it was a war out there
gunshots every single night
conservationists are the firewall
between humanity and wildlife as far as
I’m concerned there is absolutely no
reason that moving forward generations
to come
shouldn’t have the same beauty wandering
among them as we have been honored and
blessed to have with us there it is
again
whoa Wow
well that raw was incredible sadly we
don’t hear it enough Tigers are in
desperate shape really desperate shape
this species has declined from about a
hundred thousand individuals at the
beginning of the 20th century to around
or less than three thousand right now in
the wild when we realize Tigers were
going downhill there was lots of places
on the earth wild places where we didn’t
even know if Tigers still existed and my
job was to go out and search some of the
wildest places left on earth to try to
find if tiger still existed now one of
the places which I had to explore was
called who Kong Valley my first steps
into the Asian jungle were here in the
whoo calm I had to reach back into my
photojournalism roots because a hundred
thousand miners had come into the area
and the jungle was no longer just the
jungle it was a large mine with a lot of
people so I needed to tell that story
and the story of areas that looked like
this the point of this was interestingly
that Tigers could still
live here Tigers can live with human
incursions when it’s limited
what Tigers cannot live with is when the
human development doesn’t stop and just
keeps on poisoning the air and water
around where they live what Tigers
cannot live with is when all the people
who flood in to do the development end
up not only working at what they’re
there to do but then killing all the
wildlife in the forest in order to eat
or in order to sell and make extra money
when that food gets taken away
Tigers disappear without you having to
fire a shot at a tiger but unfortunately
what we are facing with Tigers is the
Asian traditional medicine trade tiger
parts are incredibly valuable Tiger bone
powdered is worth more per weight than
any precious metal than any gem than any
illegal drug the trafficking of illegal
wildlife parts is now a multi-billion
dollar business that has garnered
finally the interest of international
law enforcement organizations like
Interpol because these products go along
the same routes as drugs as human
trafficking the killing of wildlife
could goes way beyond just killing of
animals for food or even for sale it
becomes religious its spiritual this is
a Lisu household where the trophy board
of the kills by the man of that house
strengthens that house keeps that family
healthy this is one of the less Nagas
shaman this man’s medicine is based on
strength is based on Chi of the wild
life is based on Tigers although he
knows it’s fastly disappearing because
the last tiger he ever saw he’s wearing
on his head well my next story took me
to Kazi Rangga because I felt that it
was important that we look at certain
parks ones that held animals like the
highest density of tigers
the largest population left of Asian
elephants 80% of the world’s remaining
one-horned rhinos end in this park I saw
my very first tiger and that’s it right
there
Kaziranga was an incredibly important
place to investigate about one Tiger /
five square kilometres I know of no
other place with that kind of Tiger
density but why incredible law
enforcement not only incredible law
enforcement but a shoot-to-kill policy
now a shoot-to-kill policy sounds
terrible and it’s not what you want a
future to be but this is what it takes
fortunately tigers and other big cats
are great at sneaking through the human
landscape sight unseen for the most part
a lot get killed but a few of them make
it through what’s called genetic
corridors in order to get to another
breeding population and spread their
genes using these kind of corridors
through the human landscape is the way a
small area like Kaziranga ecologically
and genetically is not a small area it
actually becomes part of what’s called a
meta population part of a large group of
populations which have enough genetic
exchange so that it’s like one big
population which is just as good if not
better unfortunately many big animals
can’t sneak through the human landscape
and sadly the elephant is one of these I
was called and told that there was a
herd that was trying to get into the
park but unfortunately there have to be
a village in the way of their
traditional migratory route Nessa’s what
happens to animals that do migrate
unfortunately these animals are killed
because of human-animal conflict this
elephant came out to join the herd was
shot with a homemade bullet soaked in
acid and died a septicemia three days
later as it was wandering rhinos are an
incredible animal
and to tell you the truth I was really
kind of worried and scared about running
and elephants because they charged us
like almost every day I mean things like
this we’re just taking the guards back
they had to walk they asked us for a
ride you know and things like this
it’s like what he charges but you always
have to know work yes in their Park in
the finally gave up this fight
yeah get out of my way so I was always
trying to find a new way to take
pictures so I put a camera on a bamboo
pole with a remote control on it and so
I could get a picture oh you see guards
walking next to the elephants and I was
like let’s get their view of the Tusk in
the trunk and take pictures and turns
out rhinos eight elephants on bamboo I’m
in camera
okay
they all got done going let’s go find
the camera and I said forget the camera
go find the gun we’re stuck out of here
all along
if wonderful the bamboo Paul if I would
have been dead now it was the most
scared I’ve ever been in my life my life
is not nearly as exciting as Steve’s
Tigers are lucky and Kazi Rangga too
it’s the only place within all of tiger
range where Tigers are not the number
one animal which is poached that’s
unheard of because Kaziranga has the
highest density of Indian Rhino by far
at any place in the world they’re
actually poached and sought after more
than more than tigers are this is an
incredible shot Steve god I know of no
other picture ever of a tiger eating a
rhino in this case Tigers can actually
take advantage if rhinos are poached and
killed because often just the horn is
taken in the bodies left everything I’d
heard in Asia about Tigers led me to
believe that I needed to do another
Tiger story for National Geographic and
that took us to Sumatra Sumatra is under
grave threat mostly by their own doing
it’s got one of the highest rates of
deforestation in the world a lot of
people have come in and they’ve set up
snares there’s a tiger trap with a puppy
and it’s set with three snares most of
the people using snares they’re not
after Tigers it’s a really interesting
phenomenon yet they’re responsible for
probably more Tiger deaths or loss of
tigers than anybody else they catch what
they don’t want to catch such as this
tiger cub and lost one of its legs in
the snare it was taken in to a place of
about fifty so-called conflict or
problem Tigers in Jakarta now sadly many
Tigers are
meeting this fate what’s good is that
they’re living however their lives while
definitely worth something is not
helping wild Tigers they’re dead to the
wild tiger population Tigers were were
they worth more dead than alive I knew I
didn’t believe it and with the raising
Tiger numbers in Sumatra that’s not true
because positive things are happening
anti-poaching patrols anti logging
patrols coming and burn out poaching in
illegal logging camps the men that used
to be illegal loggers and the guy in the
back elephant back there used to be a
tiger poacher now he loves the fact that
he has a job as a park guard he gets a
paycheck every two weeks who knows
better how to catch tiger poachers than
a tiger poacher one of the only pictures
of a Sumatran tiger one of the rarest
cats on the face of the earth because it
has a mane now we’re gonna go to a place
in one of the greatest pieces of forest
in all of Southeast Asia this area
called Hoya king by the Thai Burmese
border that introduced me to how bad the
situation was there almost no more
Tigers every single night I would go to
sleep literally to the sounds of gunfire
every night and every morning I would
wake up wondering if anybody got shot in
the night during my study two of my men
got killed who were unfortunately forest
rangers also why because they had old m1
rifles they were told to go out and
shoot and and protect against animal
protect against poachers when they had
no training and they were fighting
against people with ak-47s I ended up
stepping in in a trap set for for the
forest guards while I was checking
tracking Tigers and I was stepped into a
but a punji stick trap made like in the
Vietnam War as bamboo stakes went
through my foot it was it was a war out
it was a war gunshots every single night
we had to carry guns all of the time I
didn’t think this area would survive
actually and I’m an optimist but I was
wrong I was really really wrong the
whole government will changed and it
went from having no more than a handful
of Tigers to having almost a hundred
Tigers right now and that’s just in Hika
King with the potential of having 500 or
more Tigers in the entire western forest
complex this population has now
stabilized
something’s wrong because it’s not
increasing at this point but why did
that happen that happened because the
guards went from poor little local
people with m1 rifles to guards who were
trained by the people who should be
training them military people not not
scientists I mean I actually ran
training courses early in my career to
train anti poachers I didn’t know what I
was doing but military people and police
came in and started training and they
were able to enforce the law my job is
to go get pictures of tigers I wanted to
get to Sumatra and I got it so I went to
Thailand to try to get pictures of the
Indo Chinese tiger another very unknown
species photographically and my job was
to work with the Thai tiger team I found
that they were doing the first-ever
project on female tigers in history and
they first put a cow out the tiger hits
the cow they put snares out and then
they capture the female put a GPS collar
on her try to understand where she’s
going what’s your home range in
different parts of the park does she go
outside the park but my goal was
realized by getting a picture of an
indo-chinese tiger right here at a
marking tree when it’s getting ready to
spray first of all these Tigers can’t be
seen the ones who have survived in the
forest of places like Indochina and
Sumatra
those which have learned to completely
stay away from human beings so to be
able to show people these pictures of
these Tigers around them not bothering
them has a huge huge impact what you
have to keep in mind now it’s got a
downside to it too and this downside is
now being experienced here in hi
King because once this becomes the the
last great Tiger place in Thailand
that’s where the poachers come we
sometimes actually hold back our data
because we know that poachers once they
find out that there are more Tigers than
people thought that’s where they’re
going to come but we can’t hold back our
data we have to publicize it now we go
to the best-known Tiger landscape in the
world India India has almost 50% of the
world’s remaining living Tigers first
day I was there found a downed tree
hooked the camera to it and it was up
for quite a while and this is what it
did these are the pictures that it took
how these were taken over many days in
many hours cuz Tigers need water and
they’re very curious like that little
girl right there the little girl yes
he’s not very little and then smasher
coming back in going I’ll smash your
camera again that’s my job one of the
Tigers that’s all he did was come in he
kind of got tired of the flash so he go
whack something kamerad stopped working
he did me a favor though he knocked it
like two inches from the water and
turned it upside down and I just left it
that way because it got me closer to the
water that’s his dad came in for a drink
and there they are having fun in the
middle of the night because they’ll
sleep and then as dawn comes they start
hunting but but there are certain
reserves which is so well protected that
Tigers have learned to acclimate among
people so well that you could see Tigers
now that’s been good in many ways
it’s been a boon for Tiger tourism it’s
been a boon in many ways for Tiger
conservation but there’s a pretty clear
line between calling something
ecotourism and something just becoming
tourism for money and that’s the way
it’s gotten in many places Tigers when
their core becomes infringed upon
they can’t breed I mean imagine you if
people were walking through your house
could you breed they can’t breathe they
can’t mate they can’t survive if their
core and with some small protected areas
it’s become so bad that the Indian
government has actually had to take up
the idea of banning all tourism now I
don’t think that’s still an argument
going on in India I personally don’t
think it’s a good idea I think tourism
is incredibly valuable incredibly useful
it just has to be better controlled one
of the things I needed to show was a lot
little Tigers leaving the park only a
small part of it is fenced but human
tiger conflict is a big problem so I put
a camera on the fence
unfortunately smasher pulled the cord
out but not before I got this great
picture of him and his sisters and his
mom going out into the village you don’t
want a fence off Tigers it’s not the way
to do the best kind of conservation but
in these very small parks which are
surrounded by a sea of humanity if
you’re going to try to prevent conflict
at least parts of the Tigers protected
area has to be fenced unfortunately
Tigers don’t take well to fences and
they try whatever they can whether
they’re in captivity or in the wild to
get to where they want to be going sadly
though when they get through areas which
a fence they don’t find very good things
on the other side Tigers in this
particular case end up fighting one
another due to lack of prey and in one
of the most rare situations where you’ll
ever see a dead tiger is when a tiger
kills another tiger but Tigers are so
valuable that even when the park rangers
find one which was supposedly naturally
killed they don’t want the local people
to know and sadly in this case they
just burnt it so that it couldn’t be
seen as something of value that possibly
they’d be attacked for these are Tigers
mating and of course what you want is
the result of such mating because that’s
the future and this is the the best
possible outcome you could have there is
absolutely no reason that moving forward
your children your grandchildren and
generations to come
shouldn’t have the same beauty wandering
among them as we do as we have been
honored and blessed to have with us so
let’s all make that happen thank you
very much for coming
you
gunshots every single night
conservationists are the firewall
between humanity and wildlife as far as
I’m concerned there is absolutely no
reason that moving forward generations
to come
shouldn’t have the same beauty wandering
among them as we have been honored and
blessed to have with us there it is
again
whoa Wow
well that raw was incredible sadly we
don’t hear it enough Tigers are in
desperate shape really desperate shape
this species has declined from about a
hundred thousand individuals at the
beginning of the 20th century to around
or less than three thousand right now in
the wild when we realize Tigers were
going downhill there was lots of places
on the earth wild places where we didn’t
even know if Tigers still existed and my
job was to go out and search some of the
wildest places left on earth to try to
find if tiger still existed now one of
the places which I had to explore was
called who Kong Valley my first steps
into the Asian jungle were here in the
whoo calm I had to reach back into my
photojournalism roots because a hundred
thousand miners had come into the area
and the jungle was no longer just the
jungle it was a large mine with a lot of
people so I needed to tell that story
and the story of areas that looked like
this the point of this was interestingly
that Tigers could still
live here Tigers can live with human
incursions when it’s limited
what Tigers cannot live with is when the
human development doesn’t stop and just
keeps on poisoning the air and water
around where they live what Tigers
cannot live with is when all the people
who flood in to do the development end
up not only working at what they’re
there to do but then killing all the
wildlife in the forest in order to eat
or in order to sell and make extra money
when that food gets taken away
Tigers disappear without you having to
fire a shot at a tiger but unfortunately
what we are facing with Tigers is the
Asian traditional medicine trade tiger
parts are incredibly valuable Tiger bone
powdered is worth more per weight than
any precious metal than any gem than any
illegal drug the trafficking of illegal
wildlife parts is now a multi-billion
dollar business that has garnered
finally the interest of international
law enforcement organizations like
Interpol because these products go along
the same routes as drugs as human
trafficking the killing of wildlife
could goes way beyond just killing of
animals for food or even for sale it
becomes religious its spiritual this is
a Lisu household where the trophy board
of the kills by the man of that house
strengthens that house keeps that family
healthy this is one of the less Nagas
shaman this man’s medicine is based on
strength is based on Chi of the wild
life is based on Tigers although he
knows it’s fastly disappearing because
the last tiger he ever saw he’s wearing
on his head well my next story took me
to Kazi Rangga because I felt that it
was important that we look at certain
parks ones that held animals like the
highest density of tigers
the largest population left of Asian
elephants 80% of the world’s remaining
one-horned rhinos end in this park I saw
my very first tiger and that’s it right
there
Kaziranga was an incredibly important
place to investigate about one Tiger /
five square kilometres I know of no
other place with that kind of Tiger
density but why incredible law
enforcement not only incredible law
enforcement but a shoot-to-kill policy
now a shoot-to-kill policy sounds
terrible and it’s not what you want a
future to be but this is what it takes
fortunately tigers and other big cats
are great at sneaking through the human
landscape sight unseen for the most part
a lot get killed but a few of them make
it through what’s called genetic
corridors in order to get to another
breeding population and spread their
genes using these kind of corridors
through the human landscape is the way a
small area like Kaziranga ecologically
and genetically is not a small area it
actually becomes part of what’s called a
meta population part of a large group of
populations which have enough genetic
exchange so that it’s like one big
population which is just as good if not
better unfortunately many big animals
can’t sneak through the human landscape
and sadly the elephant is one of these I
was called and told that there was a
herd that was trying to get into the
park but unfortunately there have to be
a village in the way of their
traditional migratory route Nessa’s what
happens to animals that do migrate
unfortunately these animals are killed
because of human-animal conflict this
elephant came out to join the herd was
shot with a homemade bullet soaked in
acid and died a septicemia three days
later as it was wandering rhinos are an
incredible animal
and to tell you the truth I was really
kind of worried and scared about running
and elephants because they charged us
like almost every day I mean things like
this we’re just taking the guards back
they had to walk they asked us for a
ride you know and things like this
it’s like what he charges but you always
have to know work yes in their Park in
the finally gave up this fight
yeah get out of my way so I was always
trying to find a new way to take
pictures so I put a camera on a bamboo
pole with a remote control on it and so
I could get a picture oh you see guards
walking next to the elephants and I was
like let’s get their view of the Tusk in
the trunk and take pictures and turns
out rhinos eight elephants on bamboo I’m
in camera
okay
they all got done going let’s go find
the camera and I said forget the camera
go find the gun we’re stuck out of here
all along
if wonderful the bamboo Paul if I would
have been dead now it was the most
scared I’ve ever been in my life my life
is not nearly as exciting as Steve’s
Tigers are lucky and Kazi Rangga too
it’s the only place within all of tiger
range where Tigers are not the number
one animal which is poached that’s
unheard of because Kaziranga has the
highest density of Indian Rhino by far
at any place in the world they’re
actually poached and sought after more
than more than tigers are this is an
incredible shot Steve god I know of no
other picture ever of a tiger eating a
rhino in this case Tigers can actually
take advantage if rhinos are poached and
killed because often just the horn is
taken in the bodies left everything I’d
heard in Asia about Tigers led me to
believe that I needed to do another
Tiger story for National Geographic and
that took us to Sumatra Sumatra is under
grave threat mostly by their own doing
it’s got one of the highest rates of
deforestation in the world a lot of
people have come in and they’ve set up
snares there’s a tiger trap with a puppy
and it’s set with three snares most of
the people using snares they’re not
after Tigers it’s a really interesting
phenomenon yet they’re responsible for
probably more Tiger deaths or loss of
tigers than anybody else they catch what
they don’t want to catch such as this
tiger cub and lost one of its legs in
the snare it was taken in to a place of
about fifty so-called conflict or
problem Tigers in Jakarta now sadly many
Tigers are
meeting this fate what’s good is that
they’re living however their lives while
definitely worth something is not
helping wild Tigers they’re dead to the
wild tiger population Tigers were were
they worth more dead than alive I knew I
didn’t believe it and with the raising
Tiger numbers in Sumatra that’s not true
because positive things are happening
anti-poaching patrols anti logging
patrols coming and burn out poaching in
illegal logging camps the men that used
to be illegal loggers and the guy in the
back elephant back there used to be a
tiger poacher now he loves the fact that
he has a job as a park guard he gets a
paycheck every two weeks who knows
better how to catch tiger poachers than
a tiger poacher one of the only pictures
of a Sumatran tiger one of the rarest
cats on the face of the earth because it
has a mane now we’re gonna go to a place
in one of the greatest pieces of forest
in all of Southeast Asia this area
called Hoya king by the Thai Burmese
border that introduced me to how bad the
situation was there almost no more
Tigers every single night I would go to
sleep literally to the sounds of gunfire
every night and every morning I would
wake up wondering if anybody got shot in
the night during my study two of my men
got killed who were unfortunately forest
rangers also why because they had old m1
rifles they were told to go out and
shoot and and protect against animal
protect against poachers when they had
no training and they were fighting
against people with ak-47s I ended up
stepping in in a trap set for for the
forest guards while I was checking
tracking Tigers and I was stepped into a
but a punji stick trap made like in the
Vietnam War as bamboo stakes went
through my foot it was it was a war out
it was a war gunshots every single night
we had to carry guns all of the time I
didn’t think this area would survive
actually and I’m an optimist but I was
wrong I was really really wrong the
whole government will changed and it
went from having no more than a handful
of Tigers to having almost a hundred
Tigers right now and that’s just in Hika
King with the potential of having 500 or
more Tigers in the entire western forest
complex this population has now
stabilized
something’s wrong because it’s not
increasing at this point but why did
that happen that happened because the
guards went from poor little local
people with m1 rifles to guards who were
trained by the people who should be
training them military people not not
scientists I mean I actually ran
training courses early in my career to
train anti poachers I didn’t know what I
was doing but military people and police
came in and started training and they
were able to enforce the law my job is
to go get pictures of tigers I wanted to
get to Sumatra and I got it so I went to
Thailand to try to get pictures of the
Indo Chinese tiger another very unknown
species photographically and my job was
to work with the Thai tiger team I found
that they were doing the first-ever
project on female tigers in history and
they first put a cow out the tiger hits
the cow they put snares out and then
they capture the female put a GPS collar
on her try to understand where she’s
going what’s your home range in
different parts of the park does she go
outside the park but my goal was
realized by getting a picture of an
indo-chinese tiger right here at a
marking tree when it’s getting ready to
spray first of all these Tigers can’t be
seen the ones who have survived in the
forest of places like Indochina and
Sumatra
those which have learned to completely
stay away from human beings so to be
able to show people these pictures of
these Tigers around them not bothering
them has a huge huge impact what you
have to keep in mind now it’s got a
downside to it too and this downside is
now being experienced here in hi
King because once this becomes the the
last great Tiger place in Thailand
that’s where the poachers come we
sometimes actually hold back our data
because we know that poachers once they
find out that there are more Tigers than
people thought that’s where they’re
going to come but we can’t hold back our
data we have to publicize it now we go
to the best-known Tiger landscape in the
world India India has almost 50% of the
world’s remaining living Tigers first
day I was there found a downed tree
hooked the camera to it and it was up
for quite a while and this is what it
did these are the pictures that it took
how these were taken over many days in
many hours cuz Tigers need water and
they’re very curious like that little
girl right there the little girl yes
he’s not very little and then smasher
coming back in going I’ll smash your
camera again that’s my job one of the
Tigers that’s all he did was come in he
kind of got tired of the flash so he go
whack something kamerad stopped working
he did me a favor though he knocked it
like two inches from the water and
turned it upside down and I just left it
that way because it got me closer to the
water that’s his dad came in for a drink
and there they are having fun in the
middle of the night because they’ll
sleep and then as dawn comes they start
hunting but but there are certain
reserves which is so well protected that
Tigers have learned to acclimate among
people so well that you could see Tigers
now that’s been good in many ways
it’s been a boon for Tiger tourism it’s
been a boon in many ways for Tiger
conservation but there’s a pretty clear
line between calling something
ecotourism and something just becoming
tourism for money and that’s the way
it’s gotten in many places Tigers when
their core becomes infringed upon
they can’t breed I mean imagine you if
people were walking through your house
could you breed they can’t breathe they
can’t mate they can’t survive if their
core and with some small protected areas
it’s become so bad that the Indian
government has actually had to take up
the idea of banning all tourism now I
don’t think that’s still an argument
going on in India I personally don’t
think it’s a good idea I think tourism
is incredibly valuable incredibly useful
it just has to be better controlled one
of the things I needed to show was a lot
little Tigers leaving the park only a
small part of it is fenced but human
tiger conflict is a big problem so I put
a camera on the fence
unfortunately smasher pulled the cord
out but not before I got this great
picture of him and his sisters and his
mom going out into the village you don’t
want a fence off Tigers it’s not the way
to do the best kind of conservation but
in these very small parks which are
surrounded by a sea of humanity if
you’re going to try to prevent conflict
at least parts of the Tigers protected
area has to be fenced unfortunately
Tigers don’t take well to fences and
they try whatever they can whether
they’re in captivity or in the wild to
get to where they want to be going sadly
though when they get through areas which
a fence they don’t find very good things
on the other side Tigers in this
particular case end up fighting one
another due to lack of prey and in one
of the most rare situations where you’ll
ever see a dead tiger is when a tiger
kills another tiger but Tigers are so
valuable that even when the park rangers
find one which was supposedly naturally
killed they don’t want the local people
to know and sadly in this case they
just burnt it so that it couldn’t be
seen as something of value that possibly
they’d be attacked for these are Tigers
mating and of course what you want is
the result of such mating because that’s
the future and this is the the best
possible outcome you could have there is
absolutely no reason that moving forward
your children your grandchildren and
generations to come
shouldn’t have the same beauty wandering
among them as we do as we have been
honored and blessed to have with us so
let’s all make that happen thank you
very much for coming
you
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