Battle for the Elephants Page #3

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.

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