by Julian Mounter The Elephant Run
The African Elephant has survived for more than 40 million years, but many conservationists believe that his days are now numbered. Whole herds have been wiped out by ivory poachers and others have been killed simply to make room for the rapidly growing human population. In one park in Uganda, which four years ago had 16,000 elephants, there are now fewer than 3,000; and Kenya's elephant population is being reduced by an estimated 10 per cent per year. The poaching is done by poor African villagers, but the people behind the trade are often fabulously wealthy.
This film looks at the decline of the elephant populations, asks whether it is inevitable as man eats up rangeland for his farms and cities, and investigates who is behind the poaching racket.
Film editor RON MARTIN
Narrated and produced by JULIAN MOUNTER Series editors
MICHAEL ANDREWS and ANTHONY ISAACS BBC Bristol