The Ivory Game: Das Elfenbein-Komplott

The documentary explores operations of poachers in Africa and further trafficking of illegal ivory to Asia where it is sold to local wholesalers who subsequently can deliver it to your doorstep a 'nominal' fee. The undercover footage gives the documentary great validity and evidential basis. Must be watched - thought-provoking and horrifyingly real.

First of all, this is a very well made documentary and you can notice that from the first shot. Directors Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani have done a really great job in putting the pieces of ivory trade together in a very comprehensible narrative that exposes the whole circle of the game.

We get to know the whole infrastructure behind it, from local killers working for local dealers, to foreign dealers and (usually Chinese) wealthy buyers. The cinematography of it is breathtaking as we are taken to visit the natural habitat of Elephants in South East Africa and meet the people who try to protect them against all odds and overwhelmingly lack of resources. We get to know the enthusiastic wildlife conservationists working in Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and get to know their motivation for fighting poachers and the whole illegal network. We get to know the man behind Wildleaks - an organization that leak the information about that network and we go undercover with them to meetings with dealers in China.

The whole documentary feels like a first class thriller with chase footage of the poachers and undercover agents risking their lives to expose the wide network, except this one is a reality.

Although one small minus for me was that not enough (in my opinion) was said about how complex,intelligent and emotional animals Elephants are. I mean they can paint, they visit spots where their members were killed or died and mourn the dead bones together, which we could consider as a form of ritual. They are able to use tools (although on lower level than chimps). Together with dolphins and apes they exhibit forms of self-recognition and they have an excellent memory.

Although elephants also cause some problems to people, especially in Asia where urbanization and human population claimed a lot of their natural habitats, the massive genocide of elephants for their ivory is a sign of something much larger than just ivory black market. It's a sign of expansion of human destructive relationship to our natural environment. We don't respect the nature as is documented by the global warming, and we don't give a sh*t about animals as they're mostly seen only as a necessary decoration of ever-shrinking wild nature.

I think this is a symbol of our addiction to power. We want to prove ourselves that we are the Gods and rulers of this planet and due to that addiction we are about to see some nasty results of that urge. Like there will be no elephants on the planet in few decades to come and more and more wild life territories will be sacrificed, so we will only know about the diversity of life from the history books. What kind of psychological effect will that have on future generation we can only speculate.

It makes it is so clear that the ivory trade is funded by the rich and the rich have created the market for it. Because normal people can't really afford to buy ivory that's $2000 plus.

This is a must see documentary about the desperate battle to save the elephant from extinction, and at the same time save some remnants of the beautiful natural heritage of a planet for future generations. We say we love our children, but what kind of world are we leaving them. See the front line defenders of these majestic beasts in some of Africa's leading game parks, as well as dedicated investigators and campaigners around the world, bravely trying to stop the criminal and barbaric syndicates from plying their deadly trade.

Every once in a while a documentary comes along that can make a difference, Hello Orcas, thanks Blackfish.

The extermination of elephants, in such cruel way has only one people responsible, the Chinese. In China Ivory is a status luxury item, rich people loves it, and the president himself did not commit to an end of barbarities, like a good criminal politician, he said that someday in the future China will end its Ivory trade, meanwhile China continues to execute Elephants, 1 every 15 minutes

It is their crazy thirst for Ivory that has made this holocaust possible, the Chinese will deprive future generations of the beauty of this majestic and intelligent animal.

Yes, the killers are gangs of ignorant people led by unscrupulous monsters executing orders from the Chinese elite behind this lucrative trade.

The cruelty of the Chinese is difficult to measure, Rhino, Tigers, Bears, Elephants, anything that can be sold for exorbitant prizes will be killed for profit, they just don't care.

Ask yourselves why the Chinese government doesn't stop the trade, don't do anything to smugglers and let this happen?

It's their business too! The more animals they assassinate, the higher the profit is, and don't let people lie to you, in China Ivory sells everywhere, they know what they are doing, but money taste better

Government officials are involved, its widely known, in Hong Kong they bought some time, they want to kill and trade with animals until around 2022, so they will have time to prepare alternative channels

The Chinese became rich and began destroying the world, they could have chosen the opposite, but as with coal emissions, they just don't care.