Gambling on Extinction

Gr 9 Up—According to this alarm-raising documentary, uncontrolled wildlife poaching and trafficking will result in the loss of all African and Asian forest elephants and all rhinos within the next 15 years. The profits from the resulting illegal sales of ivory and rhino horns are funding international terrorism. This war on wildlife has resulted in the greatest mass extinction since the Ice Age. As these animal products become rarer, their prices increase and the killing intensifies. Only when the demand for these products wanes will the slaughter stop. The urgency of the situation is reflected in the dire tone of the narration and the sometimes brutal footage of dead and dying animals. Filmed in wildlife sanctuaries in Africa and in the illegal markets of Asia, interviews include a former poacher-turned-wildlife guardian and the buyers and traffickers who see little harm in their dealings. A hopeful solution involves the financial uplift of the communities surrounding the sanctuaries through tourism and legal activities, which would make poaching an unnecessary economic activity. However, there is very little time left for that approach to be effectively examined.