STROOP feature documentary 134-min
time-coded transcript 11th Dec 2018
Time |
Person Speaking |
Dialogue |
01:00:17:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Ahhhh, I just opened the door… and then that’s when I saw these five guys holding the girls, um and ja, with the weapon facing me. My first reflex was to kind-of step back. And then they grabbed me by the shirt and just took me out. I saw the big axe. I knew they didn’t come for us. Ahh, I knew it was for the rhino. And then they asked me, ‘where are the rhino horn’? And I just told them we are a rhino orphanage, we just have babies, ahh, we don’t have horns. AAhhh, I was kind of shocked so I didn’t really react. And then he started he hurt me with a panga. My back, he just started to hit me on the back. And then you know, I just took our petty cash box and just give it to them. Ahhh, it’s still there,,,, they didn’t want to touch the money or anything. So they asked me to just empty it ja….” |
01:01:37:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“What was going through your mind at that stage?” |
01:01:49:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Yeah, just you know… knowing why they were here. It was for the rhino. And thinking about all the babies, you know. They’ve got such a tiny horn. And yeah, I think about all of them. All this time I spent with them… feeding them. Getting them through the trauma, and just thinking now they are alone there. Facing it again. You know it’s just….” |
010:02:35:00 |
Karl Ammann |
“I put the question marks to rhino
horn shavings… so
it might be the same rhino horn, but it could be potentially another horn. You need to know where the stuff comes from, where it goes. The whole supply chain might start in Kruger, but where the hell does it end up?” |
01:02:57:00 |
Archive news reports |
“The Kruger
National Park is home to the largest population of rhinos on the planet, and
they are being poached here.” “A high stakes
war against trafficking, of something worth more than gold, cocaine, even
diamonds… the
coveted horn of the endangered rhino.” “It’s called a
miracle medicine.” ”Being sold on
the black market in Asia, an epidemic of slaughter, and at this rate the
rhino is doomed.” “And on the ground, the situation resembles war.” |
01:03:26:00 |
Rangers arresting poachers |
Ranger1: “Put
your hands up….
crossfire!” Ranger2: “You
there… “ Ranger1:
Hey! Put your hands up! Ranger3: “…put
your hands up!” Ranger4: “Another one at the back. Put your hands up!” |
01:03:38:00 |
Dr Johan Marais |
“What worries me, can you see that? It’s probably due to bullet damage. The bone fragments are just lying there.” |
01:03:57:00 |
Organised Crime Investigating Officer |
“Is there only one suspect that’s been arrested?” |
01:04:00:00 |
Police Officer |
“Yes, only one suspect. A Chinese national. He was traveling to Hong Kong.” |
01:04:10:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“It looks like fresh horn.” |
01:04:12:00 |
Organised Crime Investigating Officer |
“Gosh they still smell.” |
01:04:24:00 |
Rhino horn dealer |
“So the rhino, it will go like blood. Like blood you see? Beautiful huh?” |
01:04:30:00 |
Susan Scott |
“So how many would you make from one horn?” |
01:04:32:00 |
Rhino horn dealer |
“6 kilo, 6kg horn can make a lot.” |
01:04:36:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“How much is it per gram?” |
01:04:37:00 |
Rhino horn dealer |
“1 gram, 2 million dong. About 94 US dollar for 1 gram.” |
01:04:43:00 |
Susan Scott & Bonné de Bod |
“Ninety four?!” |
01:04:44:00 |
Rhino horn dealer |
“It’s rhino!” |
01:45:51:00 |
Susan Scott |
”Okay, I'm good to go.... |
01:04:54:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So then I’ll just do two…” |
01:04:55:00 |
Susan Scott |
“…is this your mode of transport for today de Bod?!" |
01:04:57:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
”This is hilarious!" |
01:04:58:13 |
NARRATION Bonné |
This used to be our day job. |
01:05:01:00 |
Susan Scott |
“Okay, one more, quickly! Okay, I’m closer on you… and go!” |
01:05:06:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“The heat here is almost unbearable.” |
01:05:07:04 |
NARRATION Bonné |
It’s
not everyday one gets a chance to live their dream… but here both of us were…
|
01:05:12:14 |
Susan Scott |
“Let's go" |
01:05:13:01 |
NARRATION Bonné |
…
living an outdoor life... what we had dreamed of
doing since we were kids. My path was very different! Approached by a modeling scout during my college
years, I became a model after graduation... it was a surreal experience that
lasted several years, but my heart never left wildlife. |
01:05:52:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“The more we debate this…” |
01:05:53:09 |
NARRATION Bonné |
And I chose a field reporting job with South Africa’s national broadcaster over an agency in London... |
01:05:59:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“In the heart of South Africa!” |
01:06:00:01 |
NARRATION Bonné |
It was the best thing I ever did! Both of us were successful... |
01:06:05:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“discussion on illegal wildlife…” |
01:06:06:02 |
NARRATION Bonné |
…and it was a comfortable life. |
01:06:08:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Rhinos are very sociable animals…” |
01:06:09:19 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Fast forward four years later... and here we are...
fearing for our lives. |
01:06:16:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“I just hope it holds, so maybe if you can stick it at the top as well.” |
01:06:17:00 |
Susan Scott |
“I know, I know… I’m going to stick here as well. |
01:06:19:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“There’s no turning around now.” |
01:06:20:07 |
NARRATION Bonné |
So why did we quit our jobs, cash in
our investments, even move in with our mothers...? |
01:06:32:00 |
Susan Scott |
“Okay, Bonné… when you’re ready.” |
01:06:37:14 |
NARRATION Bonné |
This. This caused our life change. |
01:06:44:00 |
Susan Scott |
Sorry, give me a second…” |
01:06:47:18 |
NARRATION Bonné |
And, we had to get to the bottom of
why. |
01:07:13:00 |
K9 Ranger |
“There is a fight happening. A fight in this national park. I can’t promise that we will win. But we are trying our best. Our best to win the fight.” |
01:07:36:00 |
Kruger
Ranger |
“I, I think we are called to be warriors sometimes. We are here to uphold the law and honour the constitution. But at the same time, a warrior has to take that step forward and be prepared to take a life to protect a life. Hunting poachers, people that are illegally hunting our wildlife, that will cause harm to other people... meaning that if my life is in danger or if my men’s life are in danger because another man wants to shoot at us... yeah I’m gonna shoot him. For sure.” At the end of the day, someone has to stand between the rhino and the poacher... and in conservation today it is us, the rangers. We gotta stand between the rhino and the poacher. Otherwise all the rhino will be killed. It’s quite simple hey.” |
01:08:43:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“As a boy I had a fascination with dinosaurs. There’s I think the link... they are the modern day dinosaur. You can sense that about them. They’re a really old animal and something that people have seen for thousands of years. I think that’s what makes them special. There’s this air of importance around them. A lot of these reserves, particularly iMfolozi, exist for rhino. And they’ve acted as the umbrella specie for so many other species that have benefitted from their conservation. You look at this reserve which was proclaimed 120-years ago to protect rhino... now we sit here with rhino, wild dog, cheetah, elephant, huge tracts of land for vultures, so many have benefitted just from rhino. So they only get more and more important as time goes on.” |
01:09:40:09 |
NARRATION Bonné |
iMfolozi
ranger is in charge of the hardest hit section in the park... and the park is
the second hardest hit area in the world... after Kruger. It’s full moon and
there were multiple incursions last night. |
01:09:54:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“Guys think it’s very easy to catch a guy in the bush... these guys are fit, they’re driven by adrenaline, which is the main thing... it’s very difficult hey. He’s always at the advantage... he’s choosing where to go, you have to follow.” |
01:10:07:14 |
NARRATION Bonné |
This
section is three times the size of Paris... most of it inaccessible
wilderness. With
less than 20 rangers under his command for this massive area... he is
stretched thin for tonight and has requested re-inforcements. |
01:10:24:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“They tried to shoot a rhino but we saw them. Shots were fired” |
01:10:29:00 |
Other ranger |
“they didn’t succeed?” |
01:10:30:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“Yes, and they could be back tonight, they tried for a horn last night but we stopped them. ” |
01:10:33:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“You can put the most extravagant fence here and people will always find a way in... you can see the hand marks here...” |
01:10:38:15 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Poachers have already scaled the park fence at a known entry point. |
01:10:43:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“under, over, through…they will get in” |
01:10:46:09 |
NARRATION Bonné |
This
unit is being deployed into where the poachers
entered. |
01:10:51:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“It will get ugly in here, so remember that. The police will be outside. Did corporal tell you? |
01:10:58:00 |
Other ranger |
“What? Right now? |
01:11:01:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“Yes, so if you want to go outside you have to radio me. Otherwise we will have a problem.” |
01:11:06:14 |
NARRATION Bonné |
It’s eerie knowing they are already inside... waiting for the moon. |
01:11:13:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“So coming up to the full moon, there is an increase in poaching attempts... and then going away from the full moon it slowly decreases as the illumination of the moon decreases.” |
01:11:20:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“And, and just, you know for, for people living in the city, when you in the bush and it’s full moon just how light is it, I mean, how easy is it? |
01:11:30:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“It’s as light as day Bonné. Uhm… There’s no, there’s very little ambient light out here so a full moon can provide you enough light to walk around the bush wherever you please at night. It sounds crazy but in situations where you may hear poachers approaching you, you would actually look for cover. Not cover in the sense of getting behind a bush, but look for shade that is made by the moon. And you would get into that shade, that’s how light it is. The poachers use that light to their advantage because they… they can’t come in when there is no moon and use lights because this is a big black hole at night. Any light that we see whether it be from a torch or a cellphone it stands out like you can’t believe. We hate seeing that moon. It sounds strange but you know it’s going to come up but you sit there wishing like just today maybe it won’t come up.” |
01:12:44:00 |
Carmela
Lattanzi |
“We obviously look at these vehicles...” |
01:12:46:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“You see it’s right next to the road!” |
01:12:48:00 |
Carmela
Lattanzi |
“It’s right next to the road... so it’s such easy access, it’s a tar, it’s a main road. So it’s so easy for someone to stop, jump off, quickly come in... and there’s always an inside informant. There’s always somebody that will give them guidelines where the rhinos are that day… and they’ll know. |
01:13:03:00 |
Other person |
“People may say it’s a beautiful moon, but for us we call it “poachers moon”. |
01:13:07:00 |
Carmela Lattanzi |
You see now this is suspicious. This pole has been bent like this. Dean just go back please…” Um, that is very suspicious. And the last time when they came in, they bent the fence in exactly the same way.” |
01:13:20:13 |
NARRATION Bonné |
And
when they came in... they killed Carmela’s breeding bull for his massive horn. She only has females now. |
01:13:29:00 |
Game auctioneer |
“... sold for 400-thousand. All through and all done… and just have a look at that... beautiful genetics if you’re looking at a future sire... for your herd of rhino… 150-thousand...” |
01:13:43:00 |
Carmela Lattanzi |
“Did you name him?” |
01:13:44:00 |
Previous owner |
“No” |
01:13:47:00 |
Carmela
Lattanzi |
“His name’s Francesco. Francesco is Italian for Frank. Oh my baby! I’m shaking I’m so excited!” |
01:14:00:19 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Carmela’s new purchase
will travel to her farm under armed guard. |
01:14:21:00 |
Farmer |
“More are dying then are breeding.” |
01:14:22:12 |
NARRATION Bonné |
When
Carmela’s
farm was hit for the third time, she urged other owners in her area to work
together. |
01:14:29:00 |
Farmer |
“Weigh up how many rhino exist in this country and how fast we losing them and how fast they’re going to be extinct.” |
01:14:33:22 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Extremely
wary that anyone should know they own rhinos... it was a big step for them to
form a community security group. |
01:14:41:00 |
Farmer |
“We can do that and then we can say there are so many farms, and this is the amount of rhinos… |
01:14:45:00 |
Farmer |
“Why do they want that information, why?” “In the first place?” |
01:14:49:00 |
NARRATION Bonné |
We
were asked not to show faces or reveal information discussed here.
|
01:14:54:00 |
Farmer |
“I don’t want to know how many rhinos people around the table have and I’m, not going to tell them how many rhino I’ve got… I think it’s too sensitive.” |
01:14:59:19 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Rhino
horn is one of the most sought after substances on earth and they know the
price of protecting it. |
01:15:10:00 |
Yana Mockford Private Rhino Owner |
“I want to stand on the roof and shout to everyone that I have rhinos! I own two of the most beautiful animals in the world! And I’m so proud to say it… but it’s not something you should announce because it is so dangerous.” |
01:15:23:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Yes.” |
01:15:23:00 |
Yana Mockford Private Rhino Owner |
“Each rhino has
a permanent guard… the
whole time.” |
01:15:27:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“24-hours, 7
days a week?” |
01:15:31:00 |
Yana Mockford Private Rhino Owner |
“Yes. It costs me more than feeding my children. It’s an astronomical amount of money. Every day I say goodbye to them because I don’t know if I will see them tomorrow. At night we sleep with our windows open to listen… |
01:15:44:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“gunshots?” |
01:15:45:00 |
Yana Mockford Private Rhino Owner |
“We wait for gunshots.” |
01:15:49:00 |
Derick
Fick Private Rhino Owner |
“Must we put up the new fence? I don’t even want to tell you… and it’s not about the money… but it was so sad for me to put so much money into pieces of metal. To
protect your own things. |
01:16:11:00 |
Sylvia
Fick Private Rhino Owner |
“One time my husband and son went to go and lie in wait, because the poachers built ladders over the fence. And suddenly I get a message that says, “they’re in, come help us!” It’s a fear that comes over you, you’re scared, it’s your family. And you take that chance, because it’s your animals and it’s your property. And you have to do it, it’s yours.” |
01:16:45:08 |
NARRATION Bonné |
For
those on the frontlines, fear is the overwhelming feeling. For
the rest of us, it’s
easy not to engage when our lives are so full. But
every eight hours here on earth... a rhino is killed. So
by the time you go to sleep tonight and wake tomorrow morning, a rhino will
be dead... for no reason other than for the horn it carries on its face. You’ll go to work
and sometime after your lunch-break... another one... And
when you head home for supper... poachers are on the tracks of a third rhino. Every
single day, three rhinos are lost to our planet... Since
2011, nearly seven thousand... in South Africa alone. |
01:17:44:13 |
NARRATION Bonné |
South
Africa is unique in that wild animals are bought at auction from national
parks and become private property. A
rhino cow averages thirty-one thousand dollars... but the set of horns...
well... they are worth much more on the black market in Asia... a
hundred-and-sixty to two-hundred-and-forty thousand dollars... because buying
and selling rhino horns is illegal throughout the world... except once
again... here in South Africa horns can be traded inside the country. |
01:18:19:00 |
Yana Mockford Private Rhino Owner |
“When you say a ‘rhino farmer’ then they see small cages where you keep your rhinos and literally every hour you’ll go look at how much your horn has grown to cut a little bit off.” |
01:18:30:04 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Meet John Hume, the world's largest private rhino owner. |
01:18:35:00 |
John Hume |
“You know of course that a rhino is
worth more dead than alive, that’s
the fact we face.” |
01:18:41:18 |
NARRATION Bonné |
John is a millionaire many times over from real estate and if rhino horn trade was ever to be made legal internationally, he would be a billionaire many times over. |
01:18:54:00 |
John Hume |
“For every one soldier I’ve got guarding my rhinos, now I could put six, if I could sell my sustainable production off my farm.” |
01:19:20:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Impy, Gugu! Come on guys, the gate is open!” “Can I know, who
did that?” “I can’t believe these guys! Huh?! Who’s the naughty one? Pretty sure I know the answer anyway. |
01:19:57:00 |
Susan Scott |
“Here comes Impy.” |
01:19:59:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Hello
boy! Look, some horse cubes. Good boy!”
It
is maybe very arrogant for me to do the parallel, but I see it like doctors.
It was my chance to do the same. Yeah,
it maybe shock people if I say as important as! But, these little guys deserve as well to live on earth and have a chance.” |
01:20:38:09 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Axel’s mentor is
well-known wildlife rehabilitator, Karen Trendler. Karen
has re-wilded thousands of animals in thirty years, but it’s not her
successes that’s
made her so famous... it’s
that she is the standard by which wildlife rescue and return to the
wild is judged. So
strict are her standards that it took two years before she allowed us
in... to her guarded sanctuary high in the mountains. |
01:20:44:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Can you believe it’s the same rhino?” |
01:20:44:00 |
Karen
Trendler |
“Who wouldn’t eat.” |
01:20:46:20 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Yes…" |
01:21:10:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Hi how are you?” |
01:21:13:20 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Orphaned rhino calves and even this new arrival... a hippo (!)... are cared for in various sections of the orphanage. |
01:21:21:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“So it’s so exciting coz they’re choosing not to come back for feeds… they’re actually quite happy away from us in the bush.” |
01:21:27:21 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Four
rhino calves of the same sub-species are in a larger camp, to get them used
to living in the wild again. These
four are grass eaters... so they are white rhinos, named not for their colour
but for their large wide lips... easy to see while they eat. And
two younger black rhinos are still in the baby facility! Their
hooked lips are a way to tell them apart from their wider lipped
cousins... Caring
for a rhino orphan is a huge responsibility... it will take a whole team
nearly two years to wean a rhino calf off of milk, keep them healthy...
and... prepare them for the wild. |
01:22:18:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“There about twenty things you can look at at a rhino, without having to do any invasive procedures that can give you a fairly good idea of health status and what’s gone on. Quite interesting, if you look at the hooves, rhino get stress lines on the hooves. |
01:22:30:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Oh! So you can actually see it, from the…” |
01:22:32:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“It’s the same as you get stress lines on your nails… she’s probably got one quite low down from when her mother was first poached, that initial trauma and adjustment and then the rest of her hoof is really smooth. So you can actually track their medical history through it. |
01:22:46:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“That’s amazing!” |
01:22:49:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“In his case his horn is not an indication of health problems. Nandi chewed his horn!” |
01:22:56:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Chewed the horn!” |
01:22:57:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Chewed the horn!” And we put vinegar on it, we tried mustard, we tried marmite. |
01:23:02:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
Oh really?” |
01:23:03:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Nothing deterred her! Storm, I dunno if you’re that strong yet!” |
01:23:07:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Karen, you come across as quite strong, professional, do you ever get emotional?” |
01:23:12:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Mmm. Oh yes. Ahhh, Impy, the one white rhino that we have was on his own in the wild for six days at his mother’s carcass. He was lying up against his mother’s carcass. He was tiny. He’d gone to eat mud and the night he came in I suddenly looked down, I had this rhino I was trying to feed, and all across his back was blood splatter and he smelt just like the carcass and it was that… I mean I’ve got gooseflesh just talking about it… it was that sudden thing of what this little calf has been through, his mother was shot and this is the blood from her, he smells because he’s been in her carcass, I mean it was just… it brought it home so badly. And when I finally went to shower, I just stood in the shower and sobbed. Just. But again, you can’t.. you’ve got to manage your emotions so that you can keep going.” |
01:24:08:11 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Probably
due to his trauma six-months earlier... Impy is afraid of the dark.
While
the bigger white rhino calves are still out in the larger part of their
enclosure, he waits for dinner under the warmth of the infrared lamps. |
01:24:45:00 |
Susan Scott |
“Oooh, it smells amazing!” |
01:24:53:00 |
Volunteer |
“Thats a good boy! “If you take your time he stamps his foot!” |
01:24:56:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Has he already finished the first one?!” |
01:24:58:00 |
Volunteer |
“Yes.” |
01:24:59:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Good boy.” |
01:24:07:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Hey, Impy are you very hungry?” |
01:25:14:00 |
Volunteer |
“Come Impy. Impy, Impy come boy…” |
01:25:18:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“He’s not happy that the milk’s done.” |
01:25:21:00 |
Volunteer |
“He’s never happy!” |
01:25:24:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“You saw them when they came here, the trauma, and you see them now… and they big and they strong! And they’re absolutely amazing, they’re beautiful! |
01:25:34:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Incredible to see them like this. And then you’re already starting to feel anxious about the next stage. Uhm, we want them to go back to the wild, the ultimate aim for us is for them to breed to go back to the wild to breed because then that’s a conservation function, but they not safe here, completely safe here, and they're not going to be safe back there. So realistically we’re a target. And it’s a matter of time before something happens.” |
01:25:59:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“It’s very scary.” |
01:26:00:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“It’s incredibly scary” |
01:26:03:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Okay, well, they’re finished now! Now they’ve moved back. They've had their milk!” |
01:26:07:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“That's what we want.That's actually…yes, that’s actually what we want. Coming back just incase there’s something left!” |
01:26:14:13 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The
upsurge in killing rhinos since 2009 has meant that several orphanages have
sprung up around the country. With
rhino horn so valuable on the black market, security at these facilities is
important, not only for the little rhinos but also for the rehabbers. Out
here one can feel the poachers watching... knowing they will come for the
horn... vulnerable in the total darkness of the wilderness... a little...
like Impy. |
01:27:01:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“It’s okay girl!” It’s coming girl. In 30-seconds it’s in your tummy. Uh uh Nandi, Nandi. It’s crazy. You always need to push him or knock him. Just breathe through your nose. It will calm you down. It’s coming girl. I just dunno where the key is for the lock. Nandi is a little princess. So if something doesn’t go the way she wants she will let you know. Did you eat the key Nandi? Obviously it was just under my nose! I’m so sorry” You
can, I know, you can knock me for that. It’s my fault, I didn’t open my eyes.
No, no, don’t be
nasty with me. Ooh lah lah! It’s fine girl,
you are not, you are not going to die, it’s absolutely fine. |
01:28:38:00 |
Advocate
Isabet
Erwee |
“I’ve got such a nice groom, but he lives there in poacher’s valley. I know he would have loved this. He’s so proud of her. But I can’t expose his face on this film. I mean, they know who we are…they know precisely who Ansie and I are, and, just now there is a guy who is awake, and then. ” |
01:28:59:00 |
Advocate Isabet Erwee |
“The state will then request a warrant of arrest to be issued with immediate effect.” |
01:29:02:04 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Isabet
is a prosecutor for the state. It’s her job to
present the state’s
evidence in court to convict poachers. |
01:29:10:00 |
Advocate
Isabet
Erwee |
“It is the state evidence that he was involved in the shooting and the dehorning of this specific rhino. Can you dispute that or not?” |
01:29:18:04 |
NARRATION Bonné |
She and her colleague, Ansie have become loathed by the poaching gangs working the Kruger area. |
01:29:24:00 |
Advocate Ansie Venter State Prosecutor |
So guys, what’s now the agreement? I have to get started, it is twenty to one.” You
realize, it’s someone
or something who got hurt, was damaged, that experienced deep trauma. And it’s quite a
frighting feeling to think that getting justice for that victim is in your
hands.” |
01:29:49:15 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The
prosecutors are incredibly successful.
The
two women drive long distances between six courts surrounding the National
Park. Many times the courts are
packed... |
01:29:53:00 |
Advocate
Isabet
Erwee |
“This one…this is also. I see this is also here…” |
01:30:07:00 |
Advocate
Isabet
Erwee |
“With other cases, there are maybe one or two supporters. Like with robbery, rape and murder. But with these cases, it looks like a bazaar with all the supporters. They are the Robin Hoods of their communities because it all revolves around money. He brings money in. It’s a big problem. “ |
01:30:24:11 |
NARRATION Bonné |
An
uncomfortable truth is that many South Africans were kept out of national
parks during apartheid... and it has come home to roost. |
01:30:32:08 |
Archive upsound |
"The policy of apartheid has been elevated by the government of South Africa.” |
01:30:36:04 |
NARRATION Bonné |
While
white South Africans grew up going to the Kruger or iMfolozi as a pilgrimage
back to nature... black South Africans, like K9 Ranger, lived outside the
parks but never saw the animals inside.
It’s been a
quarter of a century since the end of apartheid and still... millions who
live alongside national parks, watch wealthy tourists visit while they remain
outside... disconnected from their heritage. * Someone
who faced challenges like this was Dr Jane Goodall. She
left her conservation work at her beloved Gombe National Park to focus on
connecting humanity to wildlife with great success. |
01:31:18:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“We have communities surrounding our national parks, like the Kruger National Park. And I almost want to say they are allowing poaching to take place. So how do we change that, how do we tackle that?” |
01:31:31:00 |
Dr Jane Goodall, DBE |
“Because they have to be provided with an alternative. You have to proof to them that keeping the animals alive has more value for them than killing them. And then , involving them. Helping them to understand who these animals are, letting them learn about them. |
01:31:51:00 |
Wildlife educator |
“This is how you spot the difference between a black rhino and a white rhino.” |
01:31:53:18 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Many
programmes address this inequality, but communities are poor... |
01:31:58:06 |
Children in bus |
"A zebra!” |
01:31:59:02 |
NARRATION Bonné |
...and service delivery of basic municipal needs are not met. |
01:32:14:03 |
NARRATION Bonné |
This
slaughter of rhinos here in South Africa is known as the “Rhino Poaching
Crisis. Crisis. A time of intense difficulty. But it is more than a crisis. |
01:32:27:00 |
Investigating officer: Police |
“They came from the road then
walked this path right. Here you can see, the grass is flat where they waited
here and there.” |
01:32:34:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Yes.” |
01:32:34:00 |
Investigating officer: Police |
“Then they watched the rhinos, I suspect there were at least two people. Here are two different tracks.” |
01:32:41:12 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The
police view this as a crime. The
poaching of a rhinoceros involves many crimes: illegal hunting, trespassing,
illegal possession of firearms, theft, destruction of property, even
attempted murder or murder when rangers are shot. |
01:32:58:00 |
Upsound |
“State then calls case number... you swear the evidence you’re about to give will be the truth and only the truth… we heard a gunshot and the bullet passed above our heads.” |
01:33:07:09 |
NARRATION Bonné |
But
that’s at
the site of the crime. More laws are broken when the horn is on the
move. When
guns, drugs and even humans are smuggled across national borders to another
country to be illegally traded as a product... it is known as
trafficking. Wildlife
trafficking is lucrative. Billions and
billions of dollars lucrative. |
01:33:33:00 |
Customs police 1 |
“Jeez, they really covered it in carbon hey?! |
01:33:34:00 |
Customs police 2 |
“Hell, carbon everywhere.” |
01:33:37:00 |
Customs police 3 |
“It went through the scanners., that’s when it was noticed that it’s carrying rhino horns.” |
01:33:43:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“What is the value of the horns?” |
01:33:45:00 |
Customs police 2 |
“12.2 million” |
01:33:47:09 |
NARRATION Bonné |
This
guy is not taking rhino horn to Hong Kong by mistake, or for a friend... he
is, what’s
known as a courier. |
01:33:56:00 |
Upsoud: Police officer |
“This one was also going through Hong Kong. Like that other case. |
01:33:59:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Yes, also Hong Kong.” |
01:34:01:00 |
Upsoud: Police officer |
“Then to Shanghai, the same destination.” |
01:34:33:04 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Rhino
horn trafficking is run by highly organized criminal syndicates operating in
countries all over Africa and Asia. Interpol, the FBI and South Africa’s State Security Agency call this ‘trans-national organized crime’: |
01:34:22:00 |
Dr Lyle Pienaar |
“If it’s not the horn, it’s an Eastern European women, it’s a kilogram of cocaine, this is how international crime syndicates are working. What can make you the most money, the less effort, the less risk.” |
01:34:34:04 |
NARRATION Bonné |
In
order to succeed... the organized criminal syndicates need these men, and
plenty of them. There
is no shortage... the areas surrounding Kruger and iMfolozi are desperately
poor. “Boss-men” organize
jobless men into poaching gangs of three: a shooter, an axe man and a
runner. |
01:34:56:00 |
K9 Ranger |
“It is incredibly difficult to do my job, when there are poachers in my community. It is very difficult... a relative can come to me and initiate a conversation that relates to my job. And you would not even realize that such a conversation would cost you your job. These relatives are not happy about what I do. Basically they gather in your name and say, ‘we cannot poach because of K9 Ranger.’” |
01:35:30:00 |
Kruger Ranger |
“People aren’t hunting rhino because it’s a nice thing to do, they’re getting paid huge sums of money. So you’ve taken rural people that were literally living of the veld, had a way of life that was traditional, respectful, have been recruited and criminalised by syndicates and actually their whole values and ethics have changed. They’re not actually doing it now to survive, they’re doing it for greed.” |
01:35:54:19 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Here
at Skukuza court inside the Kruger National Park, those that have been
arrested for poaching... several from K9 Ranger’s community...
are pleading for bail. |
01:36:06:00 |
Upsound in court |
“During the
arrest of the accused, there was a contact between the accused and the
rangers. And during this contact, the
accused’s
lower jaw was... actually literally removed from his face.” |
01:36:17:16 |
NARRATION Bonné |
It’s a dangerous profession. |
01:36:20:00 |
Advocate
Isabet
Erwee |
“Your worship the court will note that accused number two is not present. He was on bail, unfortunately, he was shot and killed in Kruger after he was released on bail. He is no longer attending this matter.” |
01:36:30:15 |
NARRATION Bonné |
For
those who work in these rhino poaching zones before they become crime scenes,
there’s a
stronger word for what it’s
all become. |
01:36:40:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“It’s definitely a low-intensity war. And the intensity is ever-increasing. The longer this goes on for... the guys who are involved in the poaching become more experienced. They learn our habits more, so they adapt to that... so it is a war from that perspective... how we are always watching each other. It’s forever evolving.” |
01:37:04:00 |
Lawrence Munro |
For us here in KZN, and particularly in Zululand…” |
01:37:05:13 |
NARRATION Bonné |
When
we started filming four years ago, it was a very different war. On
our very first trip to iMfolozi, we spent time with Lawrence Munro, the
ranger in charge of rhino operations for the area. The
reason we can reveal him, is that he no longer works in South Africa. He is now stationed in a neighbouring
country with his young family. |
01:37:27:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Pretty shocking to see.” |
01:37:28:05 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Here
in iMfolozi, rangers remove skulls from a crime scene as part of
evidence. They get tagged and entered
into a skull register. Rhino
poachers, like all criminals, leave signatures and these skulls have been
linked to other crime scenes in the province... |
01:37:46:00 |
Lawrence Munro |
“If you have a look at these skulls, they do tell a story. You can see these shots are all centering around the brain. And that speaks of a certain degree of marksmanship. You must remember a rhino has got two big horns that stand here, so to get this shot you gotta be pretty good, coz you can’t shoot through the horns... you’ve got to position yourself in such a way that you can get this accurate shot. And there is a reason for that. People want to immobilize the rhino as quickly as possible, they don’t want to fire multiple shots... ah, it’s usually accurate shooting, one shot, make the rhino go down so they can get the horns off and get out.” |
01:38:16:10 |
NARRATION Bonné |
At
the beginning of our journey... rhinos were being shot in the brain... |
01:38:20:11 |
Frik
Rossouw |
"This is a typical brain shot. The animal didn’t run. It just dropped here.” |
01:38:25:05 |
NARRATION Bonné |
...but
nowadays, poaching gangs shoot into the body of a rhino. To
demonstrate how massive a change this is for the animal, this is a video the
Humane Society released of a wealthy trophy hunter shooting a rhino... not
in the brain: |
01:38:40:00 |
Hunter 1 |
“Ready? Whenever you ready.” |
01:38:45:00 |
Hunter 1 |
“Wait, it’s not going anywhere.” |
01:38:47:01 |
NARRATION Bonné |
As
hard as it it to watch... it is important to understand that killing a rhino
is not as simple as one shot. |
01:38:03:00 |
Hunter 1 |
“Wait, wait wait.” |
01:39:07:00 |
Hunter 2 |
“Geez…” |
01:39:25:17 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Hunting rifles are loud. The difference... is that that sound... would be heard. The Kruger is the size of Israel. And... it’s a true wilderness area. Off the public access roads, you can only get around on foot - which is not only slow, but rangers have to watch out for wild animals; all-terrain vehicles - are quick but noisy, so can’t be used to locate rifle shots... same goes for the park’s helicopters. Gunshots could not always be located... until now... |
01:40:10:00 |
Man in Sanparks uniform upsound |
“Here are the three shots that were fired... detects the shots... sends an alarm to the operations room...gives us a text message... GPS... we respond to that.” |
01:40:25:00 |
Shouting from rangers and crying sounds from poachers |
“Don’t move, police. |
01:40:31:16 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Other
methods...that we can’t
mention... have increased arrests dramatically and hundreds of hunting
rifles have been confiscated. However...
one step forward has resulted in two steps backwards. |
01:40:46:00 |
Ranger in uniform arresting poachers upsound |
Ah, this one had the axe hey, the one with the camouflage pants. And the green one, with a R5. |
01:40:52:13 |
NARRATION Bonné |
South
Africa has a notorious crime rate, one of the worst in the world and armed
robberies on South Africa’s
farms are high as farmers have hunting rifles and farms are easy targets. Poachers
have adapted to keep ahead... stolen rifles now have crude, homemade
silencers... even car shock absorbers are used to dampen the sound. |
01:41:19:00 |
Ranger |
“Your Worship, nowadays it’s actually with exception that we do not find any silencer. The majority of firearms that we recover are fitted with silencers.” |
01:41:26:21 |
NARRATION Bonné |
This
change has had a devastating ripple effect: |
01:41:30:00 |
Ranger |
“You cannot see the front sight of a rifle because the silencer is too big. Which means you cannot aim accurately... and it’s for that reason we have been having a lot of rhinos wounded.” |
01:41:46:23 |
NARRATION Bonné |
A
lot of rhinos wounded means another tool is needed to finish the job. The
axe has become synonymous with rhino poaching. It has always been the
preferred weapon of horn removal. But
paired with the primitive silencer... these two small metal shapes are now
responsible for incredible suffering of rhinos. |
01:42:11:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“What’s interesting
is why they use the axe... and don’t
just shoot again is because you must remember their clock starts as soon as
that shot goes off, they know that’s
what’s
given them away. That’s why often they just fire the one shot and work as fast as they can.” |
01:42:26:00 |
Lawrence Munro |
“If you look at these
skulls over here, the way the horns are removed... and you look at this skull
the way the horn is removed, you can see there’s a very stark contrast into the methodology that
the poachers are using. They might’ve sacrificed a few grams of rhino horn to do this. But what they got in return was extra speed. That takes longer to do. It’s hard work chopping through a rhino’s face... with an axe.” |
01:42:48:21 |
NARRATION Bonné |
On
some crime scenes no shot has has been fired... and just the axe... has been
used. |
01:42:57:00 |
Kruger Ranger |
“The poachers run after them cutting their hamstrings or their achilles heels and then the lower back or just above the pelvis. They will hack to death an animal to get it. Or dehorn it even while it is still alive.” |
01:43:12:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“One of the worst scenes I’ve seen, was last month... a cow and a calf…and we had to piece it together because, there were field rangers who actually heard a rhino squealing, heard the horns actually being chopped off. But the next day going to the scene, it was gut-wrenching to piece together. We then came upon a place where there was a lot of blood... a pool of blood... and you could see fragments of horn... fragments of skull... and nasal cavity there... which... so you know that that rhino was still alive, it’s horns were removed there, but the rhino wasn’t there... the rhino had then gotten up after the event and dragged herself for 300 meters and died there.” |
01:43:53:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Ah, oh my goodness…” |
01:43:53:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
So you can imagine the pain and the trauma that that animal went through and that, that cruelty is the main thing that we fight against... I mean... ja.” |
01:44:03:00 |
Kruger Ranger |
“That a human can do that to another animal is absolutely disgraceful. I’ve had to destroy quite a few rhinos where they literally sitting on their backsides, their back has been cut open on the spine... they’ve been hamstrung and they sitting there whining and screaming and they cannot move. You know the only humane thing is to actually shoot them and euthanize them on the spot.” |
01:44:39:04 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Another
poachers moon. This
time... a rhino has survived the brutal poaching of both her horns. Suffering
massive blood loss, she was to be euthanized.
But
it took three days to find her, and when the vets arrived to do the job...
she was trying to eat and drink... a clear sign... she wanted to live. It’s been decided
to give her a chance at life and to call her... Hope. |
01:46:16:00 |
Dr Johan Marais |
“Let’s take this
off. So you can se that it’s an
unbelievably horrific wound. Nothing can prepare you for seeing this. |
01:46:40:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So it’s like a local anesthetic?” |
01:46:41:00 |
Dr Johan Marais |
“Absolutely! Just a local anesthetic. It took us a while to figure it out. Because no-one in the world has ever done it. I must say, it works very well.” |
01:46:55:09 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Dr Johan Marais is a veterinary professor who specializes in surgery. He founded ‘Saving the Survivors’ to treat bullet wounds and facial damage caused by poaching. |
01:47:09:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“They only just missed her eye” |
01:47:12:00 |
Dr Johan Marais |
“They just missed it.” |
01:47:24:09 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Hope’s wound has to
be flushed out because it is maggot infested.
Dead bone and decaying tissue is also removed... to prevent
infection. In
order to keep the shield on, the vets have to drill... into what’s left of her
skull. |
01:48:37:00 |
Dr Johan Marais |
“Unbelievable.What we as the human species do to our own animals. Unbelievable. And it just doesn’t stop.” |
01:49:04:00 |
Advocate
Isabet
Erwee |
“The first
charge against you is that of contravening section 46/1 of the National
Environmental Management Act.” |
01:49:10:12 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Another
survivor... badly mutilated in the Kruger... was having her story heard in
court. Arrested inside the park, the accused even climbed into the park’s helicopter to direct the ranger team to the poached rhino. |
01:49:28:00 |
Ranger testifying |
“I don’t know at what height we were flying at but we circled to get lower and then we could clearly see that the rhino was still alive. It picked it’s head up and it’s ears were moving. Ja, I’ve got a very, unfortunately, a very thick skin to this sort of thing now. Look I could count them, because I’ve got a crime scene report for every one of the rhinos, but probably over the 200 rhino I’ve seen I’ve never seen one as deeply cut, or as much of the face cut away as this.” |
01:50:05:01 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Although
the video of her brutal poaching caused outrage around the world, we’re choosing not
to show the traumatic footage of the ranger walking up to her. We
filmed in many courts around the country... from bail hearings of poachers
and syndicate leaders... to trials where evidence from the state was so
concrete that it was bewildering to understand why the cases were delayed all
the time. |
01:50:41:00 |
Advocate
Isabet
Erwee |
“And that matter
has been postponed I don’t
know how many times, we have to get to that.” |
01:50:44:00 |
Judge in court |
“We will get to
that. That I promise you.” |
01:50:46:00 |
Judge in court |
“It can’t go on for three to five years. I mean, that’s just ridiculous, really.” |
01:50:48:24 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The clue was in the defence strategies of those on trial. |
01:50:53:00 |
Advocate Ansie Venter State Prosecutor |
“No. I’m not going to postpone…” |
01:50:54:24 |
NARRATION Bonné |
So fair is South Africa’s constitution to an alleged accused... stemming from our unjust past... that defence teams would delay on legal technicalities. |
01:51:05:00 |
Advocate Ansie Venter State Prosecutor |
“Their first
goal is: I want bail, and when I’m
out on bail, I will manipulate the system for as long as I can.” |
01:51:18:00 |
Advocate Isabet Erwee |
“Bail was denied
then on bail on new facts he got bail and clearly…” |
01:51:23:00 |
Judge in court |
“I granted it…” |
01:51:24:00 |
Advocate
Isabet
Erwee |
“Yes, apparently your worship…” |
01:51:25:11 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Very
well paid defence teams would delay over audio playbacks... and attack the
rangers testifying as having planted evidence |
01:51:34:00 |
Ranger testifying |
“There was a set of rhino horns” |
01:51:36:00 |
Defence lawyer |
“Give us a
straight answer, If you don’t
remember, just say so.” |
01:51:39:00 |
Advocate
Isabet
Erwee |
“Your worship this question was answered. It was exactly asked in that way again and answered.” |
01:51:43:19 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Or
the lawyers would just show up hours late...
|
01:51:47:00 |
Judge in court |
“Who is your
lawyer? So we can guard against not wasting time..” |
01:51:48:21 |
NARRATION Bonné |
And
from the state side... overloaded court rolls, power outages, tea breaks... |
01:51:54:00 |
Advocate Ansie Venter State Prosecutor |
“The old women who doesn’t know anything about computers, now coming to your rescue.” |
01:51:57:16 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Equipment
failure, translations all delayed cases... and many times the state let
themselves... and us down... |
01:52:06:00 |
Advocate
Isabet
Erwee |
“Your worship I was informed that ballistics are not ready with the report as yet because of a backlog..” |
01:52:11:04 |
NARRATION Bonné |
These
bullets painstakingly collected at crime scenes did not get their day in
court today... |
01:52:18:00 |
Judge in court |
“The states application is refused, the matter is struck from the court roll.” |
01:52:21:06 |
|
... allowing these alleged poachers to walk free. |
01:52:27:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“The biggest slap in the face is to get onto tracks and they’ll say, we know these tracks. And then you trace it back and you realize, these guys were actually arrested. With an axe, with horns, with a firearm, overalls covered in blood. And four/five years later you’re tracking them again.” |
01:52:45:00 |
Allison
Thomson |
“Hi nice to meet you!” |
01:52:46:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Nice to meet you!” |
01:52:47:13 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Allison
started a Facebook group called Outraged South African Citizens Against Rhino
Poaching, or OSCAP. The
group’s
membership exploded and Allison has rallied them to build orphan ambulances,
deliver equipment to rangers but they are best known for monitoring rhino
syndicate court cases... and despite being retired... OSCAP has become
Allison’s
whole focus. |
01:53:12:00 |
Allison
Thomson |
“Why are we not getting justice for our rhinos at the end of the day? You know it’s delay after delay. If there’s no haste in a court case they can ask for those charges to be withdrawn and then we’re going to sit with all these guys out free. I mean, if you look at the charge sheet and look at what they’ve been charged with, I mean, they’re horrendous, horrendous crimes.” |
01:53:30:00 |
Advocate Joanie Spies |
“Accused number one, seven and ten are in custody and all the other are on bail.” |
01:53:37:00 |
Protesters chanting outside courtroom |
“No bail for poachers, no bail for poachers.” |
01:53:40:00 |
|
Outrage
against rhino poaching is clearly evident among the South African public...
and Allison is making sure this public outcry is heard in court. |
01:53:50:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Let me just understand this… so even though
we all know that pretty much everyone is against rhino poaching, you actually
have to submit a photo album of the protesters as evidence fro the courts
record?” |
01:55:01:00 |
Allison Thomson |
“Yes because one of the conditions, well one of the things the magistrate needs to look at when he’s deciding whether to grant bail or not, is whether there is any public outrage if bail is granted. So we have to proof to the court that there is outrage.” |
01:54:20:05 |
NARRATION Bonné |
On
trial for allegedly being part of these syndicates are private rhino owners
and their wives, policemen, lawyers... and even wildlife vets. |
01:54:32:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“You spend a lot of time here in courtrooms like this, do you ever feel threatened?” |
01:54:38:00 |
Allison Thomson |
“Uhm sometimes, uhm not really threatened, but sometimes they try and intimidate me. They take pictures of me, I’ve got obscene phone calls shortly after leaving court. Uhm.” |
01:54:53:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Aren’t you scared?” |
01:54:55:00 |
Allison Thomson |
“Arg, what can
they do? You know I’m a
public person and I’ve
got quite a public profile. So uhm, if somethings happens to me, people know,
that even if looks like an accident it’s not.” |
01:55:08:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“It’s not, they
must question it.” |
01:55:09:00 |
Allison Thomson |
“They must question it, yes” |
01:55:10:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“What does your
husband say about this?” |
01:55:12:00 |
Allison Thomson |
“You’re not gonna do that are you?” |
01:55:15:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“But then you go ahead and do it” |
01:55:17:00 |
Allison Thomson |
“Ja…” |
01:55:18:14 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Four
years and three months after his arrest, the cruelty case poacher got his
sentence: |
01:55:25:00 |
Judge giving sentence |
“The victims here are not only the owners of the animal but citizens of South Africa and by implication the world. It is ordered that you therefore serve 16-years imprisonment” |
01:55:36:03 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Isabet
and Ansie have successfully sent nearly 400 poachers to prison. |
01:55:45:03 |
NARRATION Bonné |
30
rhinos killed on a full moon weekend made international headlines, but a
private rhino owner suffered the largest single loss of rhinos in one
night... and
the world wanted to know what had happened to the orphaned baby rhino...
standing next to his mother’s carcass. |
01:56:04:00 |
Pieter Els |
“Most of them were female rhinos and almost all of them were pregnant.” |
01:56:10:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So you didn’t just lose 9 rhinos, you lost more than 9?” |
01:56:14:00 |
Pieter Els |
“Yes, the unborn babies are also lost.” |
01:56:16:14 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The
carcass can be seen but the baby is nowhere to be found... |
01:56:23:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“People always think that it’s really easy... a rhino is shot and then they know that there is a calf. Sometimes they find the carcass too late, they don’t even realize that the mother actually has a calf.” |
01:56:33:00 |
Dave Cooper |
“I think we totally underestimate the number of babies that actually die as secondary things... in reserves such as ours and in Kruger National Park with high predator and scavenger numbers, often there’s absolutely no evidence that that calf has been predated upon... and I think it happens more often than we know.” |
01:56:48:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“A mother and a rhino calf have an incredibly strong bong, it’s a one on one bond... there’s a mother with a single calf, that calf suckles for 18-months, and that bond grows stronger as the calf gets older. That calf will stay with the mother for up to 2-4 years, so for a calf to lose the mother is very traumatic... for a calf to lose a mother under the conditions of poaching where it is present when the mother is shot... and then the horn is hacked off and in some cases that mother is still alive. It’s very brutal and we dealing with intense trauma in these calves and in fact we’re beginning to see signs of PTSD.” |
01:57:22:00 |
Dumisane Zwane |
“When we come across the carcass and the poor baby running around, I mean, it’s just a double blow for us... because on both situations the fact that, it’s a complete waste and you get very angry at the fact that you have lost an animal and now you’ve got a baby that is fully dependent on you, and also there are chances that it might not even survive as well.” |
01:57:49:05 |
NARRATION Bonné |
This
little one is lucky, his mother survived her poaching by a notorious darting
gang. In
fact, she was evidence, so we couldn’t reveal this footage, until now. The
gang have been linked to over 100-poachings around the country. Using veterinary drugs from a silent dart
gun, their MO doesn’t
alert the rangers... and while a chainsaw gives them speed, the rhinos they
poach... bleed to death in a zombie-like state. |
01:58:24:00 |
Dr Johan Marais |
“As long as the mother is lying down, then the little one will think, ‘but my mom is relaxed’, and so then you can work and do whatever you need to do.” |
01:58:36:20 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Once the drilling starts however, things change...
A reminder perhaps, of the night before. The state owned rhinos are wild and must be kept that way. So as much as we wanted to interact with the little calf, we couldn’t... for his sake. Ten years ago, this crying calf angry at the vet, would have been a light moment... but the collective stress these beings are suffering is palpable. Separation from an unresponsive mother is a deep anxiety that any of us can feel... |
01:59:57:00 |
Dumisane Zwane |
“Quite often the young rhinos, they don’t leave the mother’s body once it has been shot.” |
02:00:03:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“You physically see how, how strong that bond is. After all it’s been through, the only place it wants to be is as close as it can be to its mother. And even though she’s long cold and rigor mortis has set in and she’s, she's of no, no use to the calf, that calf won’t leave. It will stay right next to her.” |
02:00:24:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“They get thirsty, they get hungry, they get cold. As she’s decaying, there’s fluids that will run into the soil. They land up drinking that to,to try and stay alive. If they lucky they get killed by lions or hyenas. If they lucky.” |
02:00:42:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“Sometimes they’ll try and hack off a horn, you know, sort of that size.” |
02:00:47:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“That small?” |
02:00:47:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“Ja, that’s where it gets quite brutal hey, they try and get this horn off this little animal with an axe, without making any sound. I mean, these gashes are deep hey, very very deep... you can fit your whole hand inside there sometimes.” |
02:01:01:14 |
NARRATION Bonné |
We
saw this with calves in the Kruger... this little one is being rushed to a
facility that cares for tiny orphans found in the National Park. His
spine has just been missed, twice... if the poachers had succeeded... he
would’ve
had his horn removed while he was paralyzed, but still very much alive. Over
4-thousand rhinos have died in Kruger in the last 7-years. Kruger
has rescued only 53 orphans during this time period. Social
media sites have posts from tourists coming across dehydrated babies... or
thirsty calfs eaten by predators at waterholes... rumours floated that calves
were being left to die or worse... |
02:02:03:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“I’ve heard that you all shoot the calves, is that true?” |
02:02:07:00 |
Dr Markus Hofmeyr |
“Yes, that is a
rumor. I don’t
know where it originated, but I can assure you and the public that we save
every calf that we can.” |
02:02:15:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So if I understand you correctly,
a calf will only be euthanized if there is no chance of survival? But my
question is, will a calf be euthanized that has a chance of surviving, even
if it is small, but it’s
too difficult to rescue, due to the terrain?” |
02:02:29:00 |
Dr Markus Hofmeyr |
“No. We’ve now adjusted our techniques to fly the rhinos out. And if it’s too big to fit into the helicopter we will fly it out by its legs. We’ve now refined that technique to a point where we’re no longer worried about doing it. So we can get a rhino out of anywhere in the park now. If the animal has a good chance of survival and we can do something about it, those are the animals we save.” |
02:02:59:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“You will understand the state that this animal is in when you receive it. They don’t see good and evil people, they just know that that species inflicted this on them it’s all very confusing and very traumatizing for them.” |
02:03:37:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“A lot of these orphans die of depression.” |
02:03:41:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Depression?” |
02:03:41:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“Ja, there stress and depression, things that can’t be measured. You can see it, it starves itself. But you know, the symptom there that you saw was depression.” |
02:03:52:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So, it just gives up.” |
02:03:53:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“Basically, ja. It’s just too much I think for some of them.” |
02:04:01:13 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Driving
between two crime scenes in Kruger, we passed what was unmistakably a tiny
rhino carcass alone. And
the next crime scene was just as grim. |
02:04:20:00 |
Frik
Rossouw |
“This cow was pregnant. Here is a rib bone from a…” |
02:04:24:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“...from a foetus?” |
02:04:25:00 |
Frik Rossouw |
“From a foetus, here’s another one.” |
02:04:26:06 |
NARRATION Bonné |
While
4-thousand deaths is the official poaching number for the Kruger over the
past seven years, there is no official number for orphans lost or rhinos
about to be born... There
can’t be
because how can it ever be known? So
saving every rhino orphan is vital. |
02:04:56:03 |
NARRATION Bonné |
At the private owner’s farm in Kimberley, it was a relief to see the little calf had joined up with an older calf... also orphaned from the same slaughter... but it was a mystery as to why they had left their mother’s sides: |
02:05:09:00 |
Pieter Els |
“I wasn’t there but I heard that the police chopped her up and the calf then ran away. But I wasn’t there then, I was flying the whole time, looking for other carcasses.” |
02:05:22:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So the police did the post-mortem on the mother and cut her open with her calf right there? |
02:05:27:00 |
Pieter Els |
“That seems to be the story, yes.” |
02:05:30:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“That is shocking.” |
02:05:32:00 |
Pieter Els |
“It is very shocking. I wasn’t there.” |
02:05:34:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“I’ve seen very traumatized calves and I can assure you that it doesn’t matter how you look at it, it would’ve been incredibly traumatizing for the calf to witness that.” |
02:05:45:00 |
Pieter Els |
“I was also quite upset afterwards but yes, it happened and one can’t go back in time. |
02:05:54:19 |
NARRATION Bonné |
It’s quite clear
that all across the country there aren’t protocols for how to deal with the continuing
influx of rhino orphans. Kruger
and iMfolozi have not only militarized their ranger corps to be able to
tackle this cross border organized crime, but their veterinary teams have to
now deal with essentially a refugee crisis. And
orphans saved at any cost have an impact too... this rhino was humanized when he was a calf. He
has no interest in returning to the wild.
And it’s
devastating to see his dependence on human company. It’s a bleak
situation and we were losing hope with it all until a call came in for Karen. |
02:06:48:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“The first
garage as you come in..” |
02:06:50:16 |
NARRATION Bonné |
We’re meeting the veterinary team and the tranquilized calf at a halfway point... a busy gas station. |
02:06:58:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Oh goodness me, tiny. |
02:07:00:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Wow, so small.” |
02:07:03:00 |
Wildlife Vet |
“You know what
we can do it, I wasn’t
going to leave this one to die hey.” |
02:07:06:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So tiny.” |
02:07:07:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“It’s little.” |
02:07:09:00 |
HRH Queen Mantfombi |
“ Ooh, how old is he?!” |
02:07:11:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Two days old.” |
02:07:13:00 |
HRH Queen Mantfombi |
“Where is he?” |
02:07:14:12 |
NARRATION Bonné |
We’re in the heart
of the Zulu nation... |
02:07:17:00 |
Upsound: The queen’s daughter and son |
“The rhino is
the King’s
symbol. Yes, the rhino is the king’s
symbol.” |
02:07:20:10 |
NARRATION Bonné |
This
little ‘bhejane’,
zulu for rhinoceros, has caught royal attention. We’ve learned to
expect the unexpected... but standing here amongst us… is the Queen of
the Zulu nation. |
02:07:26:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“The vet has given him…” |
02:07:34:00 |
HRH Queen Mantfombi |
“My God!” |
02:07:35:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Energy” |
02:07:36:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“But he’s doing well.” |
02:07:38:00 |
HRH Queen Mantfombi |
“Very good. I wish you all the best, to do the best.” |
02:07:41:21 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Not
only married to the King of the Zulus, Queen Mantfombi is also a princess of
Swaziland. |
02:07:48:00 |
HRH Queen Mantfombi |
“National
Geographic magazine will tell you, and now we are like this.” |
02:07:55:23 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Her Royal Highness would like to bless the calf clinging to life on the back-seat: |
02:08:07:00 |
The queen’s daughter |
“Makhosi is her
name. Given
by Princess Mantfombi of Swaziland,
Queen to King Goodwill Zwelithini of the Zulu nation. She felt this was an awesome synergy between all cultures of this world. Hence she blesses the glory of Makhosi, (upsound: thank-you!) the rhino. Makhosi is her name.” |
02:08:28:00 |
Upsound: Karen Trendler and Bonné de Bod |
“Oh wow!” “Makhosi, Makhosi!” |
02:08:47:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Little Makhosi, hello!” |
02:08:50:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Look at the big ears!” |
02:08:51:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“We’re bringing you electrolytes, we’ve got, we’re going to give you some. She’s got long legs! She’s incredible! You going to make it! Yes! You’ll feel better in a few days, I’m so sorry you’re going through this.” |
02:09:09:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Thanks Axel.” |
02:09:12:00 |
Karen
Trendler |
“In trying to
replace the mom and in doing appropriate surrogate mothering there’s that delicate
balance. For
people it really looks cute and cuddly for us to be hand-feeding rhino with
bottles… that
suckling is critical to the rhino.”
|
02:09:28:00 |
Wildlife Vet |
“Is that helping” |
02:09:30:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“That’s it, that’s it.” |
02:09:32:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Enjoying it now” |
02:09:35:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“If you don’t give that
calf what the rhino mother does, you actually have a calf that doesn’t thrive and
doesn’t survive. Wow, clever girl!”
|
02:09:45:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“That’s a good sign, isn’t it?” |
02:09:47:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“ A very good sign.” |
02:09:50:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright.” |
02:09:55:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Unfortunately when they’re this weak you can’t do tranquilizers or anything, I mean she’s already had a lot in the car. You can’t do any more, it kills the appetite. She’s gotta go through it. It’s the hardest, hardest part.” |
02:10:10:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So that’s, that sound, is that?” |
02:10:12:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“She’s calling for mom.” |
02:10:13:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Ok” |
02:10:14:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“She’s exhausted but she’s too scared just to give into sleep, and she keeps waking up calling for her mom.” |
02:10:20:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“It’s alright, it’s okay, it’s alright, it’s
alright, it’s okay, it’s alright “It’s alright, we here, we here, we here.” |
02:10:31:02 |
NARRATION Bonné |
All
our attention had been on fragile Makhosi getting through the night, but
walking around the orphanage is a reminder that other little lives have been
thriving in the months we had been away! The
white rhinos no longer drink milk and as always... it’s easy to spot
Impy... feeding in the middle! |
02:10:53:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“We can just hide behind the trees..” |
02:10:54:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Yeah” |
02:10:55:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“if we need to” |
02:10:58:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Hello guys”! |
02:11:00:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“There we go” |
02:11:01:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Are you eating browse?” |
02:11:03:00 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The
black rhinos have moved from the baby section into a large camp of their own. |
02:11:09:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Are you playing a lion king scene?” |
02:11:12:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Storm has grown a lot hey…” |
02:11:14:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Yeah” She’s coming… ooh la la
Nandi! That’s
not the way to eat it.” |
02:11:21:00 |
Susan Scott |
“She’s naughty hey.” |
02:11:22:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Sheesh!…I’m pretty sure
if I bring any girlfriend here, Nandi will just try to kill it, or, … not
kill it! Kill her! To make sure she got the same attention and the same love
from me!” |
02:11:36:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So it’s better to
just, you know, keep that at bay for now” |
02:11:38:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Yeah! I think it’s safer for any girl around to stay far from me for now until she has been released!” |
02:11:46:03 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Nandi
didn’t
seem to mind when it came to Storm though! |
02:11:55:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“You’re such a clever girl.” |
02:11:55:17 |
NARRATION Bonné |
What
a difference a few hours and a new friend makes... |
02:12:00:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“He wanted to come over and she was
so frantic, I thought we’ve
got nothing to lose. And they literally, they touched noses and lay down together.
I mean it’s a
hippo and a rhino, but it’s
company. |
02:12:14:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“I can’t believe it.” |
02:12:15:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Isn’t that incredible? She’s sucking strongly.” |
02:12:21:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
I
mean last night, she didn’t
want to know anything.” |
02:12:23:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Come, come
forward. She’s
actually sucking now without the legs collapsing. She’s holding her temperature.
So it’s… we’ve gone forward
in leaps and bounds, I can’t
stop smiling this morning. It’s
actually… |
02:12:34:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Five hours,
four hours…” |
02:12:36:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“It’s incredible.
(Laughing) This could become….” |
02:12:40:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Tricky!” |
02:12:41:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“They’re so funny
together!” |
02:12:59:00 |
NARRATION Bonné |
This
rescue, the saving of Makhosi’s
life was pushing us to search for answers elsewhere. We had to make a journey, for her, for Hope.. and for thousands like them. |
02:13:13:06 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Journalists... filmmakers like us... turn to
research, or we interview specialists to better understand our subject...
because we don’t
start off knowing all the facts. And the deeper one gets, the more complicated the
data becomes. It can be
overwhelming. But... many of the facts contradicted each other
or... were loaded. Had emotional
meaning behind them to push a cause, an outcome that might be detrimental to
the species. So we
couldn’t trust the data. We had to go to Asia to find out for ourselves. |
02:13:45:00 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Fossil
records and cave paintings tell us that rhinos used to roam pretty much all
over the planet... now they’re
found in only two places. Africa
and Asia. And
all that’s
left... are scattered populations. Rhinos
numbered a million just a century ago, but now only three percent
remain. Three percent! And
of that three percent, South Africa holds two thirds of all the world’s remaining
rhinos. So
we knew that any rhino horn we found in the cities down below... would be
from home. |
02:14:20:12 |
NARRATION Bonné |
In
2015 we applied to the Chinese and Vietnamese governments for filming permits
but we’re
still waiting for them! And
for good reason... Both
are on Reporters Sans Frontiers freedom of the press, black list. Only Syria and North Korea out-rank them.
|
02:14:36:00 |
Archive upsound |
“With my government minder looking on, I’m told I’m that not going to be allowed to film much in Hanoi.” |
02:14:41:24 |
NARRATION Bonné |
It
was clear we had to go in undercover. Especially
as environmental journalists were being jailed. So
we slipped in to Laos as tourists... The
hacked out base of horns was an obvious fake... |
02:15:11:00 |
Market seller |
“Rhino horn special...” |
02:15:11:15 |
|
...but it showed... the product sold. |
02:15:14:00 |
Market seller |
“Fifty dollar okay? I discount... this one is small baby.” |
02:15:18:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Oh a smaller one. Is it... is it real? |
02:15:22:00 |
Market seller |
“yes, real.” |
02:15:23:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Real rhino horn?” |
02:15:24:00 |
Market seller |
Yes!” |
02:15:25:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Wow.” |
02:15:26:00 |
Market seller |
“Yes, I discount for you...” |
02:15:31:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Ivory everywhere” |
02:15:34:05 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Ivory
is sold openly in Laos. |
02:15:37:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Does that mean it’s real? Is this ivory?” |
02:15:41:00 |
Shop seller |
“This is bone” |
02:15:42:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Bone?” |
02:15:42:00 |
Shop seller |
“Yes.” |
02:15:43:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“From...?” |
02:15:44:00 |
Shop seller |
“From ahhh... buffalo that has died...” |
02:15:46:15 |
NARRATION Bonné |
It
wasn’t
Buffalo. This sign is Chinese, clearly
indicating it as elephant ivory. Ivory
signs are everywhere, and the English word has been covered up. Ivory
is a status symbol in China where it is banned, so millions of Chinese
tourists flock here to buy the illegal product. We
found what we came for... when we saw the most illegal of all... rhino
horn. |
02:16:12:00 |
Antique dealer |
“People buy it yeah, but in Laos not for medical but only keep in house for lucky!” |
02:16:16:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Oh for good luck” |
02:16:17:00 |
Antique dealer |
“About 300 to 400 US dollars for one gram...” |
02:16:23:00 |
NARRATION Bonné |
This
he said was from the nearly extinct Asian one-horned rhino that he called
rhino cero. |
02:16:29:00 |
Antique dealer |
“‘Rhino cero’ very expensive” |
02:16:32:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“You don’t have African horn?” |
02:16:4:00 |
Antique dealer |
“No, no, in Vietnam or in China” |
02:16:38:00 |
Archive upsounds |
“The centre of illegal trade in horns, is of all places... Vietnam.” “Shop after shop selling rhino horn in Vietnam’s capital.” |
02:16:49:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“And, and this...?” |
02:16:50:00 |
Vn translator |
“Artichoke tea.” |
02:16:52:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Okay.” |
02:16:53:00 |
Vn translator |
“My wife has a bag of this at home.” |
02:16:54:06 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Our
translator is an activist so we cannot show his face. While we
are undercover, he acts as our tour guide and when we have interviews... our
government minder. We have put
him in great danger. |
02:17:08:00 |
Vn translator |
“We are losing a lot of rare and valuable animals. So we lost the rhino in 2011 and many people taste like all the tigers, pangolins, bears. So I think Vietnamese people are not living harmoniously with their environment.” |
02:17:27:00 |
TCM seller1 |
“That’s the bowl to grind rhino horn and drink it with rice wine. Only use this plate for grinding rhino horn. You won’t be able to grind other things on it.” |
02:17:35:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“And it’s quite rough inside” |
02:17:37:00 |
TCM seller1 |
“Rough, rough, for grinding.” |
02:17:39:00 |
Vn translator |
“Do you have the horn?” |
02:17:41:00 |
TCM seller1 |
“No! Only the plate. Rhino horn is prohibited.” |
02:17:48:00 |
Vn translator |
“Is this a grinding bowl?” |
02:17:47:00 |
TCM seller 2 |
“Yes for rhino horn. But rhino horn is prohibited.” |
02:17:51:00 |
TCM seller 3 |
“No we don’t have rhino horn.” |
02:16:53:00 |
Vn translator |
“So why do you sell the bowl without the horn?” |
02:17:55:00 |
TCM seller1 |
“If they already have the horn, they can buy the bowl.” |
02:18:00:00 |
Vn translator |
“It is easier to find the bowl than the horn.” |
02:18:03:02 |
NARRATION Bonné |
That it
certainly was... the grinding bowls were everywhere, complete with
instructions. |
02:18:10:00 |
Upsound |
“Mai” montage -- various sellers on Traditional Medicine Street |
02:18:17:13 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Well,
clearly how it was used was no mystery... and there are plenty of DIY videos
online. Despite a
plethora of bowls, the main ingredient is missing.
|
02:18:35:00 |
Archive upsound |
“This exclusive report from Karl Ammann.” |
02:18:37:00 |
Rhino horn seller |
“Rhino horn.” |
02:18:38:00 |
Karl Ammann |
“Oh yeah?” |
02:18:39:08 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Back in
2009, Karl filed a report on rhino horn usage here on medicine street. |
02:18:46:00 |
Karl Ammann |
“All of them ground it down, did all the usual thing with the plate... obviously it was impossible to tell what was real or not. When one of the dealers actually chopped me off a piece with a big panga type of machete and the thing flew into the street... I realized there’s something very wrong with this because nobody would deal with such a precious commodity in this form. So that’s when I decided maybe there’s something more to it because a lot of this cannot be real... and then the first results came back from DNA... and it all showed that 90% was fake. So that’s the question, where does the real stuff go?” |
02:19:40:00 |
Karl’s producer/cameraman |
“Once you get there... villages are right next to each other. You’ll go to the other village, and when we’re finished, we’ll phone and we’ll swop villages around.” |
02:19:49:03 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Karl and
his co-producer are on their next undercover operation... they’re
investigating a group of villages popular with Chinese tourists. We’re joining them but will split once we get in. |
02:20:01:00 |
Karl Ammann |
“These villages which we gonna visit now, cater almost exclusively to Chinese customers. All the tour guides take them there. It’s in my opinion, the place in South East Asia... the biggest consumer of rhino horn and ivory. And it has been going on for years... turned over hundreds and hundreds of kgs of rhino horn. And tons and tons of ivory. There’s big money changing hands in these places, these guys are multi-millionaires by now. They can take care of any law enforcement agency which exists in Vietnam.” |
02:20:36:00 |
Susan Scott |
“Is this you guys coming off, hey?” |
02:20:38:00 |
Karl’s producer/cameraman |
“No” |
02:20:39:00 |
Susan Scott |
“It’s us.” |
02:20:42:00 |
Susan Scott |
“Shit, I’m a little nervous.” |
02:20:43:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Yeah, me too.” |
02:20:45:01 |
|
Karl and
his team have driven on to the neighbouring village. He’s been
arrested before... but this is our first time doing anything like this. Natural
product souvenirs... wine cups and karma bracelets. Chinese
signs are a clear indication of who... visits here. As
Westerners... we stand out. Wearing
natural product does the trick though... and we’re literally covered
in hidden cameras. Susan has
even taped a GoPro to my body, so I can’t ditch it if we’re in trouble. A risk...
worth taking, as the button and key cameras can be jammed by the dealers who
use cellphone blockers. |
02:21:32:00 |
Woman dealer |
“Hello” |
02:21:33:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Hi" |
02:21:34:00 |
Various upsounds from sellers in shop and main woman seller |
Leave
them... western customers, just looking.” “Westerners also buy things. She has things on her wrists. I’m really good at selling stuff.” “No-one
says that you are not good at selling...” “Fuck you! Open your eyes and learn from me.” - LAUGHTER - “The
Chinese always pay in cash. The Chinese look for rare stuff.” “The Chinese make better customers.” |
02:21:54:21 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Ivory trinkets as well as raw ivory... illegal but for sale. |
02:22:02:00 |
Woman seller |
“If she wants to
have this one in rhino horn, it is very expensive.” “We sell by
gram.” “Sold per gram,
500 Chinese yuan per gram. Here, here,
here, I will let her see.”
Show them. |
02:22:17:20 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Rhino horn bangles. When these images first surfaced it was hard to take
the plastic looking bangles seriously. But this type of bangle, made from legal natural
product, is found in all Asian high end jewelry shops... this is Laos, this
is Thailand, and Nathan road in Hong Kong where incredibly expensive jade
bangles are sold. Symbolizing prosperity and health... we saw plenty
of them worn by wealthy women in China. Always on the left wrist... close to the heart...
allowing the body... to achieve balance. The demand has exploded... skyrocketing the price. The only substance on earth... more expensive...
rhino horn. |
02:23:07:00 |
Various upsounds from sellers in shop |
“We get the horn and polish it to make it look nice.” “Rhino horn”. “This is from Africa. Vietnam doesn’t have it.” “This is very rare. You won’t be able to find it just anywhere. You can search the whole world.” |
02:23:17:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“It’s too small.” |
02:23:19:00 |
Woman dealer |
“Fit!” “It’s gonna fit!” “It even fits my hands, it’s going to fit hers. Fit! Fit!” |
02:23:25:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Okay thank-you!” |
02:23:27:00 |
Woman dealer |
“Fucking westerners don’t ever have money.” “The Chinese are the rich ones.” “The westerners only talk. Fuck them.” |
02:23:34:19 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Wherever
we find the rhino horn bracelets, they’re not made for western hands. |
02:23:42:00 |
Seller |
“We make them for the Chinese. Small holes from 55 to 65 will fit their hands.” |
02:23:46:18 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Prices vary
from shop to shop... but anywhere from 60 to 100 US dollars per gram. Bearing in
mind that gold.. is only 40 dollars per gram. Dealers
like to show us the source of the product... the raw horn before it is
worked into the bangle. |
02:24:07:20 |
NARRATION Bonné |
We were
being been watched. And were
taken in to one of the back rooms where the table was covered in freshly
worked ivory and buffalo horn. The dealers
were trading right in front of us... |
02:24:22:00 |
Dealer 1 |
“Mom, please give the guy both the ivory and rhino horn bracelets. |
02:24:26:00 |
NARRATION Bonné |
And clearly very pleased with their product. |
02:24:28:00 |
Dealer 2 |
“Beautiful, wow!” |
02:24:30:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“I can see the patterns there.” |
02:24:32:00 |
Dealer 2 |
“It’s handmade. Vietnamese very skillful, huh?!” |
02:24:34:00 |
Dealer 2 and woman |
“Rhino horn is expensive!” “Let’s show it to them.” “But rhino horn is so expensive!” |
02:24:42:00 |
Susan Scott |
So what is, what is this now? Is this still the buffalo?” |
02:24:46:00 |
Dealer 2 |
“This is rhino. |
02:24:47:00 |
Susan Scott |
“Oh wow.” |
02:24:48:00 |
Dealer 2 |
“Let me show you. What’s different between rhino horn and the buffalo horn... look no pink colour. See. Look! Look! Look!” |
02:24:57:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Wow! No you can see the red, the pink colour.” |
02:24:59:00 |
Dealer 2 |
“Oh yeah, yeah! Like blood! Like blood, you see? Beautiful huh?” |
02:25:04:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“And you can drink anything out of it?” |
02:25:56:00 |
Dealer 2 |
“Anything... no chemical. Better than any kind of material. That’s why Chinese like.” |
02:25:10:22 |
NARRATION Bonné |
We had seen
these tiny cups before... prestigious auction houses sell libation cups made
from rhino horn. They’re
still selling them as antiques... crafted hundreds of years ago. Ancient
writings tell us about hundreds of thousands of Chinese warriors wearing
rhinoceros hide armour throughout the Bronze Age, and of “many rhinoceroses
in the mountains”, so they must’ve been plentiful. About
400BC, we get mention of rhino horn being carved into cups for rice wine...
and here’s where we start to see the belief in the horn holding mystical properties. This belief
that rhino horn can detoxify anything it touches... is seen throughout
Chinese literature: So powerful
was this belief, that even the dust, or shavings were used in traditional
medicines throughout the region... and still... it seems... the
fascination lingers. |
02:26:04:00 |
Dealer 2 |
“And if it is dropped, not break. Look! Look! Look! No problem.” |
02:26:13:00 |
Dealer 2 |
“You know something you throw away in Africa... the horn is rubbish... you throw it away, yeah?! But it come to Vietnam... become souvenir.” -- LAUGH -- |
02:26:24:00 |
Dealer 2 |
“Wanna see workshop? Show you more... and I show you how to make. What do you think?” |
02:26:28:00 |
Susan Scott & Bonné de Bod |
“Okay.” |
02:26:42:00 |
NARRATION Bonné |
We had
given no thought to this. Completely
vulnerable... even our translator wouldn’t be able to help if they searched
and found cameras on us. Elephant
ivory. Worked round the clock. The tusk...
still has Africa’s soil on it. At the
top.. a master carver. Thick ivory
dust everywhere. And curled
shavings give away the other illegal product he works on... |
02:27:51:00 |
Dealers talking to each other |
“I bought rhino horn shavings a few times from him. He could sell it, but he won’t let me take it anymore. I don’t know where he gets all this rhino horn and ivory to sell.” |
02:28:05:19 |
NARRATION Bonné |
So valuable
is rhino horn to these traffickers, that scraps from the floor are
collected and sold. |
02:28:13:00 |
Susan Scott |
“Just curious, what is that in that bag....?” |
02:28:14:00 |
Vn translator |
“Are those shavings of ivory? |
02:28:17:00 |
Shop owner |
“Rhino horn.” |
02:28:20:00 |
Susan Scott |
“Oh look!” |
02:28:21:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Oh wow!” |
02:28:20:15 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The libation cup workshop. Today... it’s full of buffalo horn orders. |
02:28:29:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“This is the raw, raw horn...” |
02:28:33:09 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The carvers
and machine operators in these villages pride themselves on their
ingenuity... that in their eyes... they can turn a throwaway thing
into a thing of beauty. |
02:28:45:00 |
Factory manager |
“Here, here... this part we use for the cup, and down here for the beads.” |
02:28:48:00 |
Vn translator |
“The cup is actually here.” |
02:28:50:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Oh this part.” |
02:28:51:00 |
Vn translator |
“Yeah, this part.” |
02:28:56:09 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Standing in
the back rooms of these dingy alleyways, knowing that all the fighting...
suffering... the huge effort back home... ends with such a beautiful iconic
creature simply reduced to a production line of tiny useless things... devoid
of any reverence for the being that once carried these cups and bangles on
its face. It somehow
didn’t seem real that this... was where the struggle ended. And it
needed to be proven. |
02:29:45:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So Karl, how many rhinos do you think you have here?” |
02:29:48:00 |
Karl Ammann |
“Look, I hope it’s quite a number, because that will help us determine in DNA terms how many rhino horns are processed in this village. On the other hand it might be that some involve the same horns but this is what will be very interesting and I think that’s important for law enforcement to know. And you know, the fact is there should be an interpol guy sitting here doing this carrying it in his diplomatic pouch but I guess that’s not on the cards to do this kind of investigative work.” |
02:30:31:03 |
NARRATION Bonné |
CNN and BBC
have delayed signals into Vietnam. They pay
for a censor who pulls the broadcast if something comes through that central
government won’t like. Another reminder
that we needed to be careful. We had
changed hotels twice to avoid detection.
Maybe overkill, but we were scared, especially with what we had
filmed. But nothing
scared us more in Hanoi... than the pollution. |
02:31:04:00 |
TV News |
“Air quality in Hanoi this morning was extremely unhealthy for humans. Citizens of Hanoi are warned not to go outside. This is the highest AQI ever recorded for Hanoi...” |
02:31:15:05 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The
pollution clung to our skin and filtered into our clothing. And yet,
all over the city... citizens devotedly take part in wellness exercises. Vietnam had
been portrayed for both of us by war films... set deep in the jungle... so to
experience this oxygen-less environment was startling. After the
war, Vietnam was the fifth poorest nation in the world. But now it has the fastest wealth growth on
the planet, just ahead of China. This rapid development has come at a tremendous
cost. There seems
to be a cancer epidemic... 200 Vietnamese die every day and double that
number receive the news that they have
cancer. And the
most popular way to treat it, is with rhino horn. |
02:32:28:00 |
Susan Scott |
Oh there she is!” |
02:32:29:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Hello doctor!” |
02:32:29:09 |
NARRATION Bonné |
If rhino horn was being used by cancer sufferers, an
oncologist would know... |
02:32:34:00 |
Dr Phuong Cam Pham, Oncologist |
“Do you want me to have on a stethoscope?” |
02:32:37:00 |
Susan Scott |
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s perfect!” |
02:32:40:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“We on and everything...?” |
02:32:42:00 |
Dr Phuong Cam Pham, Oncologist |
“We have a lot of cancer. And now in Vietnam, the common cancer in Vietnam is lung cancer and liver cancer.” |
02:32:50:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Do your patients use rhino horn ahhh, alongside what you prescribe? Your treatment that you prescribe?” |
02:32:56:00 |
Dr Phuong Cam Pham, Oncologist |
“Yes, sometimes with the rich patients, these patients use rhino horn. But ah... (turning to translator: “How do you say, ‘I wouldn’t recommend it?’)” |
02:33:05:00 |
Vn translator |
“It’s not recommended.” |
02:33:07:00 |
Dr Phuong Cam Pham, Oncologist |
“Yes, but we don’t recommend it.” |
02:33:09:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Now, doctor, If it’s legal and cheaper... would more patients use it?” |
02:33:13:00 |
Dr Phuong Cam Pham, Oncologist |
Turning to translator: “Can you translate that? How do I know?“) I don’t know, I don’t know. (To translator: “I thought they were conservationists? Why do they want to sell it?”) |
02:33:25:00 |
Susan Scott |
“Oh no no, we ahhh...” |
02:33:32:04 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Lost in translation, Dr Pham stopped the interview thinking we were advocating for legal trade. We would have to find rhino horn users elsewhere... so we had to go back... to what we knew. |
02:33:48:00 |
Vn translator |
“She wants to buy rhino horn for her father, do you have any?” |
02:34:02:00 |
Seller 1 |
“100% real. You cannot find a better one than this. We use it ourselves. My father-in-law also has cancer and he takes this after his chemo.” |
02:34:05:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
And how much is it for one of these packets? |
02:34:07:00 |
Seller 1 |
“A million dong. A million dong per bag.” |
02:34:08:00 |
Vn translator |
“One million, so it’s 40-something dollars.” |
02:34:10:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Wow. So expensive!” |
02:34:13:00 |
Seller 1 |
“It’s expensive, not cheap! Even healthy people like us take it because it detoxifies our bodies. It makes toxic stuff that we ate or drank leave our bodies. |
02:34:24:00 |
Seller 2 |
“Sometimes when my body feels weak,
I pick some and put it in my mouth and chew it. I am not bothered to mix with water! - LAUGHTER - It takes a long time to grind in the bowl, you have to use water.” |
02:34:38:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So you chew it, you chew that rhino horn?” |
02:34:39:00 |
Seller 2 |
“You put it in the mouth and chew it.” |
02:34:41:00 |
Husband |
“Just keep chewing.” |
02:34:43:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Oh. You just chew it.” |
02:34:43:00 |
Seller 2 |
“Chew it takes long. A long time yes! This is more common because it is quick. Sometimes I chew the whole morning!” |
02:34:54:15 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Rhino
horn is being used for more than just cancer... and we saw it online where
posts claim that ground up horn cures hangovers or cleanses skin for a
healthy, beautiful glow. |
02:35:16:00 |
DR Huong TCM Practitioner |
“Treatments that mention rhino horn have been passed down the ages. For example, fever as it reduces heat and detoxifies the liver. It also helps with acne and benign tumors... benign tumors, not cancerous. Benign tumors. It’s a mistaken belief that rhino horn cures cancer.” |
02:35:39:10 |
NARRATION Bonné |
What? I had to make sure I had this right... |
02:35:44:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“But it doesn’t cure cancer?” |
02:35:45:00 |
DR Huong TCM Practitioner |
“Rhino horn has what we call ‘cold properties’. As it is cold it reduces heat from your body, so it detoxes, reduces fever and is also used as an antibiotic. That’s all!” |
02:36:04:06 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The
source of TCM... is of course... China. Made
from herbal remedies and animal parts, it is thought by many who use it to
not have side effects like modern medicine, although modern medicine has to
prove it works and is safe before it is sold. This
desire for natural product is growing.
The industry has doubled over the past five years. TCM
practitioners also realize that supply will run out. |
02:36:30:00 |
DR She Hiu Yee, TCM Practitioner |
“Cancer means the body is lacking in anti-cancer virus cells, therefore this results in having cancer. To correct this lack of anti-virus cells one can use rhino horn because rhino horn has a detoxification effect therefore people use rhino horn when they have cancer as it strengthens the anti-cancer virus cells.” |
02:36:56:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So do you believe that rhino horn can cure cancer?” |
02:36:59:00 |
DR She Hiu Yee, TCM Practitioner |
“Well we really don’t need to use rhino horn to cure cancer when there are many herbal medicines that can be used.” |
02:37:09:07 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Even
though rhino horn was removed from the TCM pharmacopoeia in 1993, the legend
of it lives on. |
02:37:16:00 |
DR She Hiu Yee, TCM Practitioner |
“Because the species is so rare and is protected now we will not use it in Hong Kong. Mainland China has also regulated that it may not be used. But when the animal supply is so rare, people keep it for themselves for their own protection purposes.” |
02:37:38:09 |
NARRATION Bonné |
While
herbal replacements might be the official answer, it was clear that across
the continent, TCM doctors believed in the medicinal properties of rhino
horn. For weeks
we had been searching the city of Hanoi to find a chemo patient using rhino
horn... and finally... we had a lead. After
submitting a list of questions for approval, we were instructed to wait for a
phone call... three days later it finally came. |
02:38:03:00 |
Rhino horn user |
“I felt hollow and there were times when I thought ‘I still have a lot to do’. I was really worried. While I was having chemotherapy, my very close friends brought the rhino horn to me. And the grinding bowl so I can grind it and drink it to reduce the symptoms. It supports the chemo for a quicker result.” |
02:39:09:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Would you mind showing me how you take rhino horn? |
02:39:02:17 |
NARRATION Bonné |
This
question was not on the list... and we had been told not to ask to
see the product, but I had to see it. |
02:39:13:00 |
Daughter |
“It is okay for them to look, but not how to grind.” |
02:39:19:00 |
Rhino horn user |
“Grind.” |
02:39:17:00 |
Daughter |
“It takes too long to grind.” |
02:39:20:00 |
Rhino horn user |
“Grind...Oh no! Must I grind it?” |
02:39:21:00 |
Daughter |
“Get it for her to look.” |
01:39:25:00 |
Rhino horn user |
“It takes a really long time to grind it.” |
02:39:29:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Okay. Okay ja if I can see the piece then maybe?” |
02:39:32:00 |
Daughter |
“Yes, yes it is okay.” |
02:39:36:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Should we just wait here?” |
02:39:37:00 |
Rhino horn user |
“It is inside a red bag. Huh? |
02:39:42:00 |
Daughter |
“We shouldn’t show them.” |
02:39:42:00 |
Rhino horn user |
“What do you mean? We told them we will show them.” |
02:39:47:00 |
Rhino horn user |
“Let me see... where is the rhino horn?” |
02:39:50:00 |
Daughter |
-LAUGHING- “It’s loads of money!” |
02:39:51:00 |
Rhino horn user |
“Here, here, here, can you have a look, is this the bear bile? There is one piece of dried bear gall bladder. No this one is the monkey bone balm. No, no, it is tiger balm.” |
02:40:03:00 |
Rhino horn user |
“Do I need to show them the grinding bowl?” |
02:40:04:00 |
Daughter |
“It’s up to you.” |
02:40:10:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Wow. Ja, you can smell it hey? That strong smell.” |
02:40:22:00 |
Rhino horn user |
“You can see it is real horn. Real horn has layers... and inside are little black spots like sesame seeds. That is real horn. |
02:40:31:00 |
Vn translator |
“So you see, when it is cut there are patterns. And it is not evenly distributed.” |
02:40:38:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Thank-you for allowing me in your home, and I understand that this is a gift here in Vietnam, but you must understand and I have to tell you it’s very difficult for me... back home for my people, this, this piece of rhino horn is a symbol of death. What do you say to that? |
02:40:57:00 |
Rhino horn user |
“For the Vietnamese, giving a gift is a custom that has to be respected. And a gift like this is a huge love support for sick people like me. Giving someone rhino horn is giving a lot of value, because it is expensive. It is expensive.” |
02:41:35:21 |
NARRATION Bonné |
For
the user... there is no connection to the animal. And
this is true worldwide... we have no idea how our actions affect other lives
on the planet. If
we are the
overseers of all life on earth, then we should do a better job of respecting...
what has been given to us. |
02:42:29:00 |
Dr
Trang Nguyen |
“I don’t really understand why would people want to buy wild animals and bring it to their house or eat them. I don’t really understand that. I remember when my parents any my teacher were talking, ‘oh what do you want to do when you grown up?’ I want to be a conservationist. And people just look at me really weirdly like, ‘what’s wrong with you?’ A lot of people taught me that white people from western world they have lots of money they would go in the forest because they have nothing to do! Why don’t you be in business and earn some money... work in the office...why do you think it would be a good idea to go in the forest?” |
02:43:03:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“What is actually quite bizarre is the fact that I had to go to Vietnam, to go to the markets there your markets to find rhino horn... you came to my markets to my country to find rhino horn actually on my my front door basically ...” |
02:43:27:00 |
Dr
Trang Nguyen |
“Yeah, yeah... and I did find rhino horn... and I found ivory and pangolin. And it’s quite interesting because I’m an Asian person walking in the market, people very open to talk to me and they willing to offer me very ‘rare items’. |
02:43:37:04 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Trang
visits Africa’s
traditional markets to measure TCM usage as it has also become popular
here... ...while
China has officially phased out the use of endangered species in its
medicine... |
02:43:50:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“Look at that lion, it’s huge!” |
02:43:51:09 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Africa’s medicine
markets are littered with rare animals. |
02:43:55:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“For one day walking in one of these markets I saw more species than I see in Kruger. It’s insane. They hanging up on top, they all surrounding me on the left and the right... the smell... you can’t describe it. You seeing things, rotten, swollen up, purple, green, some still really red with blood and some are dried up and mouldy. It’s horrible.” “One of the main things I found with my research is that there is a demand over here, and African people in general believing in rhino horn that can cure disease, especially cancer. And I think one of the main problems is very similar to what happened in Asia, is that because it is traditional, so it is a sensitive issue and it is very difficult for the authorities to tackle it. And I think sometimes you have to make a choice between either protecting our heritage or being scared of upsetting people and not doing anything... so I think it’s the time for the authorities to choose.” |
02:44:58:00 |
Policeman |
“Leopard” |
02:44:57:22 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Trang took her findings to the South African authorities but they weren’t interested... |
02:45:04:00 |
Policeman |
“Wow! Look! Look here!” |
02:45:05:03 |
NARRATION Bonné |
...
so we arranged a meeting with our
contacts inside the police... They
immediately set-up a sting operation. And
Trang... is willing to go back inside with an undercover agent to catch
the illegal wildlife sellers. |
02:45:18:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“Yeah, I can tell with the ivory.” |
02:45:21:00 |
Cop 1 |
“Okay so you know that...the rhino horn throw it, if you can, if it falls on the floor and breaks then it’s not.” |
02:45:27:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“Then it’s fake, yeah.” |
02:45:28:00 |
Cop 2 |
So should anything happen, Frank will be the first one to respond to you, and from there we will then come in as well, alright.” |
02:45:35:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“Okay.” |
02:45:36:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“But if you feel uncomfortable at any point, then just... you know... walk away, walk away,... just walk away.” |
02:45:49:00 |
Cop 2 |
“Safety first.” |
02:45:44:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“How much, how much?” |
02:45:45:00 |
Wildlife dealer 1 |
“inaudible” |
02:45:46:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“Do you have it here? |
02:45:47:00 |
Wildlife dealer 1 |
“Rhino? Yeah.” |
02:45:48:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“Will you show me?” |
02:45:50:00 |
Wildlife dealer 2 |
“Set the price high! She also wants the pangolins and ivory tusks... |
02:45:51:00 |
Wildlife dealer 3 |
“Make the price high!” |
02:45:53:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“Brother! Brother! I need to see the item before we can negotiate about the price!” |
02:45:58:00 |
Wildlife dealer 3 |
“Show her the piece...” |
02:45:59:00 |
Wildlife dealer 1 |
“This is it. One.” |
02:46:00:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“Only one? |
02:46:01:00 |
Wildlife dealer 1 |
“Yes.” |
02:46:02:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“Can I buy it?” I have cash, I can pay all by cash.” |
02:46:06:17 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The
police get into position at a nearby parking garage... while Trang lures the
dealers out with the promise of a big cash payment for the goods at a safer
location. |
02:46:15:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“Um, turn right at the orange building.” |
02:46:17:12 |
NARRATION Bonné |
She is alone... in their car. |
02:46:22:00 |
Cop 2 |
“Okay, they’ve just driven in. Standby. Let me first see her getting out... and walking away. Another car is parking next to them. A white... I can’t really see? I will tell you now.” No, I’m not seeing her getting out. Okay the guy is climbing out, the second car so ignore the second car.” There she goes... let’s go!” |
02:46:59:00 |
Cop 2 |
On the ground. On the stomach.” |
02:47:02:00 |
Wildlife dealer 1 |
- inaudible - |
02:47:04:00 |
Cop 2 |
“Okay, listen to me, the driver you stand up... the rest you lay down. Give me your hand.” |
02:47:02:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“When I was in the car, I saw they brought the stuff that I asked for...” |
02:47:15:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So when they were on the ground they managed to grab all of that. |
02:47:18:00 |
Susan Scott |
“Well done, it’s very brave what you did. |
02:47:21:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“Thank-you!” - LAUGHTER - |
02:47:23:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“ Ja! You must be proud.” |
02:47:25:07 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The
dealers are awaiting trial.
|
02:47:43:00 |
Dr Trang Nguyen |
“I hope that when you see wildlife product being sold, you will think of me... of my story.” |
02:48:01:07 02:48:36:05 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Makhosi has
grown into her name. Regal and ‘of
the King’! And the
baby hippo is totally enamoured! |
02:48:541:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“I’m sure they’re up to no good! Ja they are... they going around! |
02:48:46:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Too cute hey!” |
02:48:47:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Come back this way!” |
02:48:47:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Too cute!” |
02:49:26:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Here she comes!” |
02:49:27:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Wow! She did a full circle!” |
02:49:30:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Full circle! Clever girl! We here! You so clever! We here!” |
02:49:35:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Hello!” |
02:49:36:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“You’re such a special girl, do you know that?! You really are. Look how fast this horn’s coming up?” |
02:49:41:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“It’s grown a lot.” |
02:49:43:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Oooh it itches when it comes through. I wish it wouldn’t. You kind of want to push it back in!” |
02:49:47:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“I know, I know!” |
02:49:48:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Squash it back in...” |
02:49:51:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Nice to see you again!” |
02:49:51:23 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Two
of the larger white rhino orphans are being re-wilded today. They will return
to the reserve they came from. They
are dehorned... in an effort to take away some of the value on their
face. The
tiny horns will travel under armed guard to an undisclosed location. They
will never again... be close to a living rhino. As
much as possible is taken off and the shavings... are a reminder of
Asia. |
02:50:32:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“It’s hard to see, I mean you.... yoh!” |
02:50:36:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Mmmm.” |
02:50:37:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“It’s necessary but it’s hard to see... it’s very very rough to watch... I mean you look at those guys there, I mean you taking him and they’ve got no idea that it’s actually for the good... that it’s all long term better.” |
02:50:49:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Mmmm. Tough” |
02:50:50:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Tough, yeah. Very tough.” |
02:50:53:12 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Impy’s permit has
not come through and neither has Gugu’s. They
cannot be moved until the paperwork is done.
A
huge risk as their horns have grown substantially. As
if rhinos don’t
have enough on their plate... they do not do well under anesthetic... |
02:50:14:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Come boy” |
02:51:14:14 |
NARRATION Bonné |
...and can die. |
02:51:16:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Can I just get that foot.... ooh it’s so slippery. |
02:51:19:00 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Every
time a rhino goes under to be transported or dehorned... there is a risk. |
02:51:24:00 |
Veterinary team |
“Roll it over, roll it over” |
02:51:25:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Can you get that foot up?” |
02:51:26:11 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The veterinary team has to get him up. |
02:51:37:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“The day you release them, you are proud of them. Coz they are big and tough and they go back to the wild, they roam freely so that’s amazing. But on the other hand... they will probably not live for 40-years like they should.” |
02:51:55:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“I mean you think of what a guy like this has been through with the poaching, then what he went through afterwards and now through this... There’s just so much happening to them collectively, the others pick it up as well. And then you think of what percentage of the population have either been through a poaching, been dehorned, been translocated, the whole population is under stress. And even if we stop poaching tomorrow, the chances of the breeding rate going up to what it should be... the accumulation rate... is going to be reduced because of the stress.” |
02:52:36:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Is everything okay?” |
02:52:37:00 |
Guard |
“Yeah, everything is alright. No problem.” |
02:52:38:00 |
Karen Trendler |
“Good! Have a good night!” |
02:52:40:00 |
Guard |
“And you too!” |
02:52:43:00 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Five full
moons from now... where I’m standing... will be under attack. But none of
us knew what lay ahead and tonight, no dark thoughts entered here. |
02:52:58:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
Ahhh! There’s your princess! |
02:52:59:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Yes! Princess and behind... the future king! |
02:53:06:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“I don’t like them to sleep in a messy room, so the last feed I just sweep everything back... even if in ten minutes it will be all the same again!” - LAUGHTER! - |
02:53:15:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Which happens!” |
02:53:16:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Yeah! |
02:53:17:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“I’m sure?!” |
02:53:18:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“But ahh... I just yeah... I like just to leave them in a little room with a little... bed all tidy, all clear and yeah, they can sleep and have sweet dreams! That’s my, my thing.” |
02:53:38:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“That’s the same sound!” |
02:53:41:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Chomping away.” |
02:53:42:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Yeah! All the night. Never stop. Life is beautiful! Huh?” |
02:54:01:00 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The summer
rains never fell on Derick and Sylvia’s farm. Grass that
would’ve seen their wild game through to the end of winter... hasn't
sprouted. |
02:54:15:00 |
Sylvia Fick Private Rhino Owner |
“Agh! Listen here, when they go into the crate... we will all walk together with them. Everyone walks with them. They are so sweet! They have this ballet dance, and then here they come!” |
02:54:31:00 |
Sylvia Fick Private Rhino Owner |
“They are our children. But we don't have a choice, we have to sell them to get money in to buy feed. But my heart is sore to load them up.” |
02:54:46:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“At the end of the day, its about money.” |
02:54:49:00 |
Sylvia Fick Private Rhino Owner |
“Yes” |
02:54:50:00 |
Derick Fick Private Rhino Owner |
“We have to generate funds because rhinos, well farming with rhinos costs a helluva lot of money. So funds must be generated to look after them. At the moment, it is the safest income for us as rhino farmers.” |
02:55:08:15 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Although
these rhinos belong to Sylvia and Derick, a government official is present...
collecting DNA samples and capturing measurements for all the permits that
will have to be given... as these rhinos are destined for Asia. This
wildlife exporter is well known for facilitating sales of African wildlife to
Asia. Having
quietly been in the business for twenty years, he didn’t want to be interviewed. He told me, the greenies watching this film
would make his life difficult.
|
02:55:44:00 |
Wildlife Exporter |
“My personal market is mostly China.” |
02:55:46:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“China?” |
02:55:47:00 |
Wildlife Exporter |
“That’s right.” |
02:55:48:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“And are you
comfortable with that?” |
02:55:49:00 |
Wildlife Exporter |
“I have no problem with it. All my permits are in place. I always travel with the animals.” |
02:55:55:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“How many rhinos do you export?” |
02:55:58:00 |
Wildlife Exporter |
“That's difficult to say, but a lot.” |
02:56:00:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
"A lot?” |
02:56:01:00 |
Wildlife Exporter |
“I would say a lot.” |
02:56:02:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So you are okay with the fact that you export animals to the rest of the world where they don’t necessarily adapt well?” |
02:56:09:00 |
Wildlife Exporter |
“I have no problem with it.” |
02:56:04:00 |
Sylvia Fick Private Rhino Owner |
“Don't worry my little love! Don't worry, don't worry! Agh! It's okay, it's okay!” |
02:56:26:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Now, they're on their way to China, and China, let's be honest is where the majority of users are. Do you not feel worried... worried at all?” |
02:56:37:00 |
Sylvia Fick Private Rhino Owner |
“No, I think where they're going, and the guy who bought them has a big interest in them. So it's sad to see them go, but I know that where they're going to they'll be looked after. Because there, especially there, they are worth their weight in gold.” |
02:57:00:13 |
NARRATION Bonné |
In Asia,
concrete enclosures now keep animals that once walked on Africa’s soil. Termed
theme or safari parks, they are anything but parks. Over the
last decade, China and Vietnam have imported hundreds of rhinos from South
Africa. It’s a
growing phenomenon and TIME uncovered a secretive, multimillion-dollar effort
to cultivate rhino horn for a powerful pharmaceutical company with ties to the
Chinese government. Animal
rights groups in South Africa protest rhino exports to places like China and
Vietnam where welfare laws are lacking. Nearly a
thousand reviews by locals, of this particular theme park... averages
3.9 out of 5. I’m sure
the painting dolphins... the sick zebra... and the limping cheetah don’t give
this life... a 3.9 out of 5. What’s hard
to understand, is that all of this... is perfectly legal. It wasn’t
long before we were followed and then escorted out of the theme park... |
02:58:42:00 |
Upsound from CITES secretariat at conference |
“Check before we start, You all have a voting card…” |
02:58:45:06 |
NARRATION Bonné |
This
is where trading in endangered species is decided. |
02:58:49:00 |
Upsound: Chairman Standing Committee |
“I see Vietnam
on my list” |
02:58:50:00 |
Upsound: Vietnamese delegate on floor |
“The government of Vietnam…” |
02:58:51:07 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Many
refer to it as the toothless tiger because it is drowning in paperwork. |
02:58:56:00 |
Upsound: Canada delegate on floor |
“14…paragraph one
of the convention.” |
02:58:59:00 |
Minister Edna Molewa |
“The propositions
that are placed here must be negotiated and be agreed to in the spirit that
is intended to save our species and not to say who wins and who doesn’t win.” |
02:59:11:00 |
Prof. Judi Wakhungu, EGH |
“I have to look at those iconic species. Look at them, in their habitat. And say, seriously, as the minister of Kenya, I did my best. I did not come argue about red lines.” |
02:59:27:00 |
Upsound from person on floor at conference |
“Total rejection…” |
02:59:27:13 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Rhino management is fraud with diplomatic infighting. |
02:59:32:00 |
Person loading horns |
“twenty-seven” |
02:59:31:17 |
|
Kenya
burns their rhino horns while South Africa stockpiles them.” |
02:59:37:00 |
South Africa delegate at conference |
“ sale of rhino horn” |
02:59:36:13 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Getting ready to one day trade with a rumoured willing buyer, China. |
02:59:41:00 |
John Hume |
“This is the way to save our rhinos from extinction, but we can’t save them unless it’s a payable proposition. People laugh at that old saying but it’s very true, if it pays it stays.” |
02:59:53:00 |
Prof.
Alejandro Nadal |
“Who’s getting payed and by whom? Uhm what does it mean it stays? It stays in private hands to be exploited for profit? So we end up in a very dangerous world in which the entire, our entire relationship with the universe becomes part of a market system. “ |
03:00:14:00 |
Will Travers, OBE |
“If someone said there is a legal trade and rhino horn is say $50 000, $40 000 a kilo… what would the reaction of the poaching community be to that? I suspect it will be ‘don’t worry, don’t buy it from them at $50 000 we’ll sell it in to you at $30 000.” |
03:00:29:08 |
NARRATION Bonné |
It
is said that CITES doesn’t
work because it relies on the delegates inside each country to be
accountable. A problem, when there is corruption. The biggest enabler of wildlife
crime. |
03:00:43:14 |
NARRATION Bonné |
One
of the international news networks, Al Jazeera, was in the country looking at
Chinese involvement in rhino poaching.
They
filmed with Allison but also found a self-confessed rhino horn trafficker...
a Chinese businessman who had set up a massage parlour, just outside the
Kruger National Park. |
03:01:03:00 |
Narrator |
“Guan Jiang Guang. He buys horns from fresh kills.” |
03:01:07:00 |
Chinese man |
“I can get people from government. I can find them” |
03:01:10:00 |
Narrator |
“He’s talking about help at the highest level. A special contact… David Mahlobo. Minister Mahlobo controls South Africa’s intelligence services. Guan shows photos to prove their relationship.” |
03:01:24:00 |
Undercover operator |
“So this? |
03:01:25:00 |
Chinese man |
“The State Security Minister of South Africa.” |
03:01:28:00 |
Chinese man |
It’s all David.” |
03:01:29:19 |
NARRATION Bonné |
This
wasn’t
anything new. It
had always been whispered to us that government authorities were involved and that ‘higher-ups’ were protecting
the poaching bosses. We
had become used to seeing policemen and rangers in the dock. |
03:01:44:00 |
Police man testifying |
“The rhino horn was
stolen at the police station.” |
03:01:46:02 |
NARRATION Bonné |
And South Africans had become used to the news that yet another government official was involved in shady dealings. The newspapers were full of it. |
03:01:56:00 |
Upsound from broadcasters |
“The State Security Minister says he’s appalled by the allegations. An alleged rhino horn trafficker boasts that Mahlobo is his friend. The minister says he’s ready to face an investigation. The hawks say they will look at every avenue. There’s also a call for swift action against the self-confessed rhino trafficker.” |
03:02:14:06 |
NARRATION Bonné |
One week
later, Home Affairs raided the massage parlour. Four wood
carvers were deported back to China. But Guan
was nowhere to be found. Two months
later, The Hawks, South Africa’s Police Unit targeting organized crime and
corruption, confirmed to the media that the Chinese businessman was still
missing and had probably fled the country. The
independent police unit also dropped the bombshell that the minister was not
under investigation, in fact his links to Guan had never been investigated. |
03:02:51:00 |
Upsound from parliament members |
“We say this fully that nothing will happen to Mr Mahlobo because he’s part of the criminal grain that rips our state. Honourable the minister: “I can’t help it when I look at you I see a rhino being hacked to death. You are a threat to security, won’t you take a special leave? Honourable the minister” |
03:03:12:00 |
Upsound: Minister Mahlobo |
“With due respect, I’m not going to resign, I’ve never been found guilty, we have not brought even an allegation on me.. I wish you the best.” |
03:03:25:21 |
NARRATION Bonné |
The
whole thing was a mess. But
what had actually happened behind the scenes was frightening... |
03:03:38:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
"I think it’s better if we have the conversation here in in the car. |
03:03:40:00 |
Allison Thomson |
“Yeah, thanks.” |
03:03:43:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Ok so what happened? What’s going on?” |
03:03:46:00 |
Allison Thomson |
“ On the 2nd of November which was, uhm, sort of thirteen days or 12 days before the, uhm, Al Jazeera documentary was aired, I was given access to that documentary with a link that was sent to me with a password. And after I had watched it I was concerned that that Chinese man in Nelspruit would flee. I then contacted one of my people that I often give information to and he then phoned me after he’d watched it and said look it’s beyond his pay grade, this stuff, and he needs to hand hand it over to his superiors. And he got into his car that night at half past nine, and drove to his superior and gave the information over. The next day it was given to the Hawks and they then took it on the Friday to Jacob Zuma. If the Hawks are telling the truth and that Guan has fled the country. How was it that the president and the minister allowed it to happen if they both had access to that video more than a week before it was aired. Are they involved?” |
03:02:53:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“Are you scared?” |
03:04:56:00 |
Allison Thomson |
“I’m kind of like nervous, uhm, because I don’t know where this is going, uhm, and how it’s going to turn out at the end of the day. Uhm, and I would prefer to not have been involved, uhm.” |
03:04:12:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“But it’s too late now.” |
03:04:33:00 |
Allison Thomson |
“It’s too late now and I’ve done what I’ve had to do.” |
03:05:19:15 |
|
While
it seemed like Allison’s
information to government insiders went unnoticed, this letter shows
correspondence between the Hawks and Al Jazeera.... five days before
the documentary was due to air. They
were asking the network to stop
their broadcast... As
we now know... the documentary... went ahead. |
03:04:41:00 |
Upsound from broadcasters |
“Guan shows photos, government minister, organized crime, minister Mahlobo controls South Africa’s Intelligence Agency.” |
03:05:46:00 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Fearing
for her safety, Allison met with a parliamentary investigative team but when
that investigation also stalled... she flew to Europe, living untraced on a
boat for several months while she decided the way forward. |
03:06:01:00 |
Protesters |
“Zuma must fall, now… Zuma must fall, now” |
03:06:09:01 |
NARRATION Bonné |
With
so many corruption charges being leveled at other government ministers and
even President Zuma…
|
03:06:20:00 |
Upsound from broadcasters |
”President Jacob
Zuma is not going down without a fight. Pressure on South Africa’s beleaguered
president is growing by the hour.” |
03:06:29:21 |
NARRATION Bonné |
When
the president of the country was finally recalled by his political party, his
loyal minister was also removed. |
03:06:30:00 |
Protesters |
“Zuma must fall, now… Zuma must fall, now” |
03:06:41:01 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Appearing in court for multiple corruption charges, it came as no surprise when the ex-president was also accused of taking a large bribe involving marine wildlife dealing.” |
03:06:55:00 |
Upsound Zuma |
“You must never buy them, even if they are free of charge!” |
03:07:03:02 |
NARRATION Bonné |
Having visited Kruger only once in his
decade of power, and poaching escalation, it was clear to see where Zuma’s
priorities lay. |
03:06:23:00 |
Upsound Zuma |
“Ok, see you next time.” |
03:07:37:00 |
Upsound from broadcasters |
“Frighting attack on the The Thula Thula Rhino Orphanage… Armed men stormed the orphanage, assaulting staff, killing two rhinos... the gang raped one of the women and police are still at the scene of the crime.” |
03:08:05:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“So is this where you found him?” |
03:08:07:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
“Yeah, uhm…I was at the
gate and I just, you know, shine to try see where was the rhino. And I found
Impy was lying in the mud. And I try to put this piece of log to try to keep
his head out of the water. I could see his sinuses. It was just all open. He
keep putting his head down. So he keep drowning. And his breathing started to
be very loud as well. Uhm…
and it was not crying like when they ask for milk. It was… |
03:08:47:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“A different sound?” |
03:08:48:00 |
Axel Tarifa, Rhino Orphan Caregiver |
Yeah. Horrible one. He went through so much when he was young, sleeping against his mom’s carcass for six days eating mud. And he died in the mud as well you know. It’s just unfair.” |
03:10:15:00 |
K9 Ranger |
“People in the community have become jealous of the fact that I am known all around the world, because of the great job that I do.” |
03:10:32:00 |
K9 Ranger |
“Now I am like a bird whose feathers have been cut out. Whenever it tries to fly it falls.” |
|
Karl Ammann |
"White rhino, male white rhino… no match in the database. Single female, white rhino… no match in the database.” |
03:10:41:00 |
Bonné de Bod |
“What if CITES keeps the 40-year ban in place?” |
03:10:45:00 |
Yana Mockford Private Rhino Owner |
“Well, you know what’s going to happen then? They will turn honest farmers into dishonest ones.” |
03:11:00:00 |
Advocate Ansie Venter State Prosecutor |
“They are impatient. They can only sell it to South African citizens. Now they are all in trouble… Accused number 3 is 70-years old!” How he and the Chinese are linked is still a mystery for us.” |
03:11:17:00 |
Advocate
Isabet
Erwee |
“The onslaught
is unbelievable. And it’s
escalating. I think sometimes it’s
not going to stop, unfortunately not. |
03:11:45:00 |
Rosana Ng |
“And I said to
myself, I got to do something. Stand up for the rhinos. |
03:12:05:00 |
Kruger Ranger |
“When is it my turn? Is it written today that I die? It could be, I don’t know.” |
03:12:14:00 |
iMfolozi Ranger, Section Ranger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park |
“I don’t fear being shot, I fear making a mistake and landing up in jail. That’s more scary than being shot.” |