GPS in fake tusks tracks ivory poaching to terrorists

Christine Rushton | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption National Geographic 'Explorers: Warlords of Ivory' A clip from National Geographic's new documentary "Explorers: Warlords of Ivory." Reporting by Bryan Christy.

Novel technology used in a National Geographic investigation into illegal poaching of elephants' tusks has found that the criminals seeking the valuable ivory aren't just jewelry traders. They're terrorists, as well.

"Tracking Ivory,” the investigation newly revealed by National Geographic magazine and in a show airing Sunday on National Geographic Channel, relied on fake tusks with GPS implants to track the trade in ivory in areas too dangerous for travel by the reporting team.

National Geographic fellow Bryan Christy, documentary filmmaker J.J. Kelley and photographer Brent Stirton traveled to Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to track the illegal poaching and ivory trade. About 30,000 of the world's remaining 440,000 elephants are killed annually, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

The investigative team gave the fake tusks to couriers known to deal in the ivory trade. Through the tracking devices, the team discovered that the couriers delivered the tusks to the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a terrorist group. Christy said he believes the group trades the ivory to the government of neighboring South Sudan for weapons.

“The militia (LRA) is backed by the Sudanese government poaching all across the continent,” Christy told USA TODAY. “The only people battling these people on the ground are park rangers. They are manning this line.”

The park rangers in the central African park protect their elephants with AK-47 guns, he said.

The investigation also found that the terrorists force young African children to help transport the tusks. And it unveiled exactly who the poachers are for the first time and what they do with the ivory.

“The traditional narrative is an animal is shown in the wild in its glory. Then it’s dead, poached, in the marketplace,” Christy said. “There is this faceless villain in the background that’s not identified. We would never stand for that in any other form of criminal exploitation.”

Susan Goldberg, editor in chief of National Geographic magazine and news, said she shares Christy’s opinion on the hole in wildlife journalism, so they created a special investigations unit.

“There is all kinds of wildlife crimes, and there really isn’t anybody who does a good job of covering that,” Goldberg told USA TODAY.

Wildlife crime investigations need to go deeper than following the consumer, she said. They need to find the traders and suppliers. “It helps you really understand that ivory isn’t just about dead elephants and dead rhinos,” she said. “It’s about villages and raped women and dead soldiers.”

Christy started his investigation of ivory in 2009. “We knew elephants were being killed at extraordinary rates across Africa,” he said. “Almost every story I read at the end would say, ‘and it goes to China.’”

The former lawyer used his understanding of law to research the politics and policies involved in illegal trade. He plans to change the narrative style of wildlife crime reporting.

Governments in other countries often regulate the stories journalists can cover, Christy said. He learned about the power of foreign journalism from a previous illegal animal trade investigation for the magazine Kingpin.

“We identified government officials,” Christy said. “(Police) raided the facilities, seized the animals, made arrests and law changed.”

He uses his freedom as an American journalist to report the facts. Foreign media then can cite National Geographic in their own reports. He said he writes stories that go beyond telling tragic stories of exploited animals.

“That has its place, but that doesn’t inspire anyone to act or commit to taking down criminal enterprises,” Christy said. “It inspires them to give a few dollars and feel bad. I want people to feel, if anything angry, not sad.”

Kelley, the filmmaker for National Geographic Channel's Explorer: Warlords of Ivory, said the visual impact of the violence in central Africa juxtaposed with peace throughout much of the land complements the narrative.

The team saw human remains, park rangers protecting their animals with a few AK-47s and limited ammo, and ravaged children. But the shocking imagery pushed them to continue their reporting, he said.

At one point, Kelley remembered spending the night on a cold floor of a Tanzanian prison cell. Authorities had stopped Christy at the airport with the fake tusks and forced them to wait a night for an expert to examine the ivory for authenticity.

The hope of pushing the story forward outweighed the fear of legal battles, he said.

“What (Bryan) is doing is innovative and what needs to be done,” Kelley said. “Wildlife crime reporting needs to be flipped on its head and approached from a criminal perspective.”

Christy's article, “Tracking Ivory” is the cover story of National Geographic magazine's September 2015 issue. The investigation is also the subject of the film Explorer: Warlords of Ivory premiering Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on National Geographic Channel.