0:00:02 > 0:00:06'The African elephant, the largest animal on Earth, is under threat.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09'Some herds are being decimated at an alarming rate.'
0:00:09 > 0:00:13We're truly worried about the future of elephants.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17Some places have lost almost all their elephants.
0:00:17 > 0:00:23'They are still being hunted for their ivory despite a trade ban in place for more than 20 years.'
0:00:23 > 0:00:25Oh, yeah, here it is.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29Ask him about the elephant that was killed.
0:00:29 > 0:00:34These people are armed, very well armed - G3s, AK-47s.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37'Even the youngest are in the firing line.'
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Kasigau over there has got a clear wound.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46'And seizures of illegal ivory are at a new high.'
0:00:46 > 0:00:51What is at the heart of the illegal killing of elephants in Africa
0:00:51 > 0:00:54can be summarised in one word - money.
0:00:54 > 0:00:59- How much is this one?- 'We go under cover to find the ivory dealers.'
0:01:02 > 0:01:0410,000 for one?
0:01:04 > 0:01:09'We see the new technology being used to track down the criminals.'
0:01:09 > 0:01:13These poachers are hammering the sam area over and over and over again.
0:01:14 > 0:01:20'We go on the trail of the poachers, smugglers and organised crime syndicates
0:01:20 > 0:01:25'into a web that stretches to south-east Asia and beyond...
0:01:25 > 0:01:28'to the biggest ivory buyer of all.'
0:01:28 > 0:01:3390% of all the people we have arrested at our airports ferrying ivory...
0:01:34 > 0:01:36..are Chinese.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41China is the future for elephants. If China can curb its demand...
0:01:42 > 0:01:45..elephants will survive in Africa.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51eight, nine, ten, all right?
0:01:52 > 0:01:54'But can this demand be stifled?
0:01:58 > 0:02:01'Or is it already too late?'
0:02:08 > 0:02:13'Port Klang near Kuala Lumpur. It's the busiest port in Malaysia
0:02:13 > 0:02:17'and the last stop for vessels heading to the Far East.'
0:02:20 > 0:02:23SIREN WAILS
0:02:23 > 0:02:28'For three months, Customs have been tracking a container from Africa.
0:02:34 > 0:02:40'Intelligence has alerted them to contraband hidden deep within packing crates.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43'Inside, a shocking discovery.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52'Nearly one and a half tonnes of illegal ivory,
0:02:52 > 0:02:57'worth almost a million pounds, the equivalent of around 150 dead elephants.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02'And all this at a time when an international ban is supposed to stop the killing.'
0:03:04 > 0:03:07We found that the container was full of...
0:03:34 > 0:03:38Despite a 23-year international ban on the trade in ivory,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41all indications are that demand is booming,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44getting higher and higher each year.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Last year saw the highest number of large seizures of illegal ivory
0:03:48 > 0:03:50for over two decades.
0:03:59 > 0:04:05'Up until the middle of last year, Malaysia hadn't made a single large ivory seizure in nearly a decade.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11'This is their fourth large bust in just five months.'
0:04:13 > 0:04:17All we're doing here is stopping the smuggler
0:04:17 > 0:04:19from getting his products. It's really good.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23We need more of this, so we shut down the business.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36'Today, Malaysia is the latest country to emerge for ivory smuggling,
0:04:36 > 0:04:40'but it's just one of the many staging posts around the world
0:04:40 > 0:04:43'in a multi-million-pound criminal trade.'
0:04:46 > 0:04:51It takes a large amount of organised activity to be able to move
0:04:51 > 0:04:55and manoeuvre all these activities to the product ending up in Asia,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59so one can assume it's organised crime.
0:04:59 > 0:05:05'So to understand the links in this chain, I'm going back to where it all begins - Africa.
0:05:17 > 0:05:23'Man has always hunted elephants here - for meat, sport and for ivory.
0:05:23 > 0:05:29'Its tusks were traditionally used in carvings, piano keys and even false teeth.
0:05:29 > 0:05:34'Today, some conservationists fear killings are so out of control
0:05:34 > 0:05:39'that elephants could soon disappear for ever in parts of the continent.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46'Kenya - a popular safari destination.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50'Tourism is essential to the country's economy,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53'but even here in Samburu in the north,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56'a place where elephants have recently thrived,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59'there are alarming new signs,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02'sickening images tourists rarely see.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09'I'm following the trail left by elephant poachers.'
0:06:14 > 0:06:20We're on our way with Stephen, who is the conservation warden for the West Gate Community here,
0:06:20 > 0:06:25because we've heard that there's an elephant which has been killed,
0:06:25 > 0:06:29the carcass of which is, I think, not very far away.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36Oh, yeah, here it is.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43FLIES BUZZING
0:06:52 > 0:06:56- This was killed right here?- It has been killed using bullets, a gun.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Six rounds.
0:07:09 > 0:07:14Death always brings this disgusting, high, sweet smell
0:07:14 > 0:07:20and it seems to sort of hit you in the stomach and cling to your skin and your hair,
0:07:20 > 0:07:25but more than the smell, actually, it's the shocking sight of this adult female elephant
0:07:25 > 0:07:30with her face having been hacked off because the poachers wanted to take the tusks.
0:07:32 > 0:07:39'Older elephants, due to the size of their tusks, are most vulnerable to the poachers' snares and guns.'
0:07:40 > 0:07:42How old was this elephant?
0:07:46 > 0:07:48So a full, mature...?
0:07:54 > 0:07:56- She was pregnant?- Yes.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00'The warden thinks two poachers were involved in the slaughter.
0:08:01 > 0:08:07'Just a few feet away lie the remains of the elephant's dead baby.'
0:08:07 > 0:08:09- These are also the ribs.- The ribs.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14- Oh, these are the ribs of the little elephant?- Yeah.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18- You can see now.- Yeah.
0:08:27 > 0:08:33'The carcass was found just outside the gates of Samburu National Reserve.
0:08:34 > 0:08:40'It's a base for Save The Elephants, a charity founded by Iain Douglas-Hamilton.
0:08:41 > 0:08:48'Iain witnessed the decimation of Kenya's herds in the 1970s and '80s when numbers plummeted.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53'They recovered after the ivory trade ban was agreed in 1989.
0:08:55 > 0:09:00'But in the last three years, Samburu has lost a quarter of its elephants,
0:09:00 > 0:09:02'in large part due to poaching.'
0:09:05 > 0:09:08At the moment, we're having a poaching spike.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12It's worse than it's ever been before.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17This spike is very serious because if it got out of hand,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19it would threaten not only elephants,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22but also the communities around.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31'Poaching has an enormous impact on the herd as a whole.
0:09:31 > 0:09:36'Elephants live in a matriarchal family where females lead the group.'
0:09:36 > 0:09:38They really live in a multi-tiered system
0:09:38 > 0:09:44of many, many relationships radiatin out into the whole population.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51We've been able to show through experiments
0:09:51 > 0:09:56that a given female knows at least 100 other adult females just by voice alone.
0:10:01 > 0:10:06The loss of any individual in a family is really profound, particularly adults.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13When one of them dies, it is a major, major event
0:10:13 > 0:10:17and you can see that they actually mourn the death.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23Any calf that she has that is under the age of, say, two or three,
0:10:23 > 0:10:25is definitely going to die
0:10:25 > 0:10:27unless it's rescued somehow.
0:10:40 > 0:10:46'It's a constant battle to try and stay one step ahead of the criminals.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50'Gilbert Sabinga works for Save The Elephants.
0:10:50 > 0:10:55'He is mapping where poachers have been active as part of a system called MIKE.'
0:11:10 > 0:11:13So all these red dots here...?
0:11:18 > 0:11:21And there's a lot down here in this area.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40'Technology is a vital tool in monitoring and protecting the animals,
0:11:40 > 0:11:45'but it's a huge challenge in the 165-square-kilometre reserve.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55'Eight elephants are fitted with a satellite collar.
0:11:55 > 0:12:00'It sends text messages to a radio antenna and tracks their routes.
0:12:00 > 0:12:06'If the signal stops moving for a matter of hours, it could be a sign of a poacher in the area,
0:12:06 > 0:12:08'so the team spring into action.'
0:12:21 > 0:12:25That's a warning sign?
0:12:32 > 0:12:36'Today, Gilbert wants to check up on two matriarchs
0:12:36 > 0:12:39'called Wendy...
0:12:39 > 0:12:41'and Mercury.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46'The team wants to make sure their herds are safe from poachers active in the area.'
0:12:53 > 0:13:00- So, Gilbert, you've just done the whole thing with the antenna and found not Wendy, but Mercury?- Yeah.
0:13:00 > 0:13:05- And they're just the other side of the river here? - Just this side of the river here.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13'First, we find a straggler separated from the group.'
0:13:13 > 0:13:19We know that they must be around here somewhere because that young male elephant we just saw,
0:13:19 > 0:13:24basically doubled back in this direction to try to find the rest of the herd.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28Actually, the signal is very strong on that side.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32'Then suddenly, we spot the herd in the distance.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40'The family is all accounted for and safe from the poachers...for now.'
0:13:40 > 0:13:44So there's Mercury. She's the head of this family.
0:13:44 > 0:13:50You can see around her neck the collar with the beacon on top of it that's sending this signal.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52That's how we've been able to trace her.
0:13:52 > 0:13:58It's amazing seeing them with their little baby elephants and how protective they are towards them,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02making sure that they travel in between two of the adults.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12'But some families are not as lucky as Mercury's.
0:14:12 > 0:14:19'Some of the poachers' youngest victims end up here - an elephant orphanage just outside Nairobi.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23'This morning, it's feeding time for the babies.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27'Tourists pay to see them up close. The money goes towards their upkeep,
0:14:27 > 0:14:31'along with funding for anti-poaching teams.'
0:14:31 > 0:14:33KEEPER CALLS OUT TO ELEPHANTS
0:14:33 > 0:14:35Come on. Come on.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40'Abdul is one of the orphanage's most experienced keepers.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46'He looks after the orphan Kihari and, as her surrogate mother,
0:14:46 > 0:14:51'feeds, washes and even sleeps beside her every night.'
0:14:51 > 0:14:55These ones were about six months old They have witnessed maybe
0:14:55 > 0:14:58their mother being killed by poachers.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02When they come here, they are so traumatised, they are so sad.
0:15:02 > 0:15:08Sometimes you'll see baby elephants staying away from the others, their head bowed down, not happy at all.
0:15:10 > 0:15:15'Poaching numbers have nearly doubled in the past year alone in Kenya.
0:15:15 > 0:15:21'The youngest are abandoned as their tusks don't show until around two or three years old.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24'They're of no value to the criminals.'
0:15:26 > 0:15:29It's only when you get quite close to the elephants
0:15:29 > 0:15:33that you see some of the wounds that were inflicted upon them.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38Kasigau over there has got a clear wound just below his right eye
0:15:38 > 0:15:43and Rombo has got a hole in one of his ears because of an arrow.
0:15:46 > 0:15:52'Abdul says the orphans have nightmares, reliving the poachers' attacks,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54'and so need constant reassurance.'
0:16:07 > 0:16:10SLURPING
0:16:10 > 0:16:16'But when the elephants are reintroduced into the wild, they may be at the mercy of the hunters.
0:16:25 > 0:16:31'I'm on my way to see what the poachers are after - raw tusks.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36'They're locked away in the offices of the Kenyan Wildlife Service on the edges of Samburu.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41'It's a dangerous area. Just days before we arrived,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45'people were shot in cattle-rustling skirmishes.'
0:16:46 > 0:16:52These captured tusks are at the very heart of this story of the trade in illegal ivory
0:16:52 > 0:16:58and they're a really pitiful sight, not just because you see the smashed-up, blooded tusks,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01but they're also a reminder that no elephant is spared,
0:17:01 > 0:17:06from large bull elephants whose tusks weigh nearly 30 kilos to little baby elephants
0:17:06 > 0:17:10whose tusks weigh no more than two kilos.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20So how do these poachers operate?
0:17:25 > 0:17:27It's 5am.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33Andy Marshall, a former SAS officer, is head of security
0:17:33 > 0:17:35in charge of a 50-strong army.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41A dead elephant has been discovered on a private nature reserve of 100,000 acres.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47The owner has been attacked by poachers.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51Today, they are following a tip-off from an informer.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55These people are armed, very well armed.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59G3s, AK-47s, because with the price of ivory,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02everyone is going to chance their luck.
0:18:02 > 0:18:07Andy suspects criminals have buried tusks from an elephant they killed ten days earlier.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19This morning, they hoped to catch one of the gang red-handed and recover the ivory.
0:18:19 > 0:18:25But they're too late. The poachers fled the camp. Only a young boy is left behind.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29The team hunts for clues on the gang's whereabouts.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Ask him about the elephant that was killed.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34CONVERSATIION IN LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:18:36 > 0:18:39What about his father? Does he know?
0:18:39 > 0:18:42And the three men that came to get its tusks?
0:18:42 > 0:18:45But the little boy seems too scared to help.
0:18:47 > 0:18:53This trail leads nowhere, but poaching is drawing in communities across Africa.
0:18:55 > 0:19:01You have local people going out to make money to feed their families and to survive,
0:19:01 > 0:19:05so they're your on-the-ground poachers that are recruited,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08then you have professional poachers
0:19:08 > 0:19:11that are moving into different regions or provinces.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14All tend to link in to the same distributors.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Zambia - southern Africa.
0:19:21 > 0:19:27On the outskirts of the capital Lusaka, they're tracking down the distributors and criminals.
0:19:27 > 0:19:33The authorities are stepping up enforcement in key nations all over Africa
0:19:33 > 0:19:35and Zambia is one of them.
0:19:35 > 0:19:40Interpol is launching its biggest ever operation against the illegal ivory trade,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43involving 14 countries across the continent.
0:19:47 > 0:19:53David Higgins is Interpol's man on the ground, advising the hard-pressed local law enforcement.
0:19:53 > 0:19:58We want to detect, apprehend and suppress the criminal activities.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03We want to be able to demonstrate that over the next nine days.
0:20:04 > 0:20:10This road is the main smuggling route for ivory poached from the nearby national park into Lusaka.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14Today, officers have set up a road block.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Good afternoon, sir. All right?
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Please park over here.
0:20:27 > 0:20:33The operation includes officers from the Zambian Wildlife Authority, local police and customs
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and has been in planning for nearly a year.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41We got a lot of intelligence information,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44linking us to a lot of people in Lusaka,
0:20:44 > 0:20:48some of them that are keeping ivory in their homes.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54After three days, the first proper breakthrough.
0:20:54 > 0:20:59Officers prepare to arrest a suspected smuggler they have been tracking for two weeks.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17The officers are concerned he may be armed.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20- Hello? - KNOCKS ON DOOR
0:21:21 > 0:21:23Do you want me to break the door?
0:21:23 > 0:21:25Open the door!
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Please, sit down. Sit down.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36CONVERSATION IN LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:21:41 > 0:21:46The suspect is found with two raw tusks stashed under the bed, worth £2,000.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06If found guilty, he could get anything from five to 15 years in jail.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14The officers get a break as they get more information about the gang.
0:22:14 > 0:22:20They set up a rendezvous with another of them, but they shoot the suspect's tyres as he tries to flee.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24Inside his van, ivory, but more importantly,
0:22:24 > 0:22:28a wealth of intelligence on the smuggling syndicate.
0:22:28 > 0:22:33This guy, actually, it has taken us more than ten years to apprehend.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53For years, officers have only known the suspect under an alias,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56but now they hope to discover his true identity.
0:23:01 > 0:23:07They take him to his home to search for details on his buyers and the rest of the network.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12- The phone might be of value to you. - Oh, yes.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Oh, right, yeah, his order. His order.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Just give us any documentation.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26If you don't have your passport, just give us something.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28The individual offered them a bribe
0:23:28 > 0:23:32in the vicinity of 20,000 US dollars.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36He would then no doubt get that from somebody higher up.
0:23:36 > 0:23:42Otherwise, if he could get away, they won't get access to the entire chain and that vital information.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47Eventually, they discover a passport and he is revealed
0:23:47 > 0:23:51as a citizen from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54Officers plan further arrests.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59The suspect will be charged with smuggling and bribery.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07So far, the operation has led to numerous arrests,
0:24:07 > 0:24:11as well as the seizure of ivory and guns and more are expected.
0:24:13 > 0:24:19Official figures show increasing levels of poaching last year, the highest in a decade.
0:24:19 > 0:24:25The key is cracking the syndicates who move the ivory around the globe.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31Most of this plundered ivory is heading out of Africa.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37At Nairobi's international airport,
0:24:37 > 0:24:42Dick, the sniffer dog, is on a training exercise, searching for tusks.
0:24:46 > 0:24:51Kenya, with one of Africa's biggest airports, is a smuggling hub.
0:24:54 > 0:25:01Nearly 85% of ivory seized from around the world either comes from or passes through East Africa.
0:25:01 > 0:25:07And Kenya's Wildlife Service has identified a startling link among the traffickers.
0:25:07 > 0:25:1190% of all the people we have arrested at our airports...
0:25:12 > 0:25:15..ferrying ivory are Chinese.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20And the destinations of all contraband ivory,
0:25:20 > 0:25:24it's always neighbouring countries around China.
0:25:25 > 0:25:31Since 2007, the amount of seized ivory has gone up by 800% in Kenya.
0:25:31 > 0:25:36This Chinese woman and two companions were arrested at the airport
0:25:36 > 0:25:38with a suitcase stuffed with goods.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00Years after Europe's colonialism ended,
0:26:00 > 0:26:04Africa is witnessing a new scramble for its natural resources,
0:26:04 > 0:26:08including ivory.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14And there's a new big player in town - modern China.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17The place is awash with its money.
0:26:17 > 0:26:23China's dynamic economy is changing Africa's landscape and its cities for ever.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28And its footprint can be seen from one end of the continent
0:26:28 > 0:26:30to the other.
0:26:30 > 0:26:36China has emerged as the leading driver of the illegal trade in ivory
0:26:36 > 0:26:39For the first time in the history of continental Africa,
0:26:39 > 0:26:43you have large numbers of Chinese living in Africa,
0:26:43 > 0:26:46collecting the ivory and shipping it out.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49And this is an incredibly potent force
0:26:49 > 0:26:54when coupled with the fact that they probably have more finance available
0:26:54 > 0:26:59than almost any other investor in Africa today.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04So which countries in Africa is all this ivory coming from?
0:27:07 > 0:27:12Cutting-edge DNA technology is being used to help solve that question.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19These samples of ivory seized in Kenya are being tested.
0:27:19 > 0:27:25The process will help local law enforcement to pinpoint where the elephants were killed.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37Kenya has become a very important transit point for this ivory.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40It's very important to know where it came from.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45First, the team grinds the ivory to a powder to extract its DNA.
0:27:45 > 0:27:51This DNA is then matched to Dr Wasser's previous DNA map of Africa which is compiled
0:27:51 > 0:27:54from elephant dung samples.
0:27:54 > 0:28:00When they are matched up, the two sets of DNA reveal where the elephant has come from originally.
0:28:00 > 0:28:06We've found consistently that these large seizures have not come from multiple locations.
0:28:06 > 0:28:12They have come from a core location, so these poachers are hammering the same area over and over again.
0:28:13 > 0:28:18And elephants have been hit hardest in one part of Africa in particular.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28Elephants are believed to exist in 37 sub-Saharan countries
0:28:28 > 0:28:33with numbers estimated at between 500,000 and 700,000.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38In Southern and East Africa, estimates, now five years old,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41suggest numbers were actually growing by 4% a year.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45But in Central Africa where poaching is rife,
0:28:45 > 0:28:47it's feared numbers are plummeting.
0:28:47 > 0:28:52There could be as few as 60,000 elephants left alive.
0:28:52 > 0:28:57Elephants are threatened by many factors from the loss of their natural habitat
0:28:57 > 0:29:01to the ever-growing human population.
0:29:01 > 0:29:06And monitoring also shows that elephant killings are on the rise,
0:29:06 > 0:29:10according to the man who oversees all the data.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14Since about 2006 or so there's been a sustained increase
0:29:14 > 0:29:20in illegal killing overall. That doesn't mean the same pattern
0:29:20 > 0:29:26is happening in every part of the continent, but overall in Africa there's been a sustained increase.
0:29:26 > 0:29:31Poaching thrives where governments and security is weakest.
0:29:31 > 0:29:36One place more than any other in Africa is synonymous with chaos
0:29:36 > 0:29:39and the destruction of its elephant population.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43The Congo. One of the largest rivers in the world.
0:29:43 > 0:29:50The country it flows through was once a byword for the most brutal excesses of colonialism
0:29:50 > 0:29:53and ivory was at the heart of it all.
0:29:56 > 0:30:02Today it's a failed state, blighted by a bitter civil war which has claimed millions of lives.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06And the ivory trade continues.
0:30:10 > 0:30:15The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of Africa's largest countries
0:30:15 > 0:30:21and it sits at the very heart of the continent, but numerous reports say the elephant population
0:30:21 > 0:30:23is being hammered by poaching.
0:30:24 > 0:30:29The DRC is also consistently identified as one of the top countries
0:30:29 > 0:30:33linked with the illegal trade in ivory.
0:30:36 > 0:30:43'Much of this ivory is from the forests of central Africa, sold openly in large unregulated markets
0:30:43 > 0:30:46'like this one in the capital, Kinshasa.
0:30:47 > 0:30:53'These black markets provide an outlet for poachers, carvers and smugglers.'
0:30:53 > 0:30:57And this... I think this is a paperweight.
0:30:57 > 0:31:02And this is a little elephant that's been carved out.
0:31:06 > 0:31:12With a lion. 'Behind the coverings, large carvings, but the sellers are camera-shy.'
0:31:12 > 0:31:14What's in here?
0:31:20 > 0:31:23Can we see it? ..No, they're not letting us.
0:31:23 > 0:31:28'All this is going on in plain sight of the market supervisor.'
0:31:31 > 0:31:35The reason why they're actually covering up some of the stalls
0:31:35 > 0:31:40is because it actually houses the ivory we want to see
0:31:40 > 0:31:46and when we tried to actually ask them to have a look underneath, they refused. But it's everywhere.
0:31:50 > 0:31:55'We've been in the market in Kinshasa, for example,'
0:31:55 > 0:32:02and estimated the ivory from more than 200 elephants has been on the tables for sale on a single day.
0:32:02 > 0:32:08These markets are patronised by ex-pat communities, Chinese business...
0:32:13 > 0:32:20Chinese nationals are some of the biggest buyers, so we send in our Chinese colleague,
0:32:20 > 0:32:26this time armed with hidden cameras, to see if the sellers would be less reticent.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38'They approached me straight away
0:32:38 > 0:32:43'and one actually say, "Xiangya." That means ivory in Chinese.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46'They were targeting me.'
0:33:03 > 0:33:09'I felt a little bit nervous, so before I left we exchanged telephone numbers.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12'I said I would contact him later.'
0:33:12 > 0:33:17A couple of things. I have spoken to my people from...from my place.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23I'm also interested in a very big tusk. That would be nice.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27And the raw ivory so I can take it back with me.
0:33:29 > 0:33:35That same afternoon, our colleague returns for a second meeting in our van,
0:33:35 > 0:33:40under the nose of local police. We have no intention of seeing the deal through,
0:33:40 > 0:33:43but we want to see what's for sale.
0:33:43 > 0:33:48One, two, three, four, five, six, seven...eight, nine, ten.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52All right. You've got ten here, but it's all very, very small.
0:33:52 > 0:33:58'The guy came back with a very, very big tusk.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05'I have never seen a tusk so big in my whole life.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09'The tusk is the same width as the van.'
0:34:22 > 0:34:28Our investigator, anxious not to fuel the trade, declines the deal and cuts off all contact.
0:34:38 > 0:34:44Within 24 hours of being here in Kinshasa, I've been offered ivory for sale
0:34:44 > 0:34:48and I've seen it being openly traded throughout the market stalls here.
0:34:48 > 0:34:54And what's more, my Chinese colleague was offered very large pieces of ivory,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57in fact, whole tusks for sale and export.
0:34:57 > 0:35:03I never imagined it would be so easy to buy ivory here in Kinshasa.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10There's the, um, tusks. Ivory tusks.
0:35:10 > 0:35:16'We wanted to see if what we'd found confirmed other reports about China's role in this trade.
0:35:16 > 0:35:21'We took our footage to a campaigner with expertise in the field.'
0:35:21 > 0:35:24Being Chinese,
0:35:24 > 0:35:28I feel really ashamed of this image
0:35:28 > 0:35:31the Chinese present in Africa.
0:35:31 > 0:35:37You know, you come to a market and they approach you with, "Xiangya, Xiangya!"
0:35:37 > 0:35:41Obviously, they recognise Chinese are the buyers.
0:35:46 > 0:35:52And at the heart of this trade is an elephant found primarily in the forests of central Africa.
0:35:52 > 0:35:58Smaller than their savanna elephant cousins, their ivory is straighter and pinker.
0:35:58 > 0:36:04Hidden away, they are difficult to track, making it hard to attract tourists and money.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08This leaves them especially vulnerable to poachers.
0:36:12 > 0:36:18And according to some scientists, it's a whole new species that's under threat.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22African elephants represent two species.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25Forest elephants and savanna elephants.
0:36:25 > 0:36:32The forest elephant has an extra toe. Genetically, they are as different as the lion and tiger.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36The Congo Basin is thought to have once had over 100,000 elephants,
0:36:36 > 0:36:40but in the DRC today there could be fewer than 20,000.
0:36:40 > 0:36:45A possible new species under threat of extinction.
0:36:45 > 0:36:52Forest elephants are so important to this ecosystem. They are being annihilated and we can't stop it.
0:37:02 > 0:37:07The illegal trade in ivory seems to be booming in spite of a global ban.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09So what's going wrong?
0:37:09 > 0:37:16The 1989 ban rules out international trade, but domestically countries regulate their own markets
0:37:16 > 0:37:19where some ivory can be sold.
0:37:20 > 0:37:26But four years ago, CITES, the body which overseas the wildlife trade, lifted the ban
0:37:26 > 0:37:33to allow four southern African countries to sell stockpiled ivory to China and Japan.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36Some say it was a move which changed everything.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41When that trade ban was put into place, ivory prices dropped.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44And that, effectively, controlled poaching.
0:37:45 > 0:37:50However, as soon as that one-off sale is allowed,
0:37:51 > 0:37:56ivory prices start going up, people start wanting the ivory
0:37:56 > 0:37:59and poachers start killing the elephants.
0:37:59 > 0:38:06CITES has found no direct link between the legal sales and increased killings or trade.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10But the arguments are likely to be reignited later this year
0:38:10 > 0:38:16when more African countries are expected to put in requests to sell stockpiled ivory.
0:38:16 > 0:38:22Supporters say countries that properly protect elephants should be allowed to profit from them.
0:38:22 > 0:38:26It's so vital that local people
0:38:26 > 0:38:30and the countries where elephants are present in large numbers
0:38:30 > 0:38:35get economic benefit from the use of ivory.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39Local livelihoods are already tight in Africa and the more that wildlife
0:38:39 > 0:38:46can help to contribute and pay its way, the more interest there will be in conserving it.
0:38:46 > 0:38:52But those opposed to allowing further sales say it will only fuel demand
0:38:52 > 0:38:56and could threaten all of Africa's elephants.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01It's true that the elephant populations in southern Africa
0:39:01 > 0:39:05have been doing particularly well over the last 20 years.
0:39:05 > 0:39:11What is going to happen when the elephants of the Congo are finally wiped out
0:39:11 > 0:39:15when the elephant populations of east Africa are under siege?
0:39:15 > 0:39:20I think the demand to be satisfied, if it remains at the present level,
0:39:20 > 0:39:23will inevitably have to move south
0:39:23 > 0:39:28to exploit those secure populations and they will see what's coming.
0:39:31 > 0:39:37'If Africa's elephants are under so much pressure, is there any way to curb the flow of ivory?
0:39:37 > 0:39:44'I'm following one of the routes of smuggled ivory here to Malaysia, south-east Asia.
0:39:44 > 0:39:51'Its ports are one of the main gateways for smuggling contraband - cigarettes, alcohol, drugs
0:39:51 > 0:39:54'and, of course, ivory.'
0:39:56 > 0:40:02And in one six-month period alone, five seizures were made, amounting to six tons,
0:40:02 > 0:40:07the largest ever such haul in Malaysia. To put that into context,
0:40:07 > 0:40:14those six tons of ivory would have come from approximately 700 elephants.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24Nine million containers pass through this port every year.
0:40:28 > 0:40:35Royal Malaysian Customs are in charge of searching out contraband smuggled by the crime syndicates.
0:40:36 > 0:40:41'I'm out on patrol with three teams, just outside Kuala Lumpur.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46'Today they are doing a routine stop and search.
0:40:55 > 0:41:03'Barter boats like these are just one of the many vessels used to smuggle ivory into the country.'
0:41:05 > 0:41:09The boat's from Indonesia, going to Malaysia. Most carry vegetables
0:41:09 > 0:41:14and also...fish, crabs, some seafood.
0:41:14 > 0:41:19'They check the ship's manifest and inspect the cargo.
0:41:24 > 0:41:29'Everything's in order and the captain's allowed to carry on to port.
0:41:30 > 0:41:36'It's an almost impossible task to keep track of all the ivory heading to China.'
0:41:36 > 0:41:42You've seen these gangs increasingly trying to use Malaysia as a transit point
0:41:42 > 0:41:45for this illegal ivory.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03When you actually look at the containers themselves,
0:42:03 > 0:42:07it strikes you that without any intelligence as to where to look,
0:42:07 > 0:42:13it must be impossible to find the illegal ivory that comes in these containers.
0:42:20 > 0:42:27'Last year they got a break when a port worker tipped them off about a shipment from east Africa.
0:42:30 > 0:42:36'They took me to their heavily-guarded strongroom, which has never been filmed before,
0:42:36 > 0:42:38'to view the captured tusks.'
0:42:38 > 0:42:43We're going to be shown the ivory from two large seizures
0:42:43 > 0:42:48from August and September of 2011.
0:42:59 > 0:43:04In this one room, there's over 1,400 pieces of ivory.
0:43:04 > 0:43:09The combined weight is over 4,000 kilograms
0:43:09 > 0:43:14and they have an estimated black market value of £1.2 million.
0:43:14 > 0:43:20'Wildlife crime is thought to be second only to drugs in terms of profit.
0:43:20 > 0:43:28'It's suspected these two containers of ivory, marked as recycled plastic, were from the same gang.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31'There are few leads and no arrests so far.
0:43:31 > 0:43:38'The hauls are just a fraction of the smuggled ivory sent to try to satisfy demand in the Far East.'
0:43:41 > 0:43:46China is definitely the largest end destination
0:43:46 > 0:43:48for ivory products, trinkets.
0:43:48 > 0:43:53For some reason it sells very well in China.
0:43:56 > 0:44:03So with the overwhelming demand coming from just one place, that's where my journey leads to next.
0:44:14 > 0:44:19I'm here now in Hong Kong, but over there is the Chinese mainland.
0:44:19 > 0:44:25China is the biggest importer by weight of illegal ivory in the world.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31'I wanted to investigate China's voracious appetite for ivory,
0:44:31 > 0:44:36'its fascination with shaping, carving and trading it.
0:44:40 > 0:44:46'Lee-Cheong Leung has been working and sculpting ivory for more than half a century.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50'He is one of the last master carvers working in Hong Kong today.'
0:44:52 > 0:44:56What is it about ivory that the Chinese like so much?
0:44:56 > 0:45:02TRANSLATED: I think this is linked to the traditional culture of the Chinese.
0:45:02 > 0:45:08When you look back at the history of China, spanning 3,000-4,000 years,
0:45:08 > 0:45:13when we dig and find things from our past, they're often made of ivory.
0:45:16 > 0:45:24Mr Leung says he carves from legal stocks acquired before the international ban of 20 years ago.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28He also uses legal ivory from the extinct woolly mammoth.
0:45:28 > 0:45:33Mammoth ivory, dug up from the frozen wastes of Siberia,
0:45:33 > 0:45:38is softer, darker and not as highly prized as elephant ivory.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46When you're working with this ivory, knowing where it's come from,
0:45:46 > 0:45:51that animals have died in order to provide this tusk,
0:45:51 > 0:45:55do you feel a sense of personal conflict?
0:45:56 > 0:45:59TRANSLATION: First of all, I should explain
0:45:59 > 0:46:03that when I carve ivory, I use very little raw material.
0:46:03 > 0:46:08The natural life cycle of elephants through illness and death means
0:46:08 > 0:46:13there's enough ivory for me to carve anyway. And each carving takes years.
0:46:20 > 0:46:26'One of Mr Leung's regular customers is Elsa Lao, owner of the restaurant based next door to his stall.
0:46:26 > 0:46:30'I wanted to view her valuable collection of ivory pieces
0:46:30 > 0:46:35'to see why it's so prized in China.'
0:46:35 > 0:46:41- Tell me what's inside this box. - OK. You can see inside.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45Wow. How much would, for example, this spoon cost?
0:46:45 > 0:46:48- How much?- About...
0:46:50 > 0:46:55- 5,000.- 5,000 Hong Kong dollars. - Yes, Hong Kong dollars.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58- Which is about £500. - Mm-hm. Yes.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01That's expensive.
0:47:01 > 0:47:06'Miss Lao says her love of ivory is part of the family tradition.'
0:47:06 > 0:47:12- Do you think you'll keep buying more ivory in the future? - I hope so. I think I will.
0:47:13 > 0:47:19And she's just one of many with money to spend here in booming Hong Kong.
0:47:19 > 0:47:25And the money here is just a fraction of the wealth over on the mainland.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29That's why the rules on buying ivory are so crucial.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35The 2008 one-off sale of African ivory to China
0:47:35 > 0:47:41depended on the country demonstrating proper regulation of its domestic market.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44Every ivory shop must be registered
0:47:44 > 0:47:48and every item on display has its own unique identification card,
0:47:48 > 0:47:53so that every piece of ivory can be tracked after sale.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00We wanted to go from here in Hong Kong to mainland China
0:48:00 > 0:48:05and see if the regulations are working. We didn't get permission,
0:48:05 > 0:48:09but, undeterred, we sent in an undercover team instead,
0:48:09 > 0:48:13including the colleague who had secretly filmed for us in Congo.
0:48:13 > 0:48:18We headed to Guangzhou in southern China.
0:48:18 > 0:48:23It's been at the heart of the ivory trade for centuries.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28And China's economy is expanding rapidly.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35There is more disposable income in China than in history.
0:48:39 > 0:48:45Ivory has the cachet of being a luxury status commodity
0:48:45 > 0:48:50and more people than ever before are able to own a piece of ivory now.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53The demographics of China
0:48:53 > 0:48:56absolutely swamp anything.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06So how is China policing its trade in ivory?
0:49:06 > 0:49:11Our first stop for the undercover team was the state-owned Friendship store,
0:49:11 > 0:49:16situated alongside the likes of Gucci, Dior and Prada.
0:49:16 > 0:49:21Here carvings sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds.
0:49:22 > 0:49:27It's a shop licensed by the authorities to sell ivory.
0:49:27 > 0:49:34We wanted to see if all the elephant ivory items for sale came with the necessary certificates.
0:49:42 > 0:49:47Not true. Every elephant ivory item on sale should have a certificate.
0:49:50 > 0:49:56There is no evidence the store is selling illegal ivory, but we saw many items without certificates
0:49:56 > 0:49:59and it's not clear if the shop had them.
0:50:07 > 0:50:14There was also some confusion from the saleswoman about how the ivory is obtained from the animals.
0:50:30 > 0:50:36'A survey of Chinese people showed many were also unsure of where the ivory comes from.'
0:50:38 > 0:50:427 out of 10 people do not even know
0:50:42 > 0:50:48the ivory they buy from the shops comes from elephants killed
0:50:48 > 0:50:55because in Chinese elephant ivory literally translates as "elephant teeth".
0:50:55 > 0:50:59So people think if it's teeth, it's very easy.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03You know, it can fall off, it will grow back in.
0:51:09 > 0:51:16Finally, to test whether there really was any paperwork, we bought a necklace clasp worth £15.
0:51:19 > 0:51:25We left the shop with the elephant ivory, but no one gave us the ID card.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29What we found is that 75% of the Chinese consumers,
0:51:29 > 0:51:36if they have a chance to buy ivory with a cheaper price without the ID card,
0:51:36 > 0:51:41they would prefer not to have the ID card.
0:51:42 > 0:51:47Failure to give a certificate with each sale of legal ivory
0:51:47 > 0:51:50undermines China's commitment to regulate its market.
0:51:50 > 0:51:55It's impossible to be sure what's legal and what isn't.
0:51:56 > 0:52:02Responding to our secret filming, the Friendship store in Guangzhou said all of its ivory products
0:52:02 > 0:52:06complied with regulations and that sales records from the day we filmed
0:52:06 > 0:52:10showed they had all the necessary paperwork.
0:52:11 > 0:52:15'But it's not only us who have tracked this problem.
0:52:15 > 0:52:21'Numerous reports have suggested China's domestic market is riddled with holes.'
0:52:23 > 0:52:29What we found is in Guangzhou and a small town called Fuzhou, also in southern China,
0:52:29 > 0:52:34is that 63% of the items did not have the proper identification.
0:52:34 > 0:52:41The regulations also say you need to have it close by to the individual piece.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44That wasn't always the case.
0:52:47 > 0:52:54So if the supposedly regulated system is in disarray, how easy is it to access the black market?
0:52:54 > 0:52:58Another stop for our undercover team was a market in Guangzhou.
0:52:58 > 0:53:03Reports suggest Guangzhou is a hot spot for the trade
0:53:03 > 0:53:07and this appears to have made dealers wary.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13At first, there is no sign of ivory at all,
0:53:13 > 0:53:18but then a seller shows us photos of various ornamental carvings.
0:53:21 > 0:53:26Finally, she begins unpacking small samples from various boxes around the shop,
0:53:26 > 0:53:29which includes a lady's bracelet.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43The equivalent of £200.
0:53:43 > 0:53:49And after chatting for a while, she agrees to email us more images of her stock.
0:53:59 > 0:54:04We have found that every one legal activity
0:54:04 > 0:54:09comes with nearly six illegal ivory trading activity.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13So this domestic market provides opportunity
0:54:13 > 0:54:18for people to launder illegally-obtained ivory.
0:54:23 > 0:54:30The dealer comes back as promised and we arrange to meet to see the samples first-hand,
0:54:30 > 0:54:33again with no intention of buying.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37Is she really going to deliver so quickly?
0:54:37 > 0:54:41She brings out two ornamental pen holders.
0:54:42 > 0:54:46But the biggest item in her stock is an uncarved tusk,
0:54:46 > 0:54:50the most expensive piece at £4,000.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54Eventually, she offers 15 items of ivory
0:54:54 > 0:54:57worth nearly £50,000.
0:54:58 > 0:55:02All this delivered within just 24 hours of asking.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05We cut off all contact.
0:55:10 > 0:55:16And Guangzhou wasn't the only place we were offered large pieces of illegal ivory for sale.
0:55:18 > 0:55:22In Fuzhou, we were also offered two pieces.
0:55:22 > 0:55:26Again, it was delivered within hours of our arrival.
0:55:31 > 0:55:35Now the man who collects the data on the illegal ivory trade
0:55:35 > 0:55:39concedes the sale to China may have made things worse.
0:55:39 > 0:55:46Did the allowance of legal ivory to go into China exacerbate a situation?
0:55:46 > 0:55:50One could probably argue now, with hindsight, that indeed it did.
0:55:50 > 0:55:57It created perhaps an image in the mind of many potential Chinese consumers
0:55:57 > 0:56:00that it was OK to buy ivory.
0:56:03 > 0:56:07The Chinese government did not accept our request for an interview,
0:56:07 > 0:56:10but in a statement it said it had...
0:56:15 > 0:56:21It said a range of measures including tougher law enforcement and improved public education put...
0:56:25 > 0:56:28And any possible breaches
0:56:28 > 0:56:32shouldn't be used to deny...
0:56:36 > 0:56:40But from top to bottom, our undercover team found evidence
0:56:40 > 0:56:44that the rules on ivory sales were being flouted.
0:56:44 > 0:56:49Even in a state-run shop, ivory was sold without the proper paperwork.
0:56:49 > 0:56:53It confirmed what many feared - that the legal trade provides a channel
0:56:53 > 0:56:57for illegal ivory to get onto the market.
0:56:58 > 0:57:02Some campaigners still see re-education as the key.
0:57:03 > 0:57:07At the moment in China, there's a lack of awareness
0:57:07 > 0:57:10of the consequences of buying,
0:57:10 > 0:57:14but if the buying stops, the killing can, too.
0:57:17 > 0:57:19Time is running out, though.
0:57:19 > 0:57:25Last summer, the Kenyan government made a dramatic gesture to try to get the world to take notice
0:57:25 > 0:57:29of the plight of Africa's elephants.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33We must send a message out there to all illegal groups
0:57:33 > 0:57:36that trading wildlife...
0:57:36 > 0:57:43That wildlife has no value other than the way God had created them to be.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46335 tusks
0:57:46 > 0:57:52and over 40,000 ivory pieces, worth millions of pounds, went up in smoke.
0:57:52 > 0:57:58It will be tragic for this world to lose the biggest animal on Earth to poachers,
0:57:58 > 0:58:02for no reason other than their ivory.
0:58:02 > 0:58:09At the present rate, I don't see it letting up and some countries will lose all their elephants.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12And that's just tragic.
0:58:16 > 0:58:22On my journey, I've seen that despite an international ban meant to protect an endangered species,
0:58:22 > 0:58:25elephants are facing a grave crisis.
0:58:26 > 0:58:32The question now: if more countries are allowed to sell their ivory, too,
0:58:32 > 0:58:36will it simply declare open season on all of Africa's elephants?
0:58:52 > 0:58:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd