Gambling on Extinction is a film that focuses on the causes, demands, and effects of the illegal animal trade, specifically elephant ivory and rhino horn. Ivory and rhino horn have recently become lucrative products due to the small supply and high demand. The imminent extinction of elephants and rhinos is causing the price to continue to increase causing more people to want to sell these commodities. This causes this business to be a multi-billion dollar business, the most profitable behind the gun and drug trade. This increasing problem has sparked director Jakob Kneser to do something about the problem. The purpose of this film was to document this multi-billion dollar business in hopes of spreading awareness to resolve the problem of illegal animal trade. The strengths of this film include the use of graphic videos and photos to allow the viewers to see what has to happen in order for ivory and rhino horn to ultimately be made into artwork. This film also documents the life of an ex- poacher that has become a wildlife police in order to save the elephants and rhinos. This part of the film allows the viewer to see that steps are being taken to solve this global problem. One weakness from this film is that only the selling of ivory and rhino horn in Vietnam and China is documented instead of showing more locations because this is a global problem. This film has a powerful message to all viewers and would recommend this film to anyone over the age of thirteen due to graphic images, but I would highly recommend this film to anyone interested in animal rights and illegal businesses like the drug and weapon trade.
Gambling on Extinction
2015
Action / Documentary
Gambling on Extinction
2015
Action / Documentary
7.2Keywords: wildlifepoacherendangered species
Plot summary
GAMBLING ON EXTINCTION is a powerful documentary that takes you from the killing fields in Kenya and South Africa to the trading hubs of Vietnam and China with undercover investigators, rangers, ex-poachers, conservationists and buyers. Director Jakob Kneser exposes the lethal mechanisms of the global trade, the terrorist connection, explains who the customers are, what generates demand, and what can be done to stop the slaughter. This is a story about greed and a merciless battle over a limited resource: Wild elephants and rhinos. It is in fact the dark side of globalization: Ivory and rhino horn have become lucrative commodities. It is now a 20 billion dollar a year business, the most lucrative after drugs and weapons and has been taken over by powerful, connected, heavily armed international syndicates. As numbers go down the prices go up, making it a perverse futures market in extinction. Poaching is an international crime. It will take a concerted international response to stop it. As Allan Thornton, President of the Environmental Investigation Agency, says: The world has two choices. We can have elephants. Or we can have ivory trade. We can't have both.
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