THE illegal trade of ivory is a battle that continues to rage, despite attempts to curb the poaching of African elephants.
And Bryan Christy, author and journalist, as well as chief correspondent and founder of the Special Investigations Unit at National Geographic magazine, stumbled across several puzzle pieces that paint a bigger, rather disquieting picture.
He has linked the slaughter of the African elephant directly to terrorist groups who use the sales of the ivory to fund their war in Warlords of Ivory. This documentary exposé parallels his compelling chronicle in the channel’s magazine as well.
Last year, he was named the National Geographic Society’s Explorer of the Year for his efforts to combat international wildlife trafficking. Suffice to say, he is very invested in this particular subject matter – and this is indicative by the ongoing time and effort he has committed to the cause.
He has even called upon renowned taxidermist George Dante to design an artificial elephant tusk – with the look and feel of a confiscated tusk he was loaned by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. A GPS tracking system is to be embedded in it to track the patterns of the ivory plundering, which also leaves a trail of violence in its wake.
On the making of Warlords of Ivory, he reveals, “It is the story of the relationship between the terrible slaughter of the African elephant that is going on in Africa, the use of ivory by terrorist groups to fund themselves, and the effort by National Geographic to use technology and a little bit of ingenuity to go after this story.”
Christy admits the project has become incredibly special to him. He explains, “This project was incredibly important to me personally because I have seen up close the cost of the illegal ivory trade for elephants, and for communities.
“One of the things that hasn’t been told is the cost in terms of killing of human beings, and it’s being done by terrorists, and I wanted to go after those guys.”
Expanding on the link between the illegal ivory trade and terrorism, he shares, “The ivory trade is directly linked to terrorist groups operating across Africa. Some of the worst terrorist groups operating in Africa are funded by ivory. They use ivory to trade for arms, for medicine, for food, in some cases, but it is that link between ivory and arms that I don’t think people know about.”
He continues, “There are many players behind the illegal ivory trade. There are organised criminal syndicates operating largely in East Africa. In Warlords of Ivory, we focus on terrorist groups and rebel militia operating in Central Africa, and these are some of the most violent and aggressive groups on the planet.”
Shedding light on his ploy to track their operations down, he notes, “So, we used some incredibly innovative technology to go after the terrorists in this story. We had one of the world’s leading taxidermists design a perfect tusk replica and, inside that tusk, we inserted a GPS and satellite-based tracking system. No one’s ever put these together before, so now we’re able to follow these tusks anywhere in the world.”
Now such an operation does require time and patience. On the former aspect, he reveals that the battery life of the tracking system is going to surpass the magazine publication of the story and the documentary.
Of course, while this is a rather perilous undertaking, he is hoping the investigation will be fruitful in bringing about change. “I think it’s important… to understand the level of violence taking place in the ivory trade and… to see the wildlife rangers manning the perimeter in this battle against terrorism. This isn’t just an elephant or wildlife question, it’s a battle against terrorism. And park rangers with literally a handful of bullets and guns that don’t work, are being asked to man the frontline for the world. That must change.”
l Warlords of Ivory airs on National Geographic Channel (DStv channel 181) on Saturday September 19 at 8.05pm.