Episode 4: Massive Ivory Stockpile | Battle for the Elephants

In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Aidan Hartley attempts to gain access to a maximum-security warehouse that holds perhaps the world's largest cache of raw ivory.
➡ Subscribe: bit.ly/NatGeoSu...
About National Geographic:
National Geographic is the world's premium destination for science, exploration, and adventure. Through their world-class scientists, photographers, journalists, and filmmakers, Nat Geo gets you closer to the stories that matter and past the edge of what's possible.
Get More National Geographic:
Official Site: bit.ly/NatGeoOf...
Facebook: bit.ly/FBNatGeo
Twitter: bit.ly/NatGeoTw...
Instagram: bit.ly/NatGeoInsta
Aidan is told the contents of the warehouse have never been filmed, and access to the stockpile is not coming easily. Minister Khamis Kagasheki seeks to give Aidan permission to film, but he meets resistance from his own staff.
Episode 4: Massive Ivory Stockpile | Battle for the Elephants
• Episode 4: Massive Ivo...
National Geographic
/ natgeo

[@yanbemopatton]

2 tusk - 1 elephant.. Imagine the number of elephants in that store

[@brenaxquiny8639]

😞😥😥😭🙏

[@RainerNeufeld]

It might be more effective to put a price on the head of poachers.

[@BaltimoreActual]

The amount of tusks stockpiled there is sad.

[@RogerSullivanNOLA]

I think it's heartbreaking that this magnificent, intelligent, and empathetic animal has been so ruthlessly hunted by the most dangerous and wasteful of all predators....us.

[@user-ge7xq4oj5q]

I think the same as you.

[@timodriscoll362]

Did anyone else see the giant tusk at 3:26 (right of the frame)

[@yazinkaziz]

You are missing the bigger picture here. Sure, the animals are already dead, and there is nothing we can do to bring them back, but don't you think it's worth it to prevent other animals from being killed by catching the bad guy?

[@Daijobustory]

I just can't imagine why having 19 metric tons of ivory flooding in to the market will increase demands on ivory but the shortage of supplies will certainly do. 50 mil is enough to establish something for the future of elephants in the country if those money aren't going to go directly in to somebody pocket.

[@ikat1908]

Even though it may be inappropriate to sell the ivory, if they just burn it then all the thousands of elephants who died giving up their tusks were slaughtered for nothing.

[@sarahdaigle7630]

Thank you all for your bravery and ambitious fight to save Mother Earth's family -3

[@NoDramaQueens]

Tanzania should...organize! Each piece should be recorded (like gold or bonds to prevent poached illegal ivory on the market) proceeds belong to Tanzanian government for improvements for ppl and protection for elephants. The Chinese want ivory? Flood the market...charge top dollar. Tanzania is holding all the keys.

[@sometimessUEaNN]

I think it's when the ivory is gone, there will be more demand because there was so much and now nothing.

[@luisgrod0]

It’s time to write the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF ANIMAL RIGHTS.

[@JuanCamaney1982]

Its sad to see such a carnage. But some people will never understand the beauty of Life.

[@harrymcnally535]

Sell the ivory invest more money into preventing poaching and put the rest back into the country there is 50 million sitting there.. Creates jobs, improves the security of elephants and improves welfare of people in that country..

[@jsrsjs47]

According to principles of business, this temporary surplus in product would hold off the market for perhaps a couple of years, but after the supply is gone, the demand would drastically raise.

[@reynaldodelacruz3151]

I agree to your opinion.The money collected from the sales of ivory could be used to improve the machineries for the protection of animals in Tanzania.Poachers can do nothing if the stuffs used are more advance and sophisticated as now being used by other advance countries.

[@rohantherockwiththerocketh7871]

They should be able to sell all of the ivory on the condition that the money is used for rangers to combat poaching!

[@DivideandConquerAnti-WEF]

i will not lie. the ivory art is beautiful...

[@jenpoetess]

it's very ugly actually

[@rodlacey560]

If a person wants ivory they should be prepared to kill the elephant themselves.

[@chatoXvato]

A circle of life that pertains to other animals, not the planet itself.

[@celebritypredictions]

Innocent animals dying and killed for human greed. When is this going to stop?? It's so sad for both human and animals.

[@Ronnicus]

yeah i don't understand the logic of not selling this ivory- selling it wouldn't affect demand it'd affect supply; the only thing that would happen is the price would be pushed down and the market would readjust to the new quantity

[@MrViperFM]

Save the eplephants...

[@smithderrie]

Yes, nothing lasts forever but it's important to preserve and protect that which lasts at the moment. Valuing humans over animals (i do realise that humans are animals too) does not translate into disregarding the safety and health of animals altogether and allowing this unnecessary death. You can still protect animals whilst still prioritising humans, they're not mutually exclusive

[@DailyGoGi]

unbelievable. I really couldn't get it. How many elephants had to die for this pathatic collection of ivory?! Did we rather have luxury? I am bloody saddened of the disheartening elephants.

[@hubbabt]

I will donate to burn the husk stockpile.

[@smithderrie]

because other species are in more danger than humans. and just because one species is in danger does not mean all the others in similar situations must be ignored completely.

[@ShmooyShmoo]

WHAT!? Wouldn't burning all that ivory increase the price of ivory? sell it, the more Ivory out there in the world equals less demand. isnt that obvious? or am i missing something here?

[@alexb7799]

4:15 there is a lion on the right!

[@Loathomar]

So, look at it from a purely economics view point this would be true. Increase supply = lower price = less reward from poachers, therefor selling legal ivory would be a good thing. But it is not that simply. Because all new ivory trade is illegal, place some legal ivory for sale could easily rise ivory prices. So, now a high end piano maker would NEVER use ivory, because it is illegal and seen as immoral, but make it partly legal and they might pay far more then the current price to get it.

[@stratazing]

Because chickens reproduce at a MUCH faster rate then elephants and while we are mass killing them - we are also mass producing them. There is such a thing as an endangered species, some people don't want elephants to die out.

[@SonOfKokobaboko]

Flood the market so it makes ivory so cheap that it can't be sold to support/pay for the hunting operations.

[@blackhole9387]

Lets save the elephants..

[@janellesimmons8170]

if you divided all of those tusks by two, that would be the amount of elephants killed can you imagine?

[@fransiscus89]

It will only drive the market down temporarily. Since the rate of growth of an elephant is much slower compare to the increasing demand of the elephant tusks, it would be a great risk to sell those to the market. This dilemma has been around for quite sometime. And Tanzania is still battling for corruption too, so i wonder if they are capable of absorbing those 50 mil and investing in the right area, if they sell the ivories.

[@TheVampirella]

I would think that flooding the market with all that ivory at once would drive the prices down thus making poaching less likely because there would be no money in it.

[@peterisrael2012]

All you can see is ''fucked up beyond all repair''

[@StarcraftPROwannabe]

............Even if we killed every elephant right now, the demand for ivory is so great that it wouldn't even put a dent in the price.

[@joeysjourneys90]

Burning all the tusk is a bad idea IMO… why???

[@StarcraftPROwannabe]

elephants are close to extinction.

[@mahendruk]

Is it not dangerous to show the location of the govt. stockpile so openly for potential smugglers?

[@kennethakin271]

Easy way to get ivory, just ask the elephants for the ivory and they will let you get it, stop killing them please.

[@jagannathprasaddasrapuria1820]

All Ivories should not be labelled blood Ivories

[@yinaninjaplatypus]

insulting people and swearing at them does not make your invalid point valid

[@SonOfKokobaboko]

I wonder if flooding the market with ivory that has been seized would make it to cheap to pay?

[@carlsthing]

selling the ivory legally doesn't make it any better. having more customers means more popularity for the product. clearly that is not what they are trying to do considering the show is about poaching, quite the opposite. say Tanzania did sell a total of 50 mil and everything happened that you said, than why wouldn't Indonesia cut down all the trees for the same reasons? or Bangladesh poach all tigers for there fur? or shark fins, which has no protection? supply and demand

[@SonOfKokobaboko]

dude, I'm talking about that stockpile, those animals are already dead. It is called economic warfare and is a valid tactic in some cases.

[@bassamry]

good good, you caught the bad guy, so what? the animals are already dead.

[@austrorus]

besides China i am sure there are other countries who can carve. SELl it there, legally, get the Tanzanians the rewards, but control THAT as well, so it does not end in a Swiss or bermuda bank account. And Tanzania is not the only country that has huge stockpiles. Sell it legally and controlled on the world market. They stopped the sale of blood diamonds so why can't be done with ivory as well. a little bit more goodwill and co operation and the elephants at least had not died totally in vain.

[@teatualasi5676]

They need to sell these before they rod. And stop porching

[@chatoXvato]

How bout we save our own damn species first before we even try another.

[@Horrorly]

Well.... if you sell it all, wouldnt the amount of ivory on the market which now is legal push down the prices? = and would that then increase the killrate, as you'd need more of them to make the same amount of money?

[@SonOfKokobaboko]

Thanks for the tip.

[@AA-ef3xg]

同じ人間として、本当に怒り悲しみがあります。このような汚い手を使い密猟者は象たちの命まで奪い酷い‼️もっともっと厳重処分罰則をして欲しいです。密猟者さん、このような事して神が貴方達をどんな罰が待っているか、想像して下さい‼️

[@aluwanimoyo4093]

Why not just sell all the stockpiles at one - MARKET DYNAMICS will drive the prices down and make all the poaching pointless and once all the "ivory hungry" people are satisfied, the market will continue with the lower volumes from the animals that die naturally or are legally culled from time to time. These stockpiles can collapse the black market and then we create a new legal market. Ivory is not food - demand is only ever gonna get so high,.

[@ryswe]

not only that but it'll flood the market with ivory so it wont hold as much value

[@jenpoetess]

sad

[@chatoXvato]

"ANY type of mutation."

[@Peter4101]

Scrim-shaw.

[@chatoXvato]

Doing amazing in regards to what?Humans before us and thats it. I love animals as much as the next guy but I love humans even more. Our species will never value lives of animals because we cant even value lives of actual people. Also, your dead wrong assumptions are amusing. People benefit every day from animals more than they realize.Bees,cows,chickens, play a pivotal role in our food chain etc. Any animal can go extinct and you just have to accept the fact that nothing last forever.

[@icytea5]

alot of the ivory is hollow? how can you anyything from hollow ivory?

[@nocturox6388]

No it's obly the First Part where the tusk is attached to the elephant about 30 cm

[@SonOfKokobaboko]

citations?

[@smithderrie]

we're all mutations "bro".

[@daudakasha219]

Those who liked this video are poachers

[@chatoXvato]

My point is the reality you fail to acknowledge.Every creatures lives are just a fractal part of our planet.Its a noble cause,but its ultimately self defeating & fueled by nothing more than a self important point of view.Do you realize how many species have died off in the past century,hell,even this day?Studies estimate 150-200 a day,thats about 1 species dying off every 20 mins.Animals are beautiful but if they cannot adapt so be it,man should not try to further control nature out of guilt.

[@pondrockman100]

he must have had it on mute

[@R33C3.]

Flood the market with faux ivory as close to the real thing as you can get

[@thomasdeakin7642]

No ivory is too beautiful

[@mellisavogel5031]

could you make dentures out of them?

[@dorkikuma]

this is upsetting .__. ;__;

[@slurmz123]

Sad

[@ys1281]

😔😔😔🐘🙏❤️

[@Bootes_Void]

Take a good look while you can and Say goodbye to elephants because they are gone for good🐘

[@chatoXvato]

We dont need elephants bro. The planet doesnt need any shit type of mutation walking on it. It is seriously fine with or without any animals.

[@StarcraftPROwannabe]

cheap to pay?