Save the elephant

After (Now)

Elephant without its Tusks

Before

Ahmed in Marsabit-Kenya 1973

Ivory is approximately $200-$375.00 per inch, $3,000 per Kilo, or $1,500 perpound.

Carved Ivory used to make religious sculptures, in China.

Elephants are evolving smaller tusks to protect themselves from poaching.

 

Massive pile of Ivory Tusks

Baby Elephant

Help save the elephants

The Games End

TheGamesEndNovel.wordpress.com

U.S. to crush Ivory in an effort to help save elephants

U.S. Will Crush Ivory to Save Elephants

Authorities Hope Destroying Ivory Could Hurt Illegal Market

By Charlotte Alter @charlottealterSept. 10, 20131 Comment

U.S. officials in Denver plan to pulverize more than six tons of ivory in order to fight illegal wildlife trafficking and save elephants.

The New York Times reports that the Fish and Wildlife Service has seized the ivory in order to publicly crack down on the illegal $10 billion industry. The confiscated items include carved tusks and other art objects, which will be crushed by rock grinders in October.

The seizure is part of a major push to combat the killing of protected wildlife, announced by President Obama on July 1. Officials said they will give $10 million to fight poaching in Africa, work with Asian countries to outlaw ivory trinkets, and more carefully monitor elephant populations.

The decision to destroy the confiscated ivory is controversial, and some question whether it will do anything to limit demand for ivory or make a dent in the worldwide black market. Authorities plan to use some of the ivory to make a memorial to slaughtered elephants.

Source: http://nation.time.com/2013/09/10/u-s-will-crush-ivory-to-save-elephants/

Name That Elephant: How to Identify Elephants in the Wild

Like Mothers Like Daughters



Photograph Courtesy of ElephantVoices

 

As with other mammals, mothers and their children may look similar. In this family portrait taken in Amboseli, the mother elephant, Echo (far right) shares many physical characteristics with her daughters, Erin (to her immediate left) and Enid. This mother-daughter trio all have long tusks, Poole said, with the right one slightly higher than the left.

Citizen Science in Action



Photograph Courtesy of Kerstin Bucher

Kerstin Bucher, the German anesthesiologist and citizen scientist, named this female Tumaini, meaning “Hope” in Swahili. “She is really easy to recognize due to her remarkable tusks, especially the left one which is up curved and higher,” Bucher said. “I think everybody knows her as the female with the wonky left tusk!”



Photograph Courtesy of Kerstin Bucher

 

Bucher named her favorite elephant matriarch, Sian, through the ElephantVoices project. “She is not the largest elephant cow I have ever seen in my life, but she is definitely the most beautiful and most dignified matriarch.”

Learn more about the ElephantVoices project in the Mara.

Joyce Poole has created a video tutorial about identifying elephants and using the database.

Name That Elephant: How to Identify Elephants in the Wild

 

Veins, a Unique Elephant Fingerprint



Photograph Courtesy of ElephantVoices

 

Sharp photographs in good light reveal the pattern of veins on an elephant’s ears, which are as unique as our human fingerprints. “With a bit of sleuthing,” Poole said, “even years and new notches and tears later, an elephant can be reidentified using these vein patterns.”

Tusks

 



Photograph Courtesy of ElephantVoices

An elephant’s tusks don’t start to take shape until they are around eight to ten years old. Tusks vary in shape and size: They may curve upward, grow inward, go straight down, or be missing altogether. Tusks may break and grow back too, which makes them less reliable than ears, Poole said. Kegol (meaning “powerful and strong” in the Maasai language), the large adult male at right, has tusks that are convergent, or curve inward, while Big Mama, the large female at left, has straighter tusks, with the left tusk shorter.

It is rare for a male African elephant to be “tuskless,” but this inherited trait is seen in females. Since poachers kill elephants with tusks, the degree of tusklessness is a good indicator of the level of ivory poaching a population has experienced. “Sadly this trait is increasing across Africa,” said Poole, “but we can’t depend on this inherited trait to save elephants from extinction since, as it is a sex-linked gene, it doesn’t protect males.”

Source: Posted by Christy Ullrich of National Geographic in A Voice for Elephants on August 16, 2013 http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/16/name-that-elephant-how-to-identify-elephants-in-the-wild/

Battle for the Elephants Episode 4: Massive Ivory Stockpile

Here is the final video in the mini series of the exploration of the Ivory controversy.

How to identify elephants in the wild

 Ears Matter



Photographer Courtesy of ElephantVoices

Elephant ears can come in all shapes and sizes.

Ears may be pointed, round, or bulging, and the lower lobes may curl in or out.  Some are completely smooth at the edge. Others may be marked with a notch or tear, like those of Selengei, the large adult female elephant on the right, who is named after Poole and Granli’s daughter. (Selengei is a Maasai word meaning a young girl of marriageable age; it is also the name of a river near Amboseli, where Poole and Granli had worked.)

Some ears have serrated, ragged edges, such as those on the adult female seen in the photo at left. Notches, tears, and even holes distinguish elephant ears too. Selengei has a flap-cut visible in her left ear and ear lobes that curl outward, while the lobes of the female with serrated ears curve inward.

Source: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/16/name-that-elephant-how-to-identify-elephants-in-the-wild/

Here’s what to look for when identifying elephants

Here’s what to look for when identifying elephants.

Ears Matter


Photographer Courtesy of ElephantVoices

Elephant ears can come in all shapes and sizes.



Ears may be pointed, round, or bulging, and the lower lobes may curl in or out. Some are completely smooth at the edge. Others may be marked with a notch or tear, like those of Selengei, the large adult female elephant on the right, who is named after Poole and Granli’s daughter. (Selengei is a Maasai word meaning a young girl of marriageable age; it is also the name of a river near Amboseli, where Poole and Granli had worked.)

Some ears have serrated, ragged edges, such as those on the adult female seen in the photo at left. Notches, tears, and even holes distinguish elephant ears too. Selengei has a flap-cut visible in her left ear and ear lobes that curl outward, while the lobes of the female with serrated ears curve inward.

Want to know how to identify elephants in the wild?

There are many ways to identify elephants, here we will show you. But stay tuned to see the rest. Original content from source at the bottom.

Here’s what to look for when identifying elephants.

Sex and Size



Photograph Courtesy of ElephantVoices

The general body size and shape, thickness of the tusks, and, of course, the genitalia are important factors to consider when aging and sexing elephants. This photograph shows an adult male with an adult female and her offspring in Amboseli, Kenya. Ed (at left) has just mated with Erin (second to left). Males grow to be twice the size of females. “Ed is only six years older than Erin,” Poole noted, “but he is twice her weight.”

Adult males like Ed have more massive, rounded foreheads and thicker tusks, while adult females like Erin have breasts between their front legs, slender tusks, and more angular foreheads.

Other members of Erin’s family are, from her right, an eight-year-old female, a two–year-old with emerging tusks, and an infant. (An infant is less than a year old and has no tusks.) The adult female at the far right has recently entered adulthood, but still has much growing to do. Elephants are unusual among mammals in that they continue to grow through much of their life, making body size a convenient characteristic for determining elephant age.

Source: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/16/name-that-elephant-how-to-identify-elephants-in-the-wild/

Battle for the Elephants Episode 3: The China Ivory Market

 

TRAFFIC Responds to Blood Ivory: Ivory Worship

 

An anti-poaching patrol in Chad. Photograph by Michael Nichols/NGS File photo

Following publication of the Blood Ivory/Ivory Worship story by Bryan Christy in National Geographic last October, Steven Broad of TRAFFIC wrote the following letter. Owing to space constraints in the magazine, it was impossible to publish Mr. Broad’s letter and Mr. Christy’s response in full. In the interests of furthering the discussion about the illegal elephant ivory trade, we’re posting the correspondence here.

Dear Sir,

“Blood Ivory” by Bryan Christy (National Geographic Magazine, October 2012) amplifies two major conclusions of the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS): the illicit ivory trade is escalating and that China is the main driver. But the article gives the false impression that this ivory trade monitoring tool, operated by TRAFFIC on behalf of Parties to CITES, is a problem, rather than a solution. Indeed, for more than 20 years ETIS has helped illuminate the murky world of illegal ivory trafficking. Even the key statement in the opening paragraph—seizures of illegal ivory are at their highest level in years—is made possible thanks to the long-term, evidence-based analysis of ETIS.

Regrettably, the writer fundamentally misunderstands the design and analytical methods of ETIS. With seizure data, “what you see is what you get”, he seems to argue, not appreciating that the rigorous analysis to adjust for inherent bias allows us to “see through the raw data” and produce a robust contemporary portrait of the illegal trade. Further the writer implies that if a country does not provide ivory data, they duck notice or, alternatively, if they make lots of little seizures, they also get a reprieve. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In 2002, ETIS first identified China as the main driver of the illegal ivory trade—at a time when the world’s focus was still on Japan, and the number of ivory seizures involving China within the database stood at just 17 records. The article focuses on the Philippines, Thailand and China, all countries first indentified as significant players in the global ivory trade thanks to analysis from ETIS. Thailand, for example, has consistently rated as one of the top offenders where illegal ivory trade is permitted to flourish. Inexplicably, the article considers TRAFFIC’s advice to Thailand to take law enforcement action against the country’s retail ivory market as simply a move to “game ETIS” rather than deliver a blow to illegal trade in ivory.

ETIS indications of a declining illegal ivory trade trend following a legal ivory sale under CITES between three African countries and Japan in 1999 was backed up by analysis of thousands of seizure records. The article disputes these statistical findings, instead choosing to believe unspecified reports by unnamed NGOs, which claimed ivory trade had risen immediately following the sale, despite scant evidence to back up these claims.

And finally, to correct an error in your article, TRAFFIC’s Tom Milliken did not “remain” in the room when NGOs were expelled from the CITES Standing Committee meeting in August 2011.

TRAFFIC, like the writer of this article, remains deeply concerned at the current rising levels of illegal ivory trade and the associated poaching of elephants. It is a situation that demands global action, but action that should be guided by analysis of the many years of ivory trade monitoring data accumulated within ETIS.

Yours Faithfully,

Steven Broad

Executive Director, TRAFFIC International

 

Bryan Christy’s response:

The ETIS program run by TRAFFIC is one important tool for understanding the illegal ivory trade. However, it is not “a solution,” and overreliance on its results, especially in the case of the Japan Experiment and the question whether ivory sales cause ivory trafficking, has proved disastrous for elephants, as we detail in our story. Even China said illegal trade went up after the Japan sale, a point rejected by ETIS. [In March of this year TRAFFIC issued its latest ETIS report, concluding that illicit ivory trade for the period 1997 to 2007 did not decline, but rather “the salient pattern is really one showing relative stability.”]

As for whether ETIS Director Tom Milliken “remained” in the room when other NGOs were expelled from an important CITES ivory discussion in 2011, Mr. Milliken did initially leave the room with other NGOs, but he was then asked to return “to deliver his latest ETIS results” while other NGOs waited outside.

Source: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/14/traffic-responds-to-blood-ivory-ivory-worship/

Battle for the Elephants Episode 2: Criminal Traders Exposed

A Powerful Weapon Against Ivory Smugglers: DNA Testing

Hong Kong Customs seized 113 ivory tusks in a cargo shipment at Hong Kong International Airport on April 30 this year. Officers detected the ivory when they X-rayed a consignment labeled "spare parts" being shipped from Burundi, Africa to Singapore via Hong Kong. DNA analysis could be used to identify the real origin of smuggled ivory. Press release photograph issued by Hong Kong Department of Customs and Excise.

With illegal ivory trade at its highest level in almost two decades, and large-scale ivory seizures more than doubling since 2009, a new commitment to submit ivory shipments for DNA testing is a welcome development.

At the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Conference of Parties meeting in March, countries agreed to submit samples from all future ivory seizures of more than 500 kilos (about 1,340 pounds), as well as those of that size from the past 24 months, to determine the origin of the smuggled ivory.

The goal is to establish where the organized criminal networks responsible for these massive shipments are targeting elephants and then to focus law enforcement efforts on those poaching hot spots.

The latest report of the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) noted that almost none of the 34 large-scale seizures made from 2009 through 2011 resulted in successful investigations of the criminals behind the transactions. Thus far, DNA from less than 5 percent of ivory seizures has been provided for analysis.

“The single most important thing we can do is figure out where the killings are taking place,” says Samuel Wasser, Director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington.

Wasser and his team innovated techniques for extracting and analyzing DNA from ivory. The team also developed a DNA map for African elephants that allows the geographic origin of a tusk to be ascertained within a 160-mile radius.

DNA analysis focused on origin has already produced interesting results. Testing of 6.5 tons of illegal elephant ivory seized in Singapore in 2002, 3.9 tons confiscated in Hong Kong in 2006, and another 11 tons confiscated in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan (also in 2006) determined that the massive consignments came from closely related elephants in specific localities: eastern Zambia for the Singapore seizure, a small section of eastern Gabon and neighboring Congo for the single Hong Kong seizure, and southern Tanzania/northern Mozambique for all samples in the 11-ton seizure.

Those findings proved that organized gangs were filling purchase orders by targeting whole herds in certain areas rather than by collecting ivory from disparate sources, as was previously thought.

Many agents involved in wildlife law enforcement suspect that there are a finite number of poaching hot spots, which makes targeting those areas more feasible. Anti-poaching units could patrol specific locations, and wildlife law enforcement agents could monitor well-worn smuggling routes—ensuring the biggest bang for the limited bucks.

Forensic analysis also has the power to link suspects to specific crimes. In addition to providing information on where a tusk came from, DNA analysis can be used to identify individual elephants killed in a particular incident.

When a mass killing occurs, tissue samples from carcasses can be analyzed, so that when and if the tusks enter the illegal market, they can be matched to that same incident.

Or a different one. Such was the case recently when 22 elephants (18 adults and 4 calves) were killed in Garamba, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A short time later 36 tusks were confiscated. DNA analysis showed that the tusks did not come from those 22 elephants but from other elephants in the same overall population.

DNA analysis could also be used to show domestic ivory markets are operating legally. Recently, Chinese officials have disputed allegations of large-scale importation of illegal ivory and insisted that there is no linkage between their legal imports and the massive elephant poaching presently taking place.

One way they could prove their point would be to provide random samples of ivory from China’s legal markets for DNA analysis. If that analysis showed that it is all from Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Namibia, where one-off sales were allowed, such allegations could be rejected. But if the DNA analyses pointed to origins elsewhere, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Tanzania, or Kenya, there would be clear grounds for rejecting the Chinese claims.

 

Ivory Samples as a Proxy for Government Commitment

 

In the coming months, compliance with the CITES agreement to submit ivory samples should be closely watched. While some countries might assert that financial constraints prevent them from sending in DNA samples, the truth of that claim is suspect because the analysis itself will be funded by outside sources.

And the cost of shipping samples is minimal. Each sample is about the size of a one-inch coin, and only one tusk per pair needs to be tested. So a six-ton seizure would require shipping samples weighing less than a pound in all.

If a country opts not to submit samples, one might wonder whether it is doing everything it can to stop elephant poaching and ivory trafficking. And it might cause one to wonder if the government was allowing seized ivory to find its way into the illegal trade.

In contrast, a willingness to supply samples from seized ivory will help demonstrate a country’s commitment to stopping the illegal ivory trade.

 

Ones to Watch Now

 

Following are some recent large-scale ivory seizures that should be subject to the agreement:

In January 2013:

• Hong Kong officials intercepted a container from Kenya holding 779 pieces of ivory tusk weighing 1.3 metric tons.


• Singapore officials uncovered a shipment of 1.8 metric tons of ivory (a total of 1,099 pieces of raw tusks in 65 sacks) that had been labeled “waste paper.”


• Kenyan officials confiscated 2 metric tons of ivory (600 pieces) labeled “decorating stones” and bound for Indonesia from Tanzania.

In December 2012:

• Malaysian officials confiscated two cargo containers from Togo headed to China and labeled as “wooden floor tiles.” Instead they held 2,341 pieces of tusks weighing 6,034 kilograms.

In November 2012:

• Hong Kong officials intercepted 569 pieces of tusks weighing 1.3 metric tons that were hidden in a shipping container from Tanzania marked “sunflower seed.”


• Dubai officials uncovered a shipment of 215 pieces of ivory hidden in 40 boxes containing beans.

In October 2012:

• Hong Kong officials intercepted a container from Tanzania with 972 pieces of raw ivory tusks (1.9 metric tons), along with ivory ornaments inside 91 bags of plastics scraps.


• Hong Kong officials also seized a container from Kenya with 237 pieces of raw ivory tusks (about 1.9 metric tons) that were hidden inside 50 bags of “roscoco beans.”


• Tanzania authorities arrested three men with 214 elephant tusks, secreted in several fertilizer bags.

-Source National Geographic

Battle for the Elephants Episode 1: Battle for the Elephants

The War on Tusks

B

y Tara D. Sonenshine

Tusks up–in some parts of the world that means good luck; a saying full of irony considering the unfortunate plight of elephants today. Depending on your culture, elephants also convey strength, power, wisdom and patience. Whether in India, Africa or other lands, they are important and meaningful—and today they are receiving the global attention they deserve.

This month President Obama issued an executive order targeting the illegal trafficking of elephant tusks (and those of rhino horns and other products) promising a $10 million effort and a national presidential task force to increase anti-poaching efforts.  Building on what former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began in 2012 as a global crackdown on illicit trade of wildlife, the President vowed to rein in the growing black market for illegal animal products, which experts estimate has reached an annual business of 7-10 billion dollars.

The threat posed by this lucrative trade is not only environmental. It is a security and counterterrorism issue for the United States and many other countries. There is mounting evidence of links between wildlife crime syndicates and terror groups, with traffickers bankrolling rebels and their militias, conducting military-style assaults on elephants and terrorists funding their violent agenda through the burgeoning market for luxury goods, religious articles, carvings and medicines.

The White House action came as new scientific research opens major possibilities for determining the age of elephant tusks—a key part of the poaching puzzle.  Reported by theProceedings of the National Academies of Science, the research on tracking the age of ivory uses atmospheric nuclear weapons testing residue from the 1950s and 1960s to connect the dots on the age of elephant tusks.  In what is akin to the DNA breakthrough on crime solving, this new research could help law enforcement and other agencies determine when the killing of an elephants occurred—a tool in citing violations of the 1989 ban on African elephant killing for tusks.  The mere fact that carbon footprints from radiation from nuclear testing can be linking to elephant footprints is an astonishing scientific leap that will also help in tracking the numbers of traffickers since estimates of poaching comes from examining elephant carcasses.

The world is waking up to the plain fact that we are losing elephants fast.  National Geographic’s  2012 cover story on “Blood Ivory” detailed a decade of poaching that hit a high in 2011, having the greatest impact in the central Africa region.  According to experts at Columbia University, we have only 400,000 elephants left in the wild.  30,000 elephants are killed each year. A public education awareness campaign must be waged worldwide to target the demand side of the elephant equation. Consumers have to understand that ivory comes from a dead elephant’s tusk and that without an end to the purchase of these products, we simply cannot win the war on trafficking.  Media campaigns like those spearheaded by National Geographic, WildAid, the World Wildlife Federation and hundreds of other conservation groups are critical.  The involvement of Hollywood figures like Jackie Chan have helped the wildlife trafficking issue to gain traction as has the work of athletes like Yao Ming.

In the end, this war will be won through changing hearts and minds—or in other words, public diplomacy.  We need education to reinforce the principle that killing animals is not cool and that the crime of poaching will lead to serious consequences.Whether it is good luck, wisdom or patience, elephants are vital to our planet and must stay front and center in the global mindset until their slaughter is stopped.

Tara D. Sonenshine is former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and helped lead the anti-poaching efforts at the State Department. 

Source: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/10/the-war-on-tusks/

Elephant tusks: the new blood diamonds

NAIROBI, Kenya — Militant groups in Central and East Africa are cashing in on the lucrative ivory trade to fund their operations across the continent, threatening both regional security and the survival of Africa’s endangered elephants.

Demand from increasingly affluent Chinaand Southeast Asian nations has driven a surge in elephant poaching in recent years, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of the animals annually, wildlife monitoring groups say.

But in a new development, armed insurgent groups like Uganda’s brutal Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Somalia’s Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab and Sudan’s Janjaweed militia are joining organized criminal networks as major players in the illicit trade.

More from GlobalPost: Time to ban ivory for good?

The groups are either trafficking tusks internationally for cash, or trading ivory for food and ammunition. Experts say trafficked ivory is now equivalent to conflict diamonds, mined in war zones to fund insurgencies or militias.

“We know how minerals fuel conflicts,” said Kasper Agger, who researches the LRA for the DC-based Enough Project advocacy group, which focuses on raising awareness of genocide and crimes against humanity. “But with the growing prices, ivory is also starting to fuel conflict. We have to see it in that context — that it is equally damaging to regional security.”

President Barack Obama signed earlier this month an executive order establishing a high-level Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking to address what is described as “an international crisis that continues to escalate.”

The executive order states that wildlife trafficking generates “billions of dollars in illicit revenues each year, contributing to the illegal economy, fueling instability and undermining security.”

Welcoming the US initiative John Scanlon, secretary-general of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, said it “sends a powerful message both domestically and internationally on the need to treat wildlife crime as a serious crime on a par with narcotics and arms trafficking.”

Illegal wildlife trafficking is worth as much as $19 billion each year, making it the fourth most lucrative illegal industry after narcotics, counterfeiting and human trafficking, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

In a March report, the United Nations Environment Program warned that poaching levels in Africa have more than doubled since 2007.

When it comes to ivory, the trade is indeed lucrative.

A kilogram of elephant ivory has a black market price of about $2,200, while a rhino horn will for a staggering $66,000 per kilo, according to the senior director for African affairs at the National Security Staff of the White House.

Somalia’s Al Shabaab militia could be trafficking ivory through Kenya to supply “up to 40 percent of the funds needed to keep them in business,” says the Los Angeles-based Elephant Action League, an advocacy group.

Al Shabaab is an Al Qaeda-affiliated militant group, which at various times has controlled large swathes of Somalia, including the capital Mogadishu. An African Union peacekeeping force is said to have significantly weakened the group over the past two years, depriving Al Shabaab of territory and much-needed revenue.

The EAL says, based on its own investigation, that Al Shabaab's monthly income from ivory at between $200,000 and $600,000, though the figure could not be verified. Kenya Wildlife Service officials support the allegations that the militants hunt for ivory to boost their coffers.

The LRA’s infamous Ugandan leader, Joseph Kony, now issues “direct orders” to subordinates to kill elephants and harvest their tusks, according to an Enough Project report Agger co-authored.

Agger says in early 2012, his organization began hearing rumors that LRA defectors were discussing poaching for tusks, which the group then uses to help supply troops with food and ammunition.

Infamous for its atacks on civilians, mass abductions, mutilation and murder, the LRA has for decades terrorized communities across Central Africa, launching attacks on isolated villages far from government.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo last year, Agger spoke to eyewitnesses who had been abducted and forced to work for the LRA helping carry elephant meat and tusks.

Agger said the tusks were carried overland by a series of porters northwards into Central African Republic (CAR) and then east into Sudan’s South Darfur, where Kony is believed to have found a safe haven under the protection of Sudan’s armed forces.

In the most recent annual report on Central Africa, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the “illegal ivory trade may currently constitute an important source of funding for armed groups, including the LRA.”

Sudan’s own government-backed Janjaweed militias, responsible for atrocities committed in the western region of Darfur over the last decade, are also suspected of involvement in the ivory trade.

International conservationist groups like the WWF blame Janjaweed gunmen for a devastating series of raids on the Bouba N’Djida National Park in northern Cameroon last year, in which hundreds of elephants were killed over a number of weeks.

Earlier this month, just days after Obama signed the wildlife executive order, authorities seized two large shipments of nearly 5 tons of illegal ivory at the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

Kenya’s ports act as transit points for smuggling to Asia, though much of Africa’s illegal ivory comes from the interior — including the DRC, CAR and Uganda.

The size of the shipments is evidence of “a high degree of sophistication that indicates the involvement of criminal syndicates,” said Richard Thomas, communications coordinator for TRAFFIC, a UK-based wildlife trade-monitoring network.

Thomas said the involvement of armed groups as well as criminal gangs was a serious concern. “This is no longer just an issue for the environmental sector,” he said.

 

Source: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/130713/elephant-ivory-africa-kenya-somalia-obama-al-shabaab-lra-uganda

Elephant chased me in Marsabet

[caption id="attachment_191" align="alignnone" width="600"] This is how big the elephant that chased me was.[/caption]

 

When I found an elephant up in Marsabet I got out of the car to take  a picture, and the ears were taking up the whole space on the lens, and it went after me. and I was shocked that it didn't get me, but you can read about it in the book its an interesting story.

Book about elephants in Africa, stop the poaching save the elephants

 

 

The Games end

– A novel that brings awareness to the poaching of elephants, and how if we don’t start saving the elephants they will no longer be with us.

 Elephants are in danger of being extinct, they are being poached for their Ivory. Let’s save the elephant from this massacre that is going on. In my book you will experience the adventure of being all over Africa, as I once did. There is plenty of adventure, there’s romance, and you will learn many great things.

Book about elephants

If you are looking for a book to read about elephants you must read The Games End.

The book is on Amazon also available as Kindle for $4.99 here: amzn.com/0615456545

Mount Kenya Safari Club

The Games End – A novel that brings awareness to the poaching of elephants, and how if we don’t start saving the elephants they will no longer be with us.

In “The Games End” there were many scenes in the novel that took took place in the Mount Kenya Safari Club during that time. William Holden left behind the William Holden Wildlife foundation (which is right next to the Mount Kenya Safari Club) and  is now owned by Stefanie powers. She spends a lot of time there, bringing awareness of “The Game” and elephant poaching to make sure these wonderful animals are not hunted.

The famous Mount Kenya Safari Club, which all the movie stars king and queens even the President and Queen of England came to during the 50′s, to see the wildlife.

Hotel El Mirador, the Owner was from Palm Springs CA his name was Ray Ryan, and also one of the owners of the Mount Kenya Safari Club. Unfortunately he was murdered.

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis liked to spend their weekends at the hotel El Mirador, they loved the pool and spend all their afternoons there having fun and making up all of their comics to do next weekend with NBC.

Mount Kenya Safari Club now belongs to Fairmont.

Stefanie Powers and

William Holden

Hermes or Herpes

[hulu id=p525c2eqyzo-djmttiasya width=512]

This clip has just been shown to all of us. Nothing can apply more than what happened to Hermes ad. It is so twisted that it has come forward and it has become huge in the world. The girls are marvelous and the Ben Affleck really is a good actor. The Chinese who contribute to elephant poaching and sell their beautiful Ivory can afford the Hermes Birkin Bags. The bags are priced at around $10,000 and range to even $65,000! While Ivory is priced at $1,700 per pound. Coincidence? So think about all these things, the fun is all there but so is all the bad stuff. We have to save the elephants.

I was in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda) wrote a book about elephants in Africa, its called The Games End, check it out, it’s on Amazon also available as Kindle for $4.99 here:
amzn.com/0615456545

Must-read book about African elephants and poaching

The Games End

A novel that brings awareness to the poaching of elephants, and how if we don’t start saving the elephants they will no longer be with us. The novel by author William Gardner, is a novel that talks about the tragedies regarding African elephant poaching. This is important because right now the issue is strong. The Author has been to Africa himself many times and witnessed the tragedies, from which he got the inspiration needed to write the book. The book is about elephants in Africa, and it contains romance and adventure. Its called The Games End, check it out, it’s on Amazon also available as Kindle for $4.99 here

Save the elephant
Also check out my website http://thegamesend.com/
and my blog William Louis Gardner

Review: This book is packed with action from start to finish; it opens with the main character Astrid and her faithful servant Mojo, facing a possible flogging and imprisonment from the government. Astrid’s crime was to retaliate when a poacher killed one of her orphan animals, a baby elephant; who she has hand reared. Her father Helmet is trying to keep her out of jail but is scared that he may fail. Mark is in love with Astrid and she is fond of him. He is gathering evidence about an organised gang of poachers, who have government protection from corrupt politicians. Many people want to silence Mark before he presents his evidence.

Clay is a well-known hunter who wants to kill Ahmed the biggest elephant in the country, at any cost. Ahmed is a national treasure and he is protected by the president, who feels a special affinity with the elephant. Tim, Clay’s son, shares none of his father’s bloodthirsty traits.
Jim wants to shoot a film in Africa and needs footage of their biggest elephant Ahmed. He is accompanied by Julia a married woman, who is in love with him. If you like action packed stories, you will love this book as it does not disappoint. If you have an affinity for our diminishing wildlife this book will inform you. I learnt a lot reading this book and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Well done William.

Improve your marketing with the http://hotvsnot.com for free This site is listed under Fiction Directory

Can Elephants swim?

Elephants are very good swimmers.

I was in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda) wrote a book about elephants in Africa, its called The Games End, check it out, it’s on Amazon also available as Kindle for $4.99 here:
amzn.com/0615456545

Why are elephants poached and killed for their tusks?

Elephants are poached for the value of their Ivory. Poachers in Africa kill the elephants, who then sell them to the smugglers, and they sell them. Last year alone over 100,00 were massacred, which was a tragedy. They sawed off their tusks, which goes to the upper status people of China who love the carved Ivory and want it in their house. Right now its over $1,300 a pound. China has been purchasing that poached ivory at an alarming rate. If this continues, there will be no more elephants, the day might come where we no longer get to see them, only in the zoos.

-William Gardner

You can check out The Games End. The entire book has to do with elephants, it deals with poaching, adventure, romance, and you will learn many things. The Author has been to Africa himself many times and witnessed the tragedies, from which he got the inspiration needed to write the book. The authors goal is to raise awareness about elephants so that we can prevent poaching, since right now its such a critical issue and the day might come when we longer get to see elephants. Its called The Games End, check it out, it’s on Amazon also available as Kindle for $4.99 here:

Africas devastating elephant poaching problem

      At least 86 elephants, including 33 pregnant females, were killed over a single week in Chad, by “poachers traveling on horseback carrying AK-47s and hacksaws,” reports The Guardian.

“Even if the conditions were right, which they are not, it would take more than 20 years for this population to recover,” said Celine Sissler-Bienvenu from the International Fund for Animal Welfare. The most recent incident in Chad is just the latest in a growing, troubling epidemic.

How big of a problem is it? Several elephants are killed every hour of every day, says a new report from the U.N. Poachers are the main culprits: “Illicit ivory trade activity and the weight of ivory behind this trade has more than doubled since 2007, and is over three times greater than it was in 1998.” The report also warns that elephants might disappear completely from Central and West Africa if better protections aren’t implemented.

Who is fueling the demand for ivory? Mostly the “rapidly growing economies of Asia, particularly China and Thailand,” says the U.N. In an op-ed in The New York Times, Samantha Strindberg and Fiona Maisels from the Wildlife Conservation Society lament the fact that ivory has become a luxury item:

In China and other countries in the Far East, there has been an astronomical rise in the demand for ivory trinkets that, no matter how exquisitely made, have no essential utility whatsoever. An elephant’s tusks have become bling for consumers who have no idea or simply don’t care that it was obtained by inflicting terror, horrendous pain and death on thinking, feeling, self-aware beings. [New York Times]

Al Jazeera reports that the price of ivory has surpassed $2,000 per kilogram on the Asian black market.

Why hasn’t more been done to stop the poaching? It’s complicated. As Derek Mead at Motherboard puts it, “The trade has spiraled out of control, run by militant groups in Africa and organized crime in Asia, with little fear of serious crackdowns.”

Political instability can make patrolling elephant habitats difficult. “Anti-poaching teams are often poorly equipped and the guards themselves are targeted,” says Celeste Hicks at The Guardian. Between 2006 and 2009, 10 guards were killed in Chad’s Zakouma National Park. The World Wildlife Federation’s Bas Huijbregts tells Al Jazeera that the culprits in this case were likely the “same group of Sudanese poachers who killed over 300 elephants in northern Cameroon in February 2012.”

In Asia, as is noted in the U.N. report, “highly-organized criminal networks operate with relative impunity to move large shipments of ivory off the continent and to markets in Asia.” While regulations preventing the ivory trade do exist in Asia, countries such as China, Thailand and Vietnam need to “urgently and dramatically improve enforcement effort to crack down on illegal wildlife trade in their countries,” says the WWF.

How can these countries better protect the elephants? Earlier this month, officials from the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species called for more heavy-handed sanctions including banning countries that deal in ivory “from all wildlife trade, including hugely lucrative orchid and crocodile skin exports.”

In countries like Chad, where poverty and corruption make stopping poachers difficult, the U.N. report recommends better training and technology paired with “appropriate mandates to allow park rangers to pursue poachers and conduct patrols outside park boundaries,” as well as more international cooperation in apprehending and extraditing poachers. According to AFP, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Chad are taking a small step towards that goal by meeting in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, this week to develop a more aggressive anti-poaching strategy.

Source

The Games End: Elephants, Africa Romance and Adventure

"The Games End"

Hollywood and Africa. This is a website representing the book The Games End:Hollywood goes to East Africa to make a film but struggles with Africanization, intrigue and murder to save the elephant. The film story is a “Moby Dick” theme that is played out with a great elephant, Ahmed, that captures the adventure and romance of the time with its great cast of characters finding them-selves in the African bush working to save the game, but running into opposition every way they turn.

It also brings awareness to the poaching of elephants, and how if we don’t start saving the elephants they will no longer be with us. The Author has been to Africa himself many times and witnessed the tragedies, from which he got the inspiration needed to write the book.

-A Review from the Midwest Book Review of “The Games End” by William Louis Gradner

National treasure is a status that won’t protect one from greed. “The Games End” is a novel about Ahmed, a massive tusk elephant in Kenya who captivated Hollywood throughout the 50′s through 1970′s.  Although he  was ordered to be protected from hunters, the allure of this giant prize would not protect him from those who only  saw only dollar signs.  ”The Games End” is a riveting novel of adventure, highly recommended.

Available on Amazon also as Kindle for $4.99

Baby elephant rescue

Astrid struggles to bring back the life of a baby elephant who’s mother was poached in the bush (Piece taken from "The Games End")

Darkness had fallen by the time they arrived at the lodge. There were cries from the animals as they passed by in the lorry. Something was bothering the animals, thought Astrid. Up ahead the headlights of the lorry shone on a baby elephant in the care of George, an animal attendant, who was trying to make it drink from a bottle of milk.
“It looks like I have a new orphan,” said Astrid as she stopped the lorry and jumped out of the cab. Mark and Molo followed.
“Where did the little packy come from, George?”
“We found her in the bush, Mama. Her mama, she dead.
Poachers.” said George, as he tried to put the bottle in the small elephant’s mouth, but the little one wouldn’t take the warm milk.
“She weak no wanta eat, Mama,” said George.
The baby elephant was about three feet tall. Astrid knew it would be hard for it to survive. She had experience with this size baby elephant before. It seemed too young and needed the potency of mother’s milk. Astrid took the bottle from George and drew some milk from it and put it down the soft little trunk for the elephant to smell, but the little elephant didn’t move. “It won’t live. It needs its mother’s milk. I’ll give it Molo’s formula. It has worked before on these babies.” She looked at Mark. “I feel helpless and sad, Mark, when I can’t save one of these little ones. Those bloody poachers have got to be stopped.”
Mark knelt next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. Astrid said to George. “Stay with her tonight. Keep trying to feed her.” She and Mark started back to the lorry.
“Bwana, some men here today ask for you.” said George.
“What did you tell them?” he asked.
“I no see Bwana,” said George.
“Were they Tanzanian?”
“No. One big one, he have tribal scar on face. He no from here,” said George. Mark and Astrid left for the hotel.
“General Service Unit is onto me.” I shouldn’t stay here tonight.”
“Where will you go? They won’t be back in the dark. Not out here. It’s too remote. Besides you’re inTanzania. They’d have to kidnap you. They can’t arrest you in this country. They have no authority.” Astrid stopped the lorry next to the main lodge.
“Stay in the cab,” she said. “I’m going to check and see if one of the tents is vacant. You can stay there tonight. If they do come back they’ll never look for you there. Not with all the hotel guests here”
Astrid went into the lodge while Mark remained in the lorry. She was back in a few minutes. They drove in front of the long row of tents, looking at the numbers. “There it is. Number sixteen,” said Astrid. She stopped and Mark picked up his knapsack as Astrid lifted up the front cover of the tent to enter. She struck a match and lit the oil lamp by the cot.
Mark took the pictures out of his knapsack and gave them to her.
“These are for P.D. Mnazi inNairobi. Tell him that the General Service Unit are after me. Tell him where I am.” He drew Astrid to him. “Will you stay with me?” he asked, looking into her wide blue eyes.
“I can’t Mark. I’m leaving forNairobiearly in the morning. I still have much to do tonight to be prepared for tomorrow. I’d be bad company. There’s too much on my mind.” She moved away from him.
“Thanks for today. I love you,” he said. Astrid smiled at him.
“You’re sweet Mark and I love you too.” She lifted up the corner of the tent flap and left.
Mark could hear the sound of the lorry as it drove away. She actually said she loved me. I can’t believe it, but she did. What a day this has been, he thought. He blew out the oil lamp by his bed and collapsed on the cot with his clothes on. All he could see in his thoughts was Astrid’s beautiful face as he drifted off into a deep sleep.
 
Astrid drove back to the orphanage. She stopped the lorry in front of where George attended the baby elephant. She picked up a kerosene lamp, lit it and joined George, who still tried to get the baby to drink from the bottle. She sat down next to the small animal who was having a problem breathing. It lay listless making no attempt to move. Thick mucus flowed from its mouth and trunk. She touch its rough hide and the tip of its truck to feel its body temperature. The baby seemed cold to her.
“The baby’s sick. How old do you think it is?”
“Maybe two days, Mama. She stand around dead mama when we find. I think no eat from mama. She sees poachers cut tusks from Mama. I know she feel sad, to see mama be killed so bad.”
“Yes, George, I agree. I miss my Suzy so. She was my pet. She also wouldn’t eat when I found her. I had a terrible time getting her to do so. I remember now. George, go to the kitchen and have Molo give you some corn syrup and bring it back.”
George got up and left. Astrid kept stroking the baby’s trunk.
“You poor hungry little girl. Mama wants you to eat. You must be very hungry. Mama has something wonderful for you to taste. I bet you’re going to like what Mama gives you.” she said stroking the elephant hide around its ears. The elephant didn’t move and its breathing remained the same. Astrid started to sneeze. Her eyes watered. She can felt them puffing and swelling. Damn those allergies, she said to herself. She took a large red cloth from her pocket and blew her nose. She looked up and saw Ingrid in her cage close by. Ingrid jumped up and down and screamed, wanting Astrid to come to her. Astrid got up from the elephant and went to Ingrid’s cage. She opened the door and Ingrid came to her and gave her a sloppy kiss as she hugged her.
“You poor girl. I haven’t forgotten you, Ingrid. Mama has been busy trying to stay out of trouble. Oh, what is going to happen to you, Ingrid, if I go to jail? What is going to happen to all my babies? I’m going to miss all of you,” she said as she looked around at the animals staring at her. I think they know, noting how sad they looked, she thought.
George came back with the corn syrup. She handed him Ingrid and she took the corn syrup and sat down next to the baby elephant’s head. She opened the bottle and poured the thick liquid on her middle finger and inserted it into the elephant’s half-opened mouth as if it were its mother tit. She observed the baby elephant, looking for any movement it might give. Nothing. She pulled out her finger and poured more syrup on it and inserted it again. Nothing happened for a moment or two and then she felt it. Its mouth moved. A slight movement, but it moved. Then she felt its tongue slowing moving, back and forth. It swallowed. She looked up at George. “George, It swallowed.” Astrid petted its head. George smiled at her. “George, give me the bottle. Is it warm?” George nodded. She put the bottle in the little elephant’s mouth and the baby started to suck.
“She is nursing, George. She is going to make it,” she yelled.”

Ever heard of Ahmed the Elephant?

Ahmed the elephant

[caption id="attachment_147" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Kenya's largest tusk elephant, central to the plot in The Games End. Ahmed is stuffed and stands in front of the Nairobi Museum in Kenya . Former President Kenyatta issued a degree to protect him when he was alive.[/caption]

Have you ever seen an elephant with tusks like these? At one time this is how long elephants got to grow their tusks, but unfortunately because of poaching, we are losing what has been one of the greatest animals to walk on this world.

Kenya's largest tusk elephant, central to the plot in The Games End. Ahmed is stuffed and stands in front of the  Nairobi   Museum  in  Kenya  . Former President Kenyatta issued a degree to protect him when he was alive.
The Author has been to Africa himself many times and witnessed the tragedies, from which he got the inspiration needed to write the book. The book is about elephants in Africa, and it contains romance and adventure. Its called The Games End, check it out, it's on Amazon also available as Kindle for $4.99 here:
William Louis Gardner: 9780615456546: Amazon.com: Books

Save the elephant

South African Lion Kings are the most unusual you’ve seen

Elephants love to get drunk under this tree

Mount Kiliminjaro in Tanzania, East Africa

Read my novel The Games End

Elephants have good memory

In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Louisiana State University .

On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.  The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully.  He got down on one knee, inspected the elephants foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments.  Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled.  Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away.  Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son.  As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing.  The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down.  The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter could not help wondering if this was the same elephant.  Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure.  He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder.  The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn’t the same fucking elephant.

This is for everyone who sends me those heart-warming bullshit stories.

Assembly Hall at the Parliament Building in Nairobi, Kenya

Chapter 20 from the Book "The Games End"

In downtown Nairobi a meeting had been called in the mammoth Assembly Hall at the Parliament Building. Minister P.D. Mnazi was standing in front of the packed crowd of MPs.

“These are serious times when our leader’s family continues to exploit our national treasures. Our rain forests are being burned down for charcoal to sell to the Gulf States. This horror has got to stop or there will be no forest left for our children and their children.” A roar came from the assembly. A few of the old MPs exchanged serious looks, whispering to one another as P.D. Mnazi continued with his speech. “Our people died in the forests with a handful of soil in their hands, believing they had fallen in a noble struggle to regain our land. Now that we have it back, our leaders are exploiting it.”

This was accompanied by a strong chorus of boos from some of the MP’s. One said, “He’s gone too far this time. This is treason.”

P.D. continued, “We the government have put good laws in place to stop the illegal poaching and selling of ivory, but how can you stop this illegality when people in high government are taking profit from it, and destroying the very foundation of Kenyan wild life? I have here,” he lifted this hand into the air, “photos of a recent raid of poachers led by one of our ruthless neighbors to the north, the Somalis, who have bedded down with our country’s leaders. One of our own game department personnel took these photos of the illegal buyers in Mombasa. Look, gentlemen! See who this illegal buyer is. Someone we all know in _­Kenya. Someone we respect in our high government. See for yourself! “He handed the photos to the man seated next to him and the photos were passed around the room. They caused a major furor.

“I have nothing more to say. You’re looking at the evidence.”

The photos were now in the hands of Major Darassa and Minister Mafalme.

Minister Mafalme spoke into Major Darassa’s ear. “It’s time to put operation “Hyena” in place. I don’t want to hear the details. Call me when you have the results,” he said

Major Darassa nodded. MP Mnazi walked out of the Assembly and Major Darassa followed a few feet behind.

The Games End on Amazon: www.tinyurl.com/TheGamesEndAmzn

In downtown Nairobi a meeting had been called in the mammoth Assembly Hall at the Parliament Building. Minister P.D. Mnazi was standing in front of the packed crowd of MPs.

“These are serious times when our leader’s family continues to exploit our national treasures. Our rain forests are being burned down for charcoal to sell to the Gulf States. This horror has got to stop or there will be no forest left for our children and their children.” A roar came from the assembly. A few of the old MPs exchanged serious looks, whispering to one another as P.D. Mnazi continued with his speech. “Our people died in the forests with a handful of soil in their hands, believing they had fallen in a noble struggle to regain our land. Now that we have it back, our leaders are exploiting it.”

This was accompanied by a strong chorus of boos from some of the MP’s. One said, “He’s gone too far this time. This is treason.”

P.D. continued, “We the government have put good laws in place to stop the illegal poaching and selling of ivory, but how can you stop this illegality when people in high government are taking profit from it, and destroying the very foundation of Kenyan wild life? I have here,” he lifted this hand into the air, “photos of a recent raid of poachers led by one of our ruthless neighbors to the north, the Somalis, who have bedded down with our country’s leaders. One of our own game department personnel took these photos of the illegal buyers in Mombasa. Look, gentlemen! See who this illegal buyer is. Someone we all know in _­Kenya. Someone we respect in our high government. See for yourself! “He handed the photos to the man seated next to him and the photos were passed around the room. They caused a major furor.

“I have nothing more to say. You’re looking at the evidence.”

The photos were now in the hands of Major Darassa and Minister Mafalme.

Minister Mafalme spoke into Major Darassa’s ear. “It’s time to put operation “Hyena” in place. I don’t want to hear the details. Call me when you have the results,” he said

Major Darassa nodded. MP Mnazi walked out of the Assembly and Major Darassa followed a few feet behind.

Who doesn't want to go on a Safari?

Who hasn't wanted to go on a Safari? From the first page, the reader is drawn into a web of intrigue, conflict and profound moral choices regarding the plight of endangered species and unrestricted personal greed that will lead to their extermination

This is a total trip, one with a twist and edge of your seat ending. All the ingredients for a thrilling movie adventure. Plus the author has described the scenario with all his personal visual memory of the great Kilimanjaro mystic. there’s a touching unrequited love story to boot.

-Paula Stewart 

“Bill Gardner captured on paper what he witnessed in life when traveling extensively through Africa. A lively and enjoyable insight into one man’s understanding of how he interpreted the mystique of the African continent.”

-Foodman

“Having been to Africa and seeing firsthand the spectacle of the animal’s one is privileged to witness you know that you are having the experience of a lifetime. You are drawn back for more. This book confirms your desire. The author provides a vivid view of the country, its people and the predicament the continent finds itself into today. There were moments when I could not put the book down. Very exciting!”

  –  By Jeffery Baumgartner

The Moby Dick Film

“I had this thought in the cab that Anne could come with us to Kenya, Graham. I need a stand-in for my leading lady. She could do the doubling for her,” said Jim.

Anne and Graham exchanged looks. “The money’s good. All expenses. What do you say?”

“Are you asking me or Graham?” said Anne.

“You, of course, Anne.”

“When do you have to have an answer?”

“In a few days.”

“Can you tell me about the film?” asked Anne.

“It has a “Moby Dick” theme. The protagonist hunts down an old large tusked elephant inKenya. The elephant charged as he was trying to shoot it. The hunter missed getting the animal in the heart so the elephant was able to continue the charge. It picked him up and threw him fifty feet. The fall crippled him. He recovered, but was maimed for life. He wanted revenge. He was obsessed about going back to even the score. Every day he thought about killing the elephant. His hate drove his family away. Only his wife faithfully stood by him, but he abuses her for it. He goes back toKenyato hunt down the elephant, but in the end the elephant triumphs by killing him.”

“It sounds like Hemingway could have written it,” said Anne.

“I wrote it. I stole it from Melville. It’s theHollywoodformula picture. After you’ve see a few, they seem the same. ButHollywoodgives the money. They’ve been proven box-office draws.”

Anne looked at Jim with new interest.

“I’d be a fool not to take you up on your invitation. I think I could get my affairs sorted out.”

“Great. Let’s have some champagne to celebrate,” said Jim as he looked around for a waiter.

Anne looked over to the far side of the room and saw someone she knew. She got up from the table. Jim and Graham stood up. “One of my Arab clients is sitting over there,” she continued. “He’s been ignoring my statements. I’m going to asked him if he liked the job. Would you excuse me,” she said as she left the table.

Jim and Graham sat back down. “Graham, what are you doing to me? She’s beautiful. What is your relationship with her?”

“I told you we grew up together. Her family was our landlord. It’s a sad story. Her father, the earl, lost all of the family money gambling. When the creditors took his property it killed him. It was in the family for hundreds of years. There were some rumors that he took his own life. Anne rebelled. She got into the sixties culture. Dope, Beatles, free love, flower child, you name it, she did it. She married an artist. She’s out of that now. She had to go to work. She took a job with one ofEngland’s most revered interior designers and now she’s on her own. I can’t believe she said she’d go with us toKenya. Something’s going on between you two, isn’t it?”

“You said she’s out of her marriage. What do you mean?”

“She’s still married, but her husband, Alex, is a nut. She doesn’t live with him. They have some kind of open marriage. She never talks about it or him.” answered Graham. They looked up.

Anne returned to the table and the waiter arrived with the champagne. She sat down and the waiter opened the bottle and poured their glasses full.

Anne picked up her glass and said. “First, I would like to drink to a very special new friend, to you Jim and to luck with your new film. And to our Kenyan adventure, a magical land of the born free.”

They lifted their glasses for a toast. “ToKenya.”

Anne thought, how am I going to get Alex to let me go?

The Tragedy of the elephant

Put together by: William Louis Gardner

Ahmed The Elephant
Largest Tusk Elephant

Ahmed, Kenya’s largest tusk elephant is stuffed and stands in front of the Kenyan Museum in Nairobi, Kenya. Former President Jomo Kenyatta issued a decree to protect him from the poachers and hunters when he was alive and this is central to the plot of the book: The Games End. ”The Games End” is a about Ahmed, a massive tusk elephant in Kenya who captivated Hollywood through the 1950s through 1970s. Although he was ordered to be protected from hunters, the allure of this giant prize would not protect him those who saw only dollar signs.

It also brings awareness to the poaching of elephants, and how if we don’t start saving the elephants they will no longer be with us. The Author has been to Africa himself many times and witnessed the tragedies, from which he got the inspiration needed to write the book. William Louis Gardner has an additional published book: “Confessions of a Hollywood Agent” available on Amazon.



-Mwai Kibaki, president of Kenya, sets fire to confiscated ivory at the Kenya Wildlife Training School in Manyani, Kenya, Wednesday, July 20, 2011. In a bid to combat the illegal ivory trade in Africa, Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF) announced The African Law Enforcement Day by burning 5 tons of contraband ivory at the Kenya Wildlife Training School. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)

Source



-Ivory goes up in smoke



-Ivory ashes after they have been destroyed.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AElxLdGWF2U]

Hereis the video of the Ivory being destroyed



These are the ashes, and this the end of the tragedy. Lets hope that in the future we can stop the tragedy.