Chinese film icon Li Bingbing stars in a powerful 60-second film designed to get consumers in her country to think about the impact of purchasing ivory trinkets.
The video called Hunted – and found by clicking this link or here on the WildAid site – is part of a provocative campaign that fanned out across China this month, including in 1,300 movie theatres. China is a major buyer of elephant tusks, and thus, a significant driver in the worldwide slaughter of elephants.
The video turns the tables on the illegal trade in wildlife and shows humans being poached by hunters in front of their children.
It notes that a startling 96 elephants are killed each day for their ivory, and importantly, “When the buying stops, the killing can too.”
WildAid, which aims to end the illegal trade in wildlife, has recruited a number of celebrity “ambassadors” including Hollywood heavyweights Leonardo DiCaprio, Harrison Ford and Ralph Fiennes. But it also taps influential people who hail from a little closer to the root of the problem. Basketball star Yao Ming, actor Jackie Chan and pianist Lang Lang are among those who have thrown their support behind the organization.
Also this month, Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow has also produced a startling public service announcement that links poaching to terrorism. View the film, Last Days, on the Last Days of Ivory site or here.
It asks where the money goes when consumers buy something as basic as chopsticks made of ivory. Well, some of the most active terrorist groups in the world – Al-Shabaab, Lord’s Resistance Army and Boko Haram – peddle ivory from poaching to fund their deadly activities.
Every 15 minutes an elephant is killed. At this rate, elephants could be extinct in the wild in about a decade, the PSA warns.
WildAid urges supporters to take the ivory free pledge. But really, the world needs to do more.
Photo WildAid/Facebook
