Last night I had the opportunity to watch the screening of Battle for the Elephants at the Houston Zoo with film producer John Heminway, Katie Carpenter and Dr. Peter Li on panel for discussion. It was a moving event - both the film itself and the conversations that followed. Below are a few thoughts and quotes from the night.

REVIEW OF FILM:

Battle for the Elephants Poster

The film begins with this thought: at one point in time, elephants were used to measure the seasons - they would come and go signaling the start and end of the rainy period. They had no enemy. But then, they became their own worst enemy. Their tusks began to represent perfection, purity and money. No longer were elephants simply part of life in the African bush. Now they are worth their weight in gold: white gold. 

It all started a few hundred years ago. In the 1800s there were about 26 million elephants in Africa. Throughout the coming century however, ivory demand grew in places like the United States and Africa’s elephants dropped to 10 million by 1913. And by 1979, there were only 1.3 million elephants left on the continent. Today? There are an estimated 400,000 elephants left. Africa’s elephants, they symbol of a nation’s wealth and heritage, will be extinct in the near future if nothing is done to stop the illegal ivory trade.

The trade itself is fueled mainly by China - as the middle class continues to grow in wealth, they look back to their history and find a connection with their past through the cultural traditions of ivory carving. The problem? What once was a trade done by a few skilled artisans who hand-carved tusks (often taking 2 years to complete one piece of art) is now being done in factories housing hundreds of “carvers” who use electronic tools to carve into the ivory.

The documentary asks the question: is this craft or this species more valuable? Because both cannot survive. 

In the film, a good portion of time is spent in China examining the demand for ivory and linking it to both cultural and religious practices (one Buddhist is interviewed saying he believes the elephants are happy dying, knowing that their tusks are used for the Buddha). At the same time, the film examines Africa, the source of the ivory. Tanzania, home of the Selous, a world heritage site for wildlife and elephants, is now known as “Africa’s Killing Fields” by many conservationists as the country has lost over 66% of their elephants to poaching in last few years alone. The country is one of the poorest in Africa, and the elephant represents a way to change your lifestyle. Even the government officials seem to be corrupted by the white gold. The most horrific scene in the film is at the storehouses of ivory in Tanzania (the largest storehouse in the world valued over 50 million dollars) and seeing what is described as a genocide memorial: the end of the elephant. Tusks confiscated 20 years ago compared to those confiscated today show the impact poaching has had - it was once common to have tusks larger than the human body. Now, most of the tusks are easily held in one hand - baby tusks.

The video ends with this statement: we shouldn’t give up hope, but it is a race against time.

Battle for the Elephants Photograph

NOTES FROM SPEAKERS:

John Heminway has produced many documentaries - but he feels this film is different, stating that he has “never created a film that has had such an afterlife like this…” It has been shown at the CITES convention in Bangkok last year, in Nairobi this film encouraged First Lady Kenyatta to launch the HANDS OFF OUR ELEPHANTS campaign, it has been viewed by the US Senate with the senator from Delaware championing the cause, it has been shown at a congressional hearing at the US state department with copies sent to consulates around the world…Why has this film been different from other documentaries? Because the subject matter surprises people. Heminway states,

“most people didn’t know the story of supply and demand. The poaching fiasco is tally destabilizing the continent. Nations are being undone. Terrorists are funded from this activity.” Heminway concluded stating,  ”if you lose the elephant in Africa, you lose the heart of Africa.“

Many questions about ivory in Africa were presented - and one new fact I learned was from Dr. Peter Li who said that “Ivory is being sold in China as an investment.” Not only is ivory a status symbol rich with cultural tradition, it is now a currency of investment! Dr. Li challenges China that if the country seeks to be the next world leader, then it must make the right decisions regarding the illegal ivory trade. He concluded his thoughts with this statement (which generated much applause):

“I consider the ivory trade as a criminal act - do we need to try to placate the demand? We all understood that slavery could not be tolerated. Did we try to improve it so we could still keep slavery? Or did we just end it? It [the ivory trade] must not be allowed to continue, it is totally immoral.”

All speakers agreed the best way forward is two fold: behavioral change and legal change in both Asia and Africa.

For China, behavioral change to decrease demand for ivory (by making it an embarrassment to own ivory through awareness campaigns) AND government action to tell the people of China to stop buying ivory. Being an authoritative government, a decree issued from them would definitely change the consumer’s purchases. Culture may be hard to change, but according to Dr. Li,

“culture is not stagnant. It is always changing. Think about the Chinese cultural tradition that women should have small feet, so they bound their feet. It was considered an art form. In the past. But not anymore. It was ended.”

Likewise with the ivory trade, it must be considered an art form of the past. But not anymore.

For Africa, behavioral change to address human-elephant conflict over land and food as well as rewarding those who protect elephants. Katie Carpenter noted that Tanzania looses more elephants every day than any other African nation. Why? Because many rangers are promised great pay for their work to protect the wildlife, yet are never actually paid. The corruption and the lack of incentive is the perfect recipe for elephant slaughters. Which leads to the legal side, getting governments to fight the international gang dealers who are running the illegal ivory trade in their countries. On Jan 10, Kenya’s wildlife law went into effect. Now if you are found in possession of ivory, you face the possibility of a half million dollar fine AND life imprisonment. This law needs to be enforced and other countries in Africa need to follow.

Overal, the picture is grim for the Africa elephant. John Heminway believes we will see pockets of extinction occur within the next few years. Last year, Burundi just lost their last elephant. The forest elephants are next on they live in a highly unstable political area of Africa where there is minimal protection. The forest elephant’s tusks are also a harder ivory, which is more valued by the Chinese. But as the world hears of these pockets of extinction, it can only be hoped that behaviors and governments will begin changing. Hope is not lost as people like YOU and ME get involved, tell the story, and create change. I leave you with this thought from J.R.R. Tolkien:

“There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.”

HAVEN’T SEEN THE DOCUMENTARY? CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT ON PBS