:15:34,572 this person because we want to see 225 00:15:34,572 --> 00:15:37,518 if there's availability on rhino horn. 226 00:15:37,518 --> 00:15:39,283 - [Narrator] Three days later, she gets a call 227 00:15:39,283 --> 00:15:41,744 and arranges to meet back at his shop. 228 00:15:41,744 --> 00:15:44,161 She is asked to wait outside. 229 00:15:45,144 --> 00:15:47,725 Obviously she's being checked out. 230 00:15:47,725 --> 00:15:50,683 - [Investigator] We arrived and this dealer 231 00:15:50,683 --> 00:15:52,917 guy came over to the store. 232 00:15:52,917 --> 00:15:54,677 We meet in the back of the store 233 00:15:54,677 --> 00:15:58,616 and he told us how they changed the color 234 00:15:58,616 --> 00:16:01,717 so they can get past the customs 235 00:16:01,717 --> 00:16:04,217 and bring it into the country. 236 00:16:06,315 --> 00:16:07,615 - [Narrator] Making the horn look like wood 237 00:16:07,615 --> 00:16:11,075 is a common trick used by smugglers. 238 00:16:11,075 --> 00:16:15,125 The weight of both pieces is nearly 500 grams, 239 00:16:15,125 --> 00:16:18,875 that's worth approximately 25,000 US Dollars. 240 00:16:21,296 --> 00:16:22,715 The dealer believes our investigator 241 00:16:22,715 --> 00:16:25,867 is a serious buyer so he fetches a catalog, 242 00:16:25,867 --> 00:16:28,685 full of illegal wildlife products, 243 00:16:28,685 --> 00:16:31,565 worth millions of dollars. 244 00:16:31,565 --> 00:16:33,604 - I think he's part of the big network 245 00:16:33,604 --> 00:16:36,324 and all these things are very expensive at this moment 246 00:16:36,324 --> 00:16:39,907 in the market and he took such a great risk 247 00:16:41,344 --> 00:16:45,784 so he play quite an important role in this group, 248 00:16:45,784 --> 00:16:48,823 and I think the group has access to smuggling 249 00:16:48,823 --> 00:16:51,740 directly from both Asia and Africa. 250 00:16:56,543 --> 00:16:59,522 - [Narrator] At 50,000 US dollars per kilo, 251 00:16:59,522 --> 00:17:03,762 it would seem to be a commodity only for the super rich. 252 00:17:03,762 --> 00:17:05,391 However, according to our undercover 253 00:17:05,391 --> 00:17:07,724 investigator that is not so. 254 00:17:09,301 --> 00:17:11,481 She was told this story by a shop owner 255 00:17:11,481 --> 00:17:13,341 whose mother was interested in selling 256 00:17:13,341 --> 00:17:17,741 a small piece of rhino horn she had acquired. 257 00:17:17,741 --> 00:17:19,059 - [Investigator] She just say her mother 258 00:17:19,059 --> 00:17:21,489 be invited to this party. 259 00:17:21,489 --> 00:17:24,090 Everyone put in like 2,000 dollars, 260 00:17:24,090 --> 00:17:27,507 and when there is a rhino horn available, 261 00:17:28,429 --> 00:17:31,546 and they would inviting everyone to the party. 262 00:17:31,546 --> 00:17:34,224 So in front of everybody's very eyes, 263 00:17:34,224 --> 00:17:38,115 and they cut the rhino horn to pieces, 264 00:17:38,115 --> 00:17:40,032 to give it to everyone. 265 00:17:40,936 --> 00:17:43,016 - [Narrator] These buying parties are providing 266 00:17:43,016 --> 00:17:46,232 affordable prices and thus wider 267 00:17:46,232 --> 00:17:48,565 access to the illegal trade. 268 00:17:53,324 --> 00:17:56,407 (suspenseful music) 269 00:18:00,378 --> 00:18:04,130 Poaching has spread all over Africa. 270 00:18:04,130 --> 00:18:07,330 Despite thousands of poachers having been killed, 271 00:18:07,330 --> 00:18:10,138 the profits keep luring them in. 272 00:18:10,138 --> 00:18:11,949 In this area of Northern Kenya, 273 00:18:11,949 --> 00:18:14,069 constant patrols are made by this special 274 00:18:14,069 --> 00:18:16,934 ranger anti-poaching unit. 275 00:18:16,934 --> 00:18:18,958 This remote area is traditionally troubled 276 00:18:18,958 --> 00:18:22,375 by tribal conflict, drought and poaching. 277 00:18:23,587 --> 00:18:27,094 The border with Somalia is not far away. 278 00:18:27,094 --> 00:18:31,097 One of these rangers used to be a poacher himself. 279 00:18:31,097 --> 00:18:33,930 Two years ago Lotak changed sides. 280 00:18:34,807 --> 00:18:38,057 He claims to have killed 150 elephants. 281 00:18:49,339 --> 00:18:52,278 - [Narrator] Lotak used to be the leader of the group. 282 00:18:52,278 --> 00:18:55,569 His job was to shoot the elephant. 283 00:18:55,569 --> 00:18:58,486 The others had to remove the tusks. 284 00:19:35,353 --> 00:19:37,931 - [Narrator] 15,000 Kenyan shilling is about 285 00:19:37,931 --> 00:19:40,848 160 US dollars for a kilo of ivory. 286 00:19:42,153 --> 00:19:46,320 Since Lotak dropped out, that price gone up to 500 dollars. 287 00:19:48,046 --> 00:19:51,334 The value of a single tusk is worth 10 times 288 00:19:51,334 --> 00:19:56,170 the average annual income in some African countries. 289 00:19:56,170 --> 00:19:59,046 - So long as the price of ivory continues to rise, 290 00:19:59,046 --> 00:20:01,855 then the incentive for those people in rural areas 291 00:20:01,855 --> 00:20:04,855 to poach elephants will remain high. 292 00:20:05,846 --> 00:20:06,926 - [Narrator] Poachers like Lotak 293 00:20:06,926 --> 00:20:10,206 don't have to search long for buyers. 294 00:20:10,206 --> 00:20:12,686 Thanks to globalization and investments in roads 295 00:20:12,686 --> 00:20:15,620 and infrastructure by foreign nationals, 296 00:20:15,620 --> 00:20:18,066 once isolated regions in Africa 297 00:20:18,066 --> 00:20:20,642 have become easily accessible. 298 00:20:20,642 --> 00:20:22,384 - We see Chinese people in Africa 299 00:20:22,384 --> 00:20:24,042 who come over for construction work, 300 00:20:24,042 --> 00:20:26,552 working on roads and buildings and bridges 301 00:20:26,552 --> 00:20:28,826 and they go back to China with just one tusk. 302 00:20:28,826 --> 00:20:30,696 You know, three kilos. 303 00:20:30,696 --> 00:20:33,000 And in Africa it might cost them $100. 304 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:34,016 And they know that when they get 305 00:20:34,016 --> 00:20:35,838 to China it's already worth, you know, 306 00:20:35,838 --> 00:20:38,887 $6,000 and if they hang on to that tusk 307 00:20:38,887 --> 00:20:42,970 for another two years, it could be worth $12,000. 308 00:20:48,946 --> 00:20:51,174 - [Narrator] The highway between Nairobi and Mombasa 309 00:20:51,174 --> 00:20:54,867 is one of the major arteries of Eastern Africa. 310 00:20:54,867 --> 00:20:57,238 It is a well-known route for trafficking networks, 311 00:20:57,238 --> 00:21:00,571 shifting contraband into this busy port. 312 00:21:02,047 --> 00:21:03,845 Numerous studies indicate that poachers 313 00:21:03,845 --> 00:21:06,785 rarely operate on their own anymore. 314 00:21:06,785 --> 00:21:09,903 Organized crime, attracted by the huge profit margins 315 00:21:09,903 --> 00:21:13,236 in wildlife trafficking, has taken over. 316 00:21:15,956 --> 00:21:18,737 About 2,500 containers are being shipped in and out 317 00:21:18,737 --> 00:21:22,598 of here each day to destinations all over the world. 318 00:21:22,598 --> 00:21:26,426 Many contain illegal wildlife products. 319 00:21:26,426 --> 00:21:28,597 In Kenyan ports like Mombasa, 320 00:21:28,597 --> 00:21:31,037 large shipments totalling nearly 10 tons 321 00:21:31,037 --> 00:21:34,537 of ivory were confiscated last year alone. 322 00:21:35,577 --> 00:21:39,549 But the confiscated ivory is only the tip of the iceberg. 323 00:21:39,549 --> 00:21:41,557 Interpol estimates the actual amount 324 00:21:41,557 --> 00:21:44,890 of smuggled ivory to be 10 times higher. 325 00:21:47,007 --> 00:21:49,098 More than half of all seized ivory loads 326 00:21:49,098 --> 00:21:51,098 were destined for China. 327 00:22:01,876 --> 00:22:04,888 China's 1.3 billion citizens have experienced 328 00:22:04,888 --> 00:22:08,721 an unequaled economic rise in the last decade. 329 00:22:09,928 --> 00:22:13,367 Guangzhou is the boomtown of China. 330 00:22:13,367 --> 00:22:15,488 The city of 12 million has the country's highest 331 00:22:15,488 --> 00:22:19,655 per capita number of millionaires and multimillionaires. 332 00:22:20,748 --> 00:22:24,515 Guangzhou has a long tradition of trading ivory. 333 00:22:24,515 --> 00:22:26,898 Today the demand comes from the newly rich 334 00:22:26,898 --> 00:22:29,957 who want to show off their wealth. 335 00:22:29,957 --> 00:22:33,109 After the global economic crisis in 2008, 336 00:22:33,109 --> 00:22:35,687 many rich Chinese decided to invest heavily 337 00:22:35,687 --> 00:22:37,576 in more traditional things, 338 00:22:37,576 --> 00:22:41,076 things like artwork and wildlife products. 339 00:22:42,096 --> 00:22:44,037 Ivory and rhino horn have become 340 00:22:44,037 --> 00:22:46,620 popular investment instruments. 341 00:22:48,395 --> 00:22:50,616 After months of investigation, 342 00:22:50,616 --> 00:22:53,157 we finally meet one of the buyers. 343 00:22:53,157 --> 00:22:55,040 Frank An curates the art collection 344 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:58,909 of one of the new rich in Chinese society. 345 00:22:58,909 --> 00:23:02,326 He likes to spend it on beautiful things. 346 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:05,393 - It's the old ivory. 347 00:23:05,393 --> 00:23:08,833 It's done in Beijing from the master. 348 00:23:08,833 --> 00:23:12,193 The lotus is a kind of symbol in Buddhism 349 00:23:12,193 --> 00:23:15,947 because it grow up from the mud under the water, 350 00:23:15,947 --> 00:23:18,239 that when it comes out, it very clean, 351 00:23:18,239 --> 00:23:19,938 it's very purifying. 352 00:23:19,938 --> 00:23:23,570 - [Narrator] This collection is worth millions of dollars. 353 00:23:23,570 --> 00:23:25,260 - [Frank] It's the rhino's horn. 354 00:23:25,260 --> 00:23:26,621 - Yeah, how would you drink it? 355 00:23:26,621 --> 00:23:28,013 Oh, okay. - Like this. 356 00:23:28,013 --> 00:23:29,970 It's for drinking. 357 00:23:29,970 --> 00:23:34,565 The head of the tribes, what we need to show off 358 00:23:34,565 --> 00:23:37,482 to other competitors, I'm powerful. 359 00:23:39,380 --> 00:23:43,332 Why people want to marry a beautiful woman 360 00:23:43,332 --> 00:23:45,082 but not an ugly girl? 361 00:23:45,943 --> 00:23:47,671 It's a trophy also. 362 00:23:47,671 --> 00:23:51,141 People always kill those dangerous animals. 363 00:23:51,141 --> 00:23:54,823 They never feel proud to kill a chicken. 364 00:23:54,823 --> 00:23:56,593 We are very lucky. 365 00:23:56,593 --> 00:23:59,593 Our ancestors wins in the long trip. 366 00:24:01,282 --> 00:24:04,510 If you win, you take everything. 367 00:24:04,510 --> 00:24:08,677 So we have the right to do something unfair to the animals. 368 00:24:10,801 --> 00:24:13,890 - [Narrator] Mr An's views may be offensive to many 369 00:24:13,890 --> 00:24:16,732 but he is acting perfectly legally. 370 00:24:16,732 --> 00:24:19,401 The Chinese government controls the legal trade 371 00:24:19,401 --> 00:24:22,852 in ivory from stockpiles it owns. 372 00:24:22,852 --> 00:24:24,852 All ivory products should come with 373 00:24:24,852 --> 00:24:28,102 an ID card confirming the legal origin. 374 00:24:29,449 --> 00:24:31,088 The government also runs and supplies 375 00:24:31,088 --> 00:24:33,761 the commercial carving industry. 376 00:24:33,761 --> 00:24:36,612 37 industrialized carving factories share 377 00:24:36,612 --> 00:24:40,779 the five tons dispersed by the authorities each year. 378 00:24:42,092 --> 00:24:44,580 78-year-old Pan Chuju is the master 379 00:24:44,580 --> 00:24:46,663 carver at Daixin factory. 380 00:25:01,860 --> 00:25:02,693 - [Narrator] He's worried that 381 00:25:02,693 --> 00:25:05,360 ivory will be completely banned. 382 00:25:28,221 --> 00:25:30,241 - [Narrator] In fact, there was a prohibition 383 00:25:30,241 --> 00:25:33,370 of ivory products 25 years ago. 384 00:25:33,370 --> 00:25:37,491 In 1989, after a dramatic rise in poaching, 385 00:25:37,491 --> 00:25:41,102 all international trade in ivory trade was banned. 386 00:25:41,102 --> 00:25:43,121 The effect was striking. 387 00:25:43,121 --> 00:25:44,568 - When the ivory trade was banned, 388 00:25:44,568 --> 00:25:46,928 the price of ivory collapsed from about $200 per kilogram 389 00:25:46,928 --> 00:25:49,917 down to, I don't know, about $50 per kilogram. 390 00:25:49,917 --> 00:25:53,677 And poaching more or less disappeared all across Africa. 391 00:25:53,677 --> 00:25:57,733 - [Narrator] Elephant populations immediately recovered. 392 00:25:57,733 --> 00:26:00,133 But then Japan and later China were granted 393 00:26:00,133 --> 00:26:02,955 singular purchases of ivory from the stockpiles 394 00:26:02,955 --> 00:26:05,435 of several African countries. 395 00:26:05,435 --> 00:26:09,245 150 tons of ivory flooded on to the market. 396 00:26:09,245 --> 00:26:11,445 The appetite for ivory was revived 397 00:26:11,445 --> 00:26:13,893 and the carving industry flourished again. 398 00:26:13,893 --> 00:26:15,515 But this time it was different. 399 00:26:15,515 --> 00:26:19,211 - In the old days it would take several masters 400 00:26:19,211 --> 00:26:23,378 a few years to carve one you know, elaborate carving, 401 00:26:25,561 --> 00:26:29,891 but today in the carving factories it's dental drills. 402 00:26:29,891 --> 00:26:32,302 People use dental drills. 403 00:26:32,302 --> 00:26:36,385 This type of industrialization of ivory carving, 404 00:26:39,142 --> 00:26:42,312 this is what's going to kill elephants. 405 00:26:42,312 --> 00:26:44,353 - [Narrator] Carving factories claim that all 406 00:26:44,353 --> 00:26:46,389 of their ivory is legal, 407 00:26:46,389 --> 00:26:50,091 but if the government only supplies five tons a year, 408 00:26:50,091 --> 00:26:52,960 the numbers just don't add up. 409 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:57,371 - If it's equally distributed among 37 carving factories, 410 00:26:57,371 --> 00:27:01,872 each carving factory gets a couple of hundred kilograms. 411 00:27:01,872 --> 00:27:05,352 And if you look at the size and the skill, 412 00:27:05,352 --> 00:27:09,403 how many people working in the carving factory, 413 00:27:09,403 --> 00:27:12,382 you'll figure out that, you know, 414 00:27:12,382 --> 00:27:16,549 how much this carving factory had to use illegal ivory. 415 00:27:21,151 --> 00:27:22,603 - [Narrator] Again we rig our investigator 416 00:27:22,603 --> 00:27:25,352 with a hidden camera and send her out to speak with carvers 417 00:27:25,352 --> 00:27:29,003 to find out where they're getting their ivory. 418 00:27:29,003 --> 00:27:31,371 Her target area is a mall in Guangzhou, 419 00:27:31,371 --> 00:27:34,288 well known for its ivory retailers. 420 00:27:35,792 --> 00:27:38,032 As cover, the investigator tells the shop owners 421 00:27:38,032 --> 00:27:42,779 that she has a piece she'd like to have carved. 422 00:27:42,779 --> 00:27:47,424 Finally a carver agrees to see her at his home. 423 00:27:47,424 --> 00:27:48,710 The carver has learned his craft 424 00:27:48,710 --> 00:27:51,499 from a master carver in Hong Kong. 425 00:27:51,499 --> 00:27:55,116 Now he has 20 apprentices in his workshop. 426 00:27:55,116 --> 00:27:59,140 His business is approved by the government. 427 00:27:59,140 --> 00:28:02,550 The investigator manages to win his trust. 428 00:28:02,550 --> 00:28:05,163 He is proud of his craft and frankly admits 429 00:28:05,163 --> 00:28:08,830 that he specializes in making fake antiques. 430 00:28:25,102 --> 00:28:26,412 - [Narrator] The carver also says that 431 00:28:26,412 --> 00:28:28,761 controls on these products are tight, 432 00:28:28,761 --> 00:28:30,461 but he knows people in Fujian province 433 00:28:30,461 --> 00:28:33,878 who traffic illegal ivory and rhino horn. 434 00:28:43,822 --> 00:28:45,332 - [Narrator] Our investigator also asks 435 00:28:45,332 --> 00:28:47,332 about carved rhino horn. 436 00:28:57,932 --> 00:28:59,964 - [Narrator] It is estimated that 90% ivory 437 00:28:59,964 --> 00:29:02,622 trade in China is illegal. 438 00:29:02,622 --> 00:29:07,274 The legal trade however, provides the perfect cover. 439 00:29:07,274 --> 00:29:09,713 - So currently China allows five tons of ivory 440 00:29:09,713 --> 00:29:11,725 to be sold legally every year. 441 00:29:11,725 --> 00:29:14,965 The government's estimate for demand is 200 tons a year. 442 00:29:14,965 --> 00:29:17,485 So this isn't meeting the supply, 443 00:29:17,485 --> 00:29:18,965 it's not meeting that demand, 444 00:29:18,965 --> 00:29:20,554 but what it's doing is it's giving 445 00:29:20,554 --> 00:29:21,925 the public a very confused message. 446 00:29:21,925 --> 00:29:24,416 Nobody knows what's legal, nobody knows what's illegal. 447 00:29:24,416 --> 00:29:27,186 And the big thing we found previously was that the traders 448 00:29:27,186 --> 00:29:30,936 use the legal trade to launder illegal ivory. 449 00:29:32,405 --> 00:29:33,685 - [Narrator] The Forestry Police 450 00:29:33,685 --> 00:29:35,266 are charged with the increasingly 451 00:29:35,266 --> 00:29:40,034 impossible task of controlling the illegal market. 452 00:29:40,034 --> 00:29:44,216 We have the rare opportunity to film a raid with them. 453 00:29:44,216 --> 00:29:46,565 This is a market in Beijing. 454 00:29:46,565 --> 00:29:49,634 Many wildlife products are sold and bought here. 455 00:29:49,634 --> 00:29:51,394 But it is small pickings by any 456 00:29:51,394 --> 00:29:53,894 standard of the illegal trade. 457 00:29:58,482 --> 00:30:00,262 - [Narrator] This dealer tries to explain his products 458 00:30:00,262 --> 00:30:03,912 are carved from mammoth, not ivory. 459 00:30:03,912 --> 00:30:06,413 But the officers don't believe him. 460 00:30:06,413 --> 00:30:10,101 The dealer shows his ID cards to the police officers. 461 00:30:10,101 --> 00:30:11,311 They confiscate his goods 462 00:30:11,311 --> 00:30:13,642 and take him in for further questioning. 463 00:30:13,642 --> 00:30:17,809 But he was telling the truth and was later released. 464 00:30:19,104 --> 00:30:22,402 This woman also claimed to sell mammoth ivory. 465 00:30:22,402 --> 00:30:26,569 But the texture of the material tells the officer otherwise. 466 00:30:28,451 --> 00:30:31,983 - It also makes it very difficult to enforce. 467 00:30:31,983 --> 00:30:36,150 Forestry police and customs officers sometimes complain 468 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:40,892 that the system makes it very difficult for them to 469 00:30:40,892 --> 00:30:44,559 distinguish what's illegal and what's legal. 470 00:30:47,641 --> 00:30:49,511 - [Narrator] This small shopkeeper was later 471 00:30:49,511 --> 00:30:51,951 charged with selling illegal ivory 472 00:30:51,951 --> 00:30:55,201 and now faces five to 10 years in jail. 473 00:31:04,143 --> 00:31:06,773 The overwhelming amount of carved ivory 474 00:31:06,773 --> 00:31:08,891 for sale in shops or markets, 475 00:31:08,891 --> 00:31:12,351 whether illegal or not, is still only a fraction 476 00:31:12,351 --> 00:31:14,750 of the vast amount of raw ivory estimated 477 00:31:14,750 --> 00:31:17,978 to reach China week after week. 478 00:31:17,978 --> 00:31:22,141 - If literally, 10s and 10s of tons of ivory 479 00:31:22,141 --> 00:31:25,224 is reaching China, where is it going? 480 00:31:26,690 --> 00:31:29,644 Those tusks are going somewhere in either China 481 00:31:29,644 --> 00:31:33,004 or neighboring countries and they're just sitting there 482 00:31:33,004 --> 00:31:34,632 and they're waiting for the time 483 00:31:34,632 --> 00:31:38,299 when they will be worth literally a fortune. 484 00:31:39,770 --> 00:31:42,741 - Where it's going is to people that are investing 485 00:31:42,741 --> 00:31:45,718 in the extinction of Africa's elephants 486 00:31:45,718 --> 00:31:47,703 and they think that's a very smart investment, 487 00:31:47,703 --> 00:31:50,996 because they believe there'll never be any more elephants 488 00:31:50,996 --> 00:31:53,706 or any more rhinos than there are now. 489 00:31:53,706 --> 00:31:57,666 Which will mean their investments will increase in value. 490 00:31:57,666 --> 00:31:59,834 - [Narrator] The grim realty is that elephants 491 00:31:59,834 --> 00:32:02,814 and rhinos are trapped in a deadly spiral 492 00:32:02,814 --> 00:32:06,814 driven by the merciless laws of the free market. 493 00:32:08,575 --> 00:32:12,903 Wildlife trade has become big business for organized crime. 494 00:32:12,903 --> 00:32:14,303 Only they can provide the money 495 00:32:14,303 --> 00:32:16,183 and logistics to shift hundreds 496 00:32:16,183 --> 00:32:19,671 and thousands of tons of contraband around the globe. 497 00:32:19,671 --> 00:32:22,504 (dramatic music) 498 00:32:23,763 --> 00:32:28,653 - Some of the networks that exist are highly specialized. 499 00:32:28,653 --> 00:32:33,093 But there are, you know, existing, well established, 500 00:32:33,093 --> 00:32:36,293 long established criminal networks and groups 501 00:32:36,293 --> 00:32:39,710 that simply turn to a particular activity 502 00:32:40,622 --> 00:32:42,705 because it is profitable. 503 00:32:45,171 --> 00:32:48,592 - [Narrator] In fact, after the trade in drugs and weapons, 504 00:32:48,592 --> 00:32:50,613 wildlife trafficking has become 505 00:32:50,613 --> 00:32:53,864 the most lucrative black-market business. 506 00:32:53,864 --> 00:32:58,462 It's estimated to be worth 20 billion dollars annually. 507 00:32:58,462 --> 00:33:00,642 - Wildlife crime is the attractive one, 508 00:33:00,642 --> 00:33:04,333 because the risks of getting caught are pretty small. 509 00:33:04,333 --> 00:33:06,823 And then if you do get caught, 510 00:33:06,823 --> 00:33:08,893 then in many countries in the world, 511 00:33:08,893 --> 00:33:11,643 the penalty is going to be small. 512 00:33:12,667 --> 00:33:16,267 But the profits, depending on what you're dealing in, 513 00:33:16,267 --> 00:33:17,616 you're gonna get more from them 514 00:33:17,616 --> 00:33:21,016 than you are smuggling cocaine or heroin. 515 00:33:21,016 --> 00:33:23,616 - [Narrator] Low risks and high profits. 516 00:33:23,616 --> 00:33:26,038 It's no surprise then that wildlife trafficking has 517 00:33:26,038 --> 00:33:29,726 caught the attention of other groups as well. 518 00:33:29,726 --> 00:33:32,375 African rebel groups including Uganda's Lords Resistance 519 00:33:32,375 --> 00:33:34,856 Army are known to finance their activities 520 00:33:34,856 --> 00:33:37,273 in part by trafficking ivory. 521 00:33:45,290 --> 00:33:46,829 - [Narrator] Somalia's al Shabaab militia 522 00:33:46,829 --> 00:33:49,267 also dabbles in ivory trafficking, 523 00:33:49,267 --> 00:33:51,934 especially in neighboring Kenya. 524 00:33:52,778 --> 00:33:56,754 - Al Shabaab definitely plays a role in the ivory trade. 525 00:33:56,754 --> 00:33:59,565 We know certainly that Al Shabaab taxes elephant ivory 526 00:33:59,565 --> 00:34:01,816 that comes across the border into Somalia, 527 00:34:01,816 --> 00:34:03,915 and then goes into Somali ports, 528 00:34:03,915 --> 00:34:06,389 Mogadishu, Kishmaayo, and Barawa. 529 00:34:06,389 --> 00:34:09,659 (soldiers chanting) (guns shooting) 530 00:34:09,659 --> 00:34:11,139 - [Narrator] Ivory profits are said to fund 531 00:34:11,139 --> 00:34:14,899 as much as 40% of Al Shabaab's activities. 532 00:34:14,899 --> 00:34:16,476 If true that means that during 533 00:34:16,476 --> 00:34:19,987 its attack on Nairobi's Westgate Mall two years ago, 534 00:34:19,987 --> 00:34:22,237 27 of the 67 people killed, 535 00:34:23,208 --> 00:34:26,339 were killed by blood ivory money. 536 00:34:26,339 --> 00:34:27,947 - If I'm a rebel, if I'm a terrorist, 537 00:34:27,947 --> 00:34:31,317 and I'm located in Eastern Africa or Central Africa, 538 00:34:31,317 --> 00:34:33,344 and I look around me and I say right, 539 00:34:33,344 --> 00:34:37,312 I need money to go out and buy more AK‐47s, 540 00:34:37,312 --> 00:34:40,292 or to buy Semtex or whatever. 541 00:34:40,292 --> 00:34:43,868 It's not long before my focus is gonna drop 542 00:34:43,868 --> 00:34:47,441 upon this large creature with big gray ears 543 00:34:47,441 --> 00:34:48,827 and these two white things that stick 544 00:34:48,827 --> 00:34:50,814 out the front of his face, 545 00:34:50,814 --> 00:34:53,147 which apparently people in Asia 546 00:34:53,147 --> 00:34:56,426 are willing to pay a lot of money for. 547 00:34:56,426 --> 00:34:58,216 - [Narrator] It's not only criminal cartels, 548 00:34:58,216 --> 00:35:00,107 terrorist groups and rebel militia that 549 00:35:00,107 --> 00:35:02,861 are making millions from wildlife trafficking. 550 00:35:02,861 --> 00:35:07,345 Kenya is fourth on the worldwide corruption ladder. 551 00:35:07,345 --> 00:35:10,994 - There is no way a container load of ivory can pass through 552 00:35:10,994 --> 00:35:14,198 Kenya's international border with Uganda, 553 00:35:14,198 --> 00:35:16,819 come down the Kenyan highways and reach the port of Mombasa 554 00:35:16,819 --> 00:35:18,798 and get onto a ship and go to China. 555 00:35:18,798 --> 00:35:20,236 It cannot happen unless there is corruption 556 00:35:20,236 --> 00:35:22,776 down that entire chain. 557 00:35:22,776 --> 00:35:25,208 The people who are at the highest level of these cartels 558 00:35:25,208 --> 00:35:28,158 in Kenya are very well connected, 559 00:35:28,158 --> 00:35:30,636 politically, economically, with the police, 560 00:35:30,636 --> 00:35:34,907 maybe with the customs authorities or the ports authorities. 561 00:35:34,907 --> 00:35:37,256 And so they are probably involved 562 00:35:37,256 --> 00:35:39,176 in many other illicit activities. 563 00:35:39,176 --> 00:35:40,235 It's not just ivory. 564 00:35:40,235 --> 00:35:43,208 Ivory's just one of the things that they're doing. 565 00:35:43,208 --> 00:35:45,627 And so they have people who protect them. 566 00:35:45,627 --> 00:35:48,496 - [Narrator] Worldwide, many poachers and smaller dealers 567 00:35:48,496 --> 00:35:50,876 have been arrested. 568 00:35:50,876 --> 00:35:52,504 - We're picking off the small fry, 569 00:35:52,504 --> 00:35:54,104 we're not getting the big fish. 570 00:35:54,104 --> 00:35:56,155 That's because we're not taking the time to try 571 00:35:56,155 --> 00:35:59,072 and identify who the big fish are. 572 00:36:00,006 --> 00:36:03,947 If you think of the number of specific agencies, 573 00:36:03,947 --> 00:36:06,362 or police customs officials, 574 00:36:06,362 --> 00:36:09,592 drug squads that are dedicated every day 575 00:36:09,592 --> 00:36:11,710 to try to combat drug trafficking 576 00:36:11,710 --> 00:36:13,162 around the world, you know, 577 00:36:13,162 --> 00:36:15,344 the numbers must run into the 10s, 578 00:36:15,344 --> 00:36:17,700 if not hundreds of thousands. 579 00:36:17,700 --> 00:36:21,202 How many officers around the world are dedicated to try 580 00:36:21,202 --> 00:36:25,442 to combat or identify wildlife traffickers? 581 00:36:25,442 --> 00:36:27,242 Very, very few. 582 00:36:27,242 --> 00:36:29,058 - We're not dealing with dismantling the networks 583 00:36:29,058 --> 00:36:30,580 on an international level. 584 00:36:30,580 --> 00:36:34,030 And even international agencies like Interpol, like CITES, 585 00:36:34,030 --> 00:36:35,588 they don't have the powers to deal with that. 586 00:36:35,588 --> 00:36:39,825 Interpol is reliant on local police in Interpol offices 587 00:36:39,825 --> 00:36:42,185 in the countries where they're based. 588 00:36:42,185 --> 00:36:44,535 And time and time again any efforts they make to crack 589 00:36:44,535 --> 00:36:48,033 down on crime bosses in places like Vietnam get scuppered 590 00:36:48,033 --> 00:36:50,615 because of leaks from the police force. 591 00:36:50,615 --> 00:36:52,404 - [Narrator] It's journalist Julian Rademeyer, 592 00:36:52,404 --> 00:36:54,175 who has succeeded where organizations 593 00:36:54,175 --> 00:36:56,882 like Interpol have so far failed, 594 00:36:56,882 --> 00:37:00,302 dismantling a major trafficking network. 595 00:37:00,302 --> 00:37:02,205 This video, obtained by Rademeyer, 596 00:37:02,205 --> 00:37:05,767 was shot by Chumlong Lemthongthai, a Thai national, 597 00:37:05,767 --> 00:37:07,746 who was identified as a major setup-man 598 00:37:07,746 --> 00:37:11,218 for an illegal Vietnamese trophy hunter. 599 00:37:11,218 --> 00:37:13,159 - Eventually you had criminal syndicates with links 600 00:37:13,159 --> 00:37:16,508 to Laos who were trying to line up hunters 601 00:37:16,508 --> 00:37:19,058 to take part in legal hunts and they found a pliant 602 00:37:19,058 --> 00:37:22,970 South African game farm owner and hunting outfitter 603 00:37:22,970 --> 00:37:25,559 and they then went around to brothels 604 00:37:25,559 --> 00:37:27,509 and strip clubs around Johannesburg 605 00:37:27,509 --> 00:37:30,090 and Pretoria and started recruiting young women who'd been 606 00:37:30,090 --> 00:37:32,269 trafficked to South Africa to work in the sex trade, 607 00:37:32,269 --> 00:37:34,458 young Thai women, and suddenly you have large numbers 608 00:37:34,458 --> 00:37:37,740 of Vietnamese and Thai women shooting rhinos. 609 00:37:37,740 --> 00:37:39,181 - [Narrator] Lemthongthai is now serving 610 00:37:39,181 --> 00:37:42,879 a 30-year sentence in a South African jail. 611 00:37:42,879 --> 00:37:46,461 Rademeyer also traced him back to his client. 612 00:37:46,461 --> 00:37:49,619 - He was the lieutenant for the so‐called kingpin, 613 00:37:49,619 --> 00:37:51,488 a man called Vixay Keosavang. 614 00:37:51,488 --> 00:37:53,200 The U.S. State Department has put 615 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:56,881 a one million dollar bounty for Keosavang's arrest. 616 00:37:56,881 --> 00:37:57,940 But he's still in business 617 00:37:57,940 --> 00:38:00,209 and completely and utterly untouchable. 618 00:38:00,209 --> 00:38:02,741 The Laotian government won't touch him. 619 00:38:02,741 --> 00:38:06,324 No‐one else has ever been able to nail him. 620 00:38:12,863 --> 00:38:15,331 (rhinos bellowing) 621 00:38:15,331 --> 00:38:16,561 - [Narrator] In South Africa, 622 00:38:16,561 --> 00:38:18,522 rhino farmers are lobbying hard 623 00:38:18,522 --> 00:38:22,272 for the legalization of the rhino horn trade. 624 00:38:23,402 --> 00:38:25,151 This property belongs to one of the biggest 625 00:38:25,151 --> 00:38:27,651 rhino farmers in South Africa. 626 00:38:30,023 --> 00:38:32,583 John Hume, who made a fortune in tourism, 627 00:38:32,583 --> 00:38:34,610 turned to breeding rhinos. 628 00:38:34,610 --> 00:38:37,809 He has over 1,000 on his farms. 629 00:38:37,809 --> 00:38:39,688 Not surprisingly he is one of the 630 00:38:39,688 --> 00:38:42,771 strongest advocates for legalization. 631 00:38:44,869 --> 00:38:49,189 To protect his herd he employs a private ranger army, 632 00:38:49,189 --> 00:38:51,939 still poachers find their way in. 633 00:38:54,796 --> 00:38:57,035 - She was a young cow, pregnant, 634 00:38:57,035 --> 00:39:01,167 but all of her breeding life still ahead of her. 635 00:39:01,167 --> 00:39:04,117 And when you lose an adult female like this, 636 00:39:04,117 --> 00:39:07,498 it's devastating for the species into the future. 637 00:39:07,498 --> 00:39:09,955 It's exactly what we don't want, 638 00:39:09,955 --> 00:39:14,549 and it's exactly what our policies are creating. 639 00:39:14,549 --> 00:39:16,137 - [Narrator] In John Hume's view, 640 00:39:16,137 --> 00:39:18,647 animal conservationists who oppose a legalization 641 00:39:18,647 --> 00:39:22,067 of trade are as bad as poachers. 642 00:39:22,067 --> 00:39:25,189 - They may as well be pulling the trigger themselves, 643 00:39:25,189 --> 00:39:27,566 because the anti-traders are stopping 644 00:39:27,566 --> 00:39:29,983 us fighting this effectively. 645 00:39:30,898 --> 00:39:34,965 Therefore, they are just the same as the poachers. 646 00:39:34,965 --> 00:39:37,632 They're the killers of my rhino. 647 00:39:40,298 --> 00:39:41,458 - [Narrator] Although Hume's black 648 00:39:41,458 --> 00:39:44,357 and white rhinos roam in a vast area, 649 00:39:44,357 --> 00:39:46,567 they are being partially domesticated 650 00:39:46,567 --> 00:39:49,984 with medical care and additional feeding. 651 00:39:51,109 --> 00:39:54,756 Hume considers himself not only a businessman, 652 00:39:54,756 --> 00:39:57,006 but also a conservationist. 653 00:39:59,138 --> 00:40:02,834 - Unfortunately, I am labeled as being 654 00:40:02,834 --> 00:40:04,917 in it only for the money. 655 00:40:05,789 --> 00:40:10,309 But I breed rhinos and if I were to make money out 656 00:40:10,309 --> 00:40:13,069 of breeding rhinos, which I do not, 657 00:40:13,069 --> 00:40:14,787 but if I was selling the horn 658 00:40:14,787 --> 00:40:17,909 and I was to make money out of breeding rhinos, 659 00:40:17,909 --> 00:40:21,279 there will be hundreds of other people 660 00:40:21,279 --> 00:40:23,599 who want to breed rhinos. 661 00:40:23,599 --> 00:40:25,159 - [Narrator] To protect his rhinos, 662 00:40:25,159 --> 00:40:27,469 Hume regularly de-horns them. 663 00:40:27,469 --> 00:40:29,408 But he doesn't destroy the pieces. 664 00:40:29,408 --> 00:40:32,858 He stores them in a high security vault. 665 00:40:32,858 --> 00:40:34,898 - The legalization of trade will not 666 00:40:34,898 --> 00:40:37,849 stop the poaching as such. 667 00:40:37,849 --> 00:40:40,439 But at the moment we've closed our doors. 668 00:40:40,439 --> 00:40:42,418 We have said to the demand, 669 00:40:42,418 --> 00:40:44,909 never mind what you want to call them, 670 00:40:44,909 --> 00:40:48,029 syndicates, users, whatever. 671 00:40:48,029 --> 00:40:49,400 We've said to the demand, 672 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:53,680 "We will not sell you one kilo of rhino horn, 673 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:55,699 "not one, go away." 674 00:40:55,699 --> 00:40:56,811 So what do they do? 675 00:40:56,811 --> 00:40:59,617 They say, "Okay, we'll go away, we'll deal with a poacher." 676 00:40:59,617 --> 00:41:01,029 Now if you have legalization, 677 00:41:01,029 --> 00:41:02,400 then that'll be different. 678 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:05,616 At least we will compete against the poacher. 679 00:41:05,616 --> 00:41:09,783 So to me it's really, it's a stupid thing and it's similar 680 00:41:11,297 --> 00:41:13,789 to the bootlegging we had in America. 681 00:41:13,789 --> 00:41:16,058 The banning of booze in America 682 00:41:16,058 --> 00:41:18,558 only made certain people rich, 683 00:41:19,589 --> 00:41:21,428 and it didn't work, as we know. 684 00:41:21,428 --> 00:41:22,678 It didn't work. 685 00:41:24,376 --> 00:41:27,709 - [Narrator] However, most wildlife trade experts agree, 686 00:41:27,709 --> 00:41:31,194 there is no sound economic model for legalization 687 00:41:31,194 --> 00:41:35,361 and that it is simply too much of a risk to test it. 688 00:41:37,650 --> 00:41:40,900 - You know there's 1.3 billion Chinese. 689 00:41:42,132 --> 00:41:45,299 10% of them are now middle class. 690 00:41:46,545 --> 00:41:50,796 Now a hundred million people now want rhino horns. 691 00:41:50,796 --> 00:41:52,375 How the hell are you going to supply the demand 692 00:41:52,375 --> 00:41:54,926 for 100 million people? 693 00:41:54,926 --> 00:41:57,428 You have, you don't have enough rhinos to breed 694 00:41:57,428 --> 00:42:00,884 fast enough to supply all those rhino horns. 695 00:42:00,884 --> 00:42:02,966 Not in a million years can you meet that demand. 696 00:42:02,966 --> 00:42:03,966 Never, ever. 697 00:42:04,906 --> 00:42:07,097 They live in coo coo world if they think 698 00:42:07,097 --> 00:42:09,786 they're going to by supplying the demand, 699 00:42:09,786 --> 00:42:12,374 they're going to stop rhino poaching. 700 00:42:12,374 --> 00:42:16,306 - That experiment has been done and that experiment failed. 701 00:42:16,306 --> 00:42:19,127 So why on earth would we take a risk with an animal, 702 00:42:19,127 --> 00:42:21,557 which is on the brink of extinction? 703 00:42:21,557 --> 00:42:23,727 Why would we take that risk? 704 00:42:23,727 --> 00:42:25,479 So that what, a few people can make some money? 705 00:42:25,479 --> 00:42:28,607 It doesn't make sense, any sense whatsoever. 706 00:42:28,607 --> 00:42:30,544 - [Narrator] Flooding the market with illegal wildlife 707 00:42:30,544 --> 00:42:34,234 products is no option for most conservationists. 708 00:42:34,234 --> 00:42:36,824 Instead they are turning to consumers with a strong 709 00:42:36,824 --> 00:42:40,991 message to be part of the solution, not the problem. 710 00:42:44,173 --> 00:42:46,759 Chinese celebrities like actor Jackie Chan 711 00:42:46,759 --> 00:42:49,264 are raising their voices in an effort to change 712 00:42:49,264 --> 00:42:51,664 the hearts and minds of their countrymen 713 00:42:51,664 --> 00:42:55,394 and stop them buying wildlife products. 714 00:42:55,394 --> 00:42:57,093 - If you're buying rhino horn, 715 00:42:57,093 --> 00:42:59,153 you may be paying for more than just horn. 716 00:42:59,153 --> 00:43:03,320 You're paying for guns, (gun shoots) bullets, 717 00:43:04,690 --> 00:43:07,205 poisoned arrows, and chainsaws, 718 00:43:07,205 --> 00:43:11,405 axes and machetes to hack off the face of the rhino. 719 00:43:11,405 --> 00:43:15,784 And you are paying for the life of a beautiful creature. 720 00:43:15,784 --> 00:43:19,096 So please tell your friends and relatives. 721 00:43:19,096 --> 00:43:22,435 Never buy products made from rhino horn. 722 00:43:22,435 --> 00:43:25,376 When the buying stops, the killing can too. 723 00:43:25,376 --> 00:43:26,416 - Well there are definitely some people 724 00:43:26,416 --> 00:43:28,995 out there whose interest is purely commercial 725 00:43:28,995 --> 00:43:31,975 and they're looking to effectively invest in extinction. 726 00:43:31,975 --> 00:43:34,408 They're looking to get the value of this product. 727 00:43:34,408 --> 00:43:36,347 I think that's, that's some people. 728 00:43:36,347 --> 00:43:37,847 But there are other people who are buying 729 00:43:37,847 --> 00:43:39,237 these products out of ignorance. 730 00:43:39,237 --> 00:43:40,667 People have to understand that their action 731 00:43:40,667 --> 00:43:43,759 of purchasing this prize is actually driving the poaching. 732 00:43:43,759 --> 00:43:46,319 I think most of them dissociate themselves from the killing 733 00:43:46,319 --> 00:43:48,129 of the animals and I think that's the connection 734 00:43:48,129 --> 00:43:49,697 that needs to be made to persuade people, 735 00:43:49,697 --> 00:43:52,070 it's not a good thing to buy ivory. 736 00:43:52,070 --> 00:43:53,339 - [Narrator] Non-profit groups working 737 00:43:53,339 --> 00:43:57,902 in China know that when people have information, they care. 738 00:43:57,902 --> 00:44:00,822 So it is particularly important to communicate that 739 00:44:00,822 --> 00:44:05,589 elephants actually have to be killed to get the tusks. 740 00:44:05,589 --> 00:44:09,011 Since the Chinese word for ivory is tooth, 741 00:44:09,011 --> 00:44:13,178 many Chinese still believe that tusks fall out naturally. 742 00:44:14,018 --> 00:44:16,578 - We will never change things in China, for example, 743 00:44:16,578 --> 00:44:17,847 but the Chinese can change it 744 00:44:17,847 --> 00:44:20,098 if they have the right information. 745 00:44:20,098 --> 00:44:22,778 - [Narrator] Changing the minds of consumers is crucial 746 00:44:22,778 --> 00:44:25,783 but the tide cannot change fast enough. 747 00:44:25,783 --> 00:44:28,471 Conservationists agree that what is needed now 748 00:44:28,471 --> 00:44:30,970 to send a clear message to consumers, 749 00:44:30,970 --> 00:44:33,540 is to immediately ban all trade, 750 00:44:33,540 --> 00:44:36,707 in all endangered wildlife, worldwide. 751 00:44:38,071 --> 00:44:40,876 Surveys indicate that this strategy could be successful, 752 00:44:40,876 --> 00:44:43,196 especially in China where people look 753 00:44:43,196 --> 00:44:46,895 to their leaders for moral guidance. 754 00:44:46,895 --> 00:44:49,520 - We asked previous ivory buyers, 755 00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:52,953 what would make you not buy ivory in the future? 756 00:44:52,953 --> 00:44:57,044 The answer that got the most points, 60%, 757 00:44:57,044 --> 00:45:00,205 was for a government to ban, 758 00:45:00,205 --> 00:45:04,629 to make ivory buying illegal in all circumstances. 759 00:45:04,629 --> 00:45:06,437 (ivory crunching) 760 00:45:06,437 --> 00:45:09,384 - [Narrator] Years of campaigning are taking effect. 761 00:45:09,384 --> 00:45:12,066 10 countries have destroyed their ivory stockpiles 762 00:45:12,066 --> 00:45:15,035 in a stand against illegal ivory trade. 763 00:45:15,035 --> 00:45:18,464 Last year the United States and even Hong Kong 764 00:45:18,464 --> 00:45:20,131 and China joined in. 765 00:45:21,466 --> 00:45:24,408 - Destruction of ivory is telling people, 766 00:45:24,408 --> 00:45:26,825 ivory consumption is immoral. 767 00:45:27,698 --> 00:45:29,861 And this is something that we really need 768 00:45:29,861 --> 00:45:32,611 to build in consumers everywhere. 769 00:45:34,210 --> 00:45:37,710 There are things that money shouldn't buy. 770 00:45:42,344 --> 00:45:44,042 - [Narrator] Changing the minds of consumers 771 00:45:44,042 --> 00:45:46,893 and pressing governments to take action is crucial 772 00:45:46,893 --> 00:45:50,204 in the race to save these iconic animals. 773 00:45:50,204 --> 00:45:53,114 But what has become increasingly evident is that 774 00:45:53,114 --> 00:45:55,594 it is just as important to engage the people 775 00:45:55,594 --> 00:45:59,002 in the places where poaching is happening. 776 00:45:59,002 --> 00:46:01,322 Many poachers are still being recruited 777 00:46:01,322 --> 00:46:04,905 from villages around the wildlife reserves. 778 00:46:08,154 --> 00:46:10,588 - The communities that live with this wildlife 779 00:46:10,588 --> 00:46:12,705 are not supported adequately in this country, 780 00:46:12,705 --> 00:46:17,053 so that it makes sense for them to protect that wildlife. 781 00:46:17,053 --> 00:46:19,326 - [Narrator] Changing the economic conditions in villages 782 00:46:19,326 --> 00:46:23,414 around wildlife reserves would make a big difference. 783 00:46:23,414 --> 00:46:28,114 - At the moment, conservation is seen as a white man's game. 784 00:46:28,114 --> 00:46:29,966 There's only one way to deal with the problem, 785 00:46:29,966 --> 00:46:32,614 you've got to get the community on your side. 786 00:46:32,614 --> 00:46:36,166 And believe me, nobody comes into any of these villages, 787 00:46:36,166 --> 00:46:40,018 what we call front line villages, nobody. 788 00:46:40,018 --> 00:46:43,075 Not a strange car, not a strange people will drive 789 00:46:43,075 --> 00:46:48,018 down the streets of a village without not being recognized. 790 00:46:48,018 --> 00:46:49,596 - [Narrator] The Northern Rangeland Trust 791 00:46:49,596 --> 00:46:53,223 in northern Kenya was set up to do just that. 792 00:46:53,223 --> 00:46:55,946 The idea is to enable communities to profit 793 00:46:55,946 --> 00:46:58,373 from animal conservation and make protection 794 00:46:58,373 --> 00:47:01,540 more attractive to them than poaching. 795 00:47:03,242 --> 00:47:07,883 The 9-1 anti-poaching unit is a part of this new concept. 796 00:47:07,883 --> 00:47:10,403 It's made up of members of different tribes. 797 00:47:10,403 --> 00:47:12,102 So they have the co-operation of all 798 00:47:12,102 --> 00:47:15,019 the communities in this large area. 799 00:47:16,029 --> 00:47:17,218 They have informants who tell them 800 00:47:17,218 --> 00:47:20,266 immediately about suspicious activities. 801 00:47:20,266 --> 00:47:23,266 (people chattering) 802 00:47:27,037 --> 00:47:28,355 And the villagers seem to appreciate 803 00:47:28,355 --> 00:47:30,772 the presence of the 9-1 team. 804 00:47:59,255 --> 00:48:01,525 - [Narrator] The concept of community conservation is making 805 00:48:01,525 --> 00:48:04,895 a big difference in this part of Northern Kenya. 806 00:48:04,895 --> 00:48:06,925 Poaching has dropped by a third 807 00:48:06,925 --> 00:48:08,957 and locals now know that protecting 808 00:48:08,957 --> 00:48:12,475 animals brings tourists into the community lands. 809 00:48:12,475 --> 00:48:14,558 And tourists bring money. 810 00:48:17,226 --> 00:48:19,986 It was the influence and pressure from his community 811 00:48:19,986 --> 00:48:22,632 that finally made Lotak change sides. 812 00:48:22,632 --> 00:48:25,049 (soft music) 813 00:49:06,573 --> 00:49:08,243 - [Narrator] Community conservation is a model 814 00:49:08,243 --> 00:49:10,102 that is slowly beginning to take hold 815 00:49:10,102 --> 00:49:12,935 in other parts of Africa as well. 816 00:49:16,952 --> 00:49:18,752 Millions of years of evolution are coming 817 00:49:18,752 --> 00:49:21,782 to an end as elephants and rhino continue 818 00:49:21,782 --> 00:49:24,782 to disappear at breath-taking speed. 819 00:49:26,755 --> 00:49:28,565 - Rhino poaching will end the day when 820 00:49:28,565 --> 00:49:31,790 there's no rhinos left, finished. 821 00:49:31,790 --> 00:49:34,053 Or the day it's made so difficult 822 00:49:34,053 --> 00:49:36,317 for the poacher to come in here, 823 00:49:36,317 --> 00:49:39,197 that it's impossible to poach a rhino. 824 00:49:39,197 --> 00:49:41,429 And that's we must do. 825 00:49:41,429 --> 00:49:43,090 - [Narrator] Extinction is no longer 826 00:49:43,090 --> 00:49:47,257 a by-product of poaching, it has become its very purpose. 827 00:49:49,198 --> 00:49:50,977 - If we don't nip this in the bud, 828 00:49:50,977 --> 00:49:53,847 we will lose all of our rhinos within 10 years, I believe. 829 00:49:53,847 --> 00:49:55,607 We will lose almost all of our 830 00:49:55,607 --> 00:49:58,190 wild elephants within 10 years. 831 00:49:59,669 --> 00:50:02,977 - [Narrator] Poaching is an international crime. 832 00:50:02,977 --> 00:50:07,727 It will take a concerted international response to stop it. 833 00:50:07,727 --> 00:50:09,126 - I think when we lose these animals, 834 00:50:09,126 --> 00:50:11,549 we lose part of our humanity. 835 00:50:11,549 --> 00:50:14,439 What are we leaving for our children and grandchildren? 836 00:50:14,439 --> 00:50:17,359 We're leaving a really impoverished world environmentally. 837 00:50:17,359 --> 00:50:19,242 Which means we've basically sold all the family jewels. 838 00:50:19,242 --> 00:50:21,144 So their inheritance is gonna be squandered 839 00:50:21,144 --> 00:50:23,127 if we don't take care of it now. 840 00:50:23,127 --> 00:50:25,358 - [Narrator] We know from experience that only when 841 00:50:25,358 --> 00:50:28,525 the demand stops, so will the killing. 842 00:50:32,350 --> 00:50:35,580 - The world has two choices, we can have elephants. 843 00:50:35,580 --> 00:50:37,470 Or we can have ivory trade. 844 00:50:37,470 --> 00:50:39,053 We can't have both. 845 00:50:46,189 --> 00:50:49,689 (soft instrumental music)