All language subtitles for trophy.2017.480p.hdtv.x264.rmteam.E.en

Subtitles by explosiveskull

Let's just be
real quiet,

'cause there's
a lot of ram today.

I hope I get a big one.

Are you ready to shoot
a big one?

- Yeah.
- Well, we're gonna try.

Looks like there was
some deer back there.

Yeah, there's deer
everywhere.

Better get one.

You think I can
shoot that one?

We have to be able
to age him.

We have to be able to tell
how old he is

before we can make
that decision.

She's gonna walk up to here,
she's curious.

- Those are two bucks right there.
- Yeah.

That's a good one.

Okay, just get comfortable
and get ready.

Take your time.

And then aim just to the right
leg of the feeder, okay?

You can wait
if you want,

but that's a shelter shot
right there.

You put him down, son.

Where's that spike?

Oh, he's getting up, Dad.

He's not going anywhere,
don't worry.

You shot the doe.

- That's a spike.
- Oh.

Okay, let's go.
Hold that.

Yes!

Are your hands shaking?

All right, let's go.

Good job, buddy.

Look at the horns
on this guy.

Whoo! Look at that.

That's a textbook shot, Jasper.

Hold this gun like this.

- How's that?
- That's good.

I need the head up
like this, okay?

'Cause if it's young,
it doesn't--

Correct. Let's try that.

Okay. Oh, that's what
we want right there.

Smile.

First trophy buck.

Okay, go like this.

Too tired? One more.
Smile and we're done.

Okay

As they say,
that's history.

No more doe and spike
coming for you.

You're under the big trophies.

- You got it?
- Yeah.

All right. One, and two,
and three.

Bring, bring, bring.

One, two, three. Go.

Short deep breaths.

Make sure that
the breathing's good.

Stable.

Three-eighty.

Here it goes.

Use the brush.
Use the brush.

- Injecting.
- Yeah.

We gotta run on this
on the side, guys. Let's go.

The operation
goes very quickly.

It's painless.

Probably less danger

than a human being
having his wisdom tooth out.

He will be back with his
friends within minutes.

It'll take about two years

before he goes through
the same procedure again.

And we know that
the poachers prefer

rhinos with long horns
and pointed horns.

Every two years
to save his life, I think

if he had an opinion
to give to you,

he would say, "I'm very happy
to sacrifice my horn

in order to save my life."

There he is,
already walking normally.

He looks fine.

I truly believe
that I have the recipe

to save the rhino
from extinction.

Sell the horns,
keep the rhinos alive

and breeding more and more.

I will give you
a challenge.

Give me one animal
that's gone extinct

while farmers were breeding it
and making money out of it.

There's not one.

Not one.

That's a dorper lamb.

That's what we do.

We raise babies.

We feed 'em, we keep
the predators out of 'em,

and we try to breed
good genetics,

in order to raise
the next generation.

All right.
I've got your friend.

Your little brother.
Let's go.

And so those lambs will be three
months old when they're weaned,

and they will go to a small
packer in Central Texas,

and that lamb
will be harvested,

and typically will go into
your high end grocery chains,

and then to a few
specialty restaurants.

I think we have a problem of people
thinking that all animals are pets.

I don't think you can
explain that to people.

If they don't understand
that you raise a chicken

to kill a chicken,
to eat a chicken, um...

If they can't
understand that,

they're next to an infantile
frame of mind

that I don't know how to,
how to get in their mind.

All I can tell 'em is
I love raising those animals.

I love those lambs.

Even the ones that are gonna
be somebody's lamb chops

this summer for July 4th.

But that's what they're for,
they're not for anything else.

The big one.
The biggest there is.

Pull him,
to the side.

Get him.

Keep it on the grass.

You are closing his nose.
He must breathe.

You can't put
your hand there.

Let me close
your nose also.

Three point six.

Okay. Thank you, guys.

You know, there's a big
industry in our country.

Not just the crocodiles.

The lions, the sables,
the buffalo.

Everything is being bred for a
purpose at the end of the day.

So, yeah, sure.
Some of them will be hunted.

We, as humans,
are going to eat it,

we're going to use the skin,

and that's the cycle of life.

John! John!

Hello? Yes.

Slowly, slowly, slowly.

These are still
wild animals,

even if they've been kept
in captivity like this.

They will kill you in an
instant and eat you up.

So then,
once it's closed up,

you load it on,
and it's ready for transport

to its next destination.

If you don't come to Vegas,

I think your business
will eventually won't make it.

This is the place to come.

And everyone tries to be
better than the next person.

Doesn't matter if it's a breed
in lions, or buffalo, or sable.

It's a passion
to have your wild game

and be able to breed them,

and make sure you get better
quality and genetics

and that you're actually
proud of it.

The Safari Club
International Show

is the largest hunting
convention in the planet.

We have 2,000 booths that
are out there on the floor.

We'll probably run 20,000
different folks through here

from all over the world.

And you'll be able to see
anything that you want

in terms of hunting,
hunting support,

and conservation.

I know that a lot of people
are confused

how hunting and conservation
go together.

Hunt South Africa on a
ten-day plains game hunt for two hunters.

About two hours ago
there was an auction item

that was an elephant hunt.

Twenty thousand
and 22,500. Let's go.

Blow 'em out of the water,
22,500.

And that elephant hunt sold
for about $50,000.

And that money
will all go back

into conservation.

Sold! Right there.

Eighteen thousand dollars.
Eighteen.

And model is not included.

"I don't know,"
my little granddaughter says.

"I don't know why my grandma
wants to shoot a zebra."

So I don't know. I'm losing
face with my little...

my three-year-old
little granddaughter,

because I'm gonna go
shoot a zebra.

And crocodiles
are really mean.

So I don't feel bad about
killing one of those.

Besides that, I want
a pair of boots.

And a purse,
and a wallet.

And a belt.

You can not only pick
the species you want,

but you can pick
the actual animal you want.

So you can see if you want
a male or a female.

Older, younger, color,
type of fur.

You can just pick
whatever animal you want

from the menu
that they offer you,

see the price,

and book the kill.

The Safari Club Convention

is the ultimate meat market
for exotic species.

And one of the prime
attractions

is to get a Big Five
grand slam.

And so you shoot one of each
of the following species.

Buffalo, which would cost you
about $8,000 to $9,000,

leopards for about 20,

elephants for 45,

lions for 50,000,

and the most expensive,
because it's the rarest,

the rhino for $350,000.

So there's all this
sort of stuff

that encourages
this collecting,

this obsessiveness for more
and more and more,

and the status is applied
to the individual hunter

who achieves those ends.

I happened to be
at Safari Club

and they were discussing
fishing wildlife

and all the bans
they kept instituting,

and that there was a rumor that they wanted
to put lions on the threatened list,

and further
regulate their take.

And I decided at that moment,

that if the Big Five
was my goal,

then I had to step
my plans up drastically.

Feed is ready.

Wait, wait.

And take him.

I love it.

It's exciting
to see people get here.

They're going on a big hunt,
so they're excited.

They've earned, you know,

they've worked very hard
to earn the money

to be able to go
pay for this hunt.

And they come here
with anticipation,

and they come here
with a lot of nervousness,

because in Africa,
it is dangerous.

We're right on the edge
of a herd of elephants.

Time to get a bull.

You hit him, just keep hitting
him again till he's down.

- That sound good?
- Sounds good.

Follow me up here.

If you go back
a thousand years,

you know, the balance of nature
was pretty stable.

Unfortunately, man has
kind of screwed this up.

And we have encroached
on so much natural land

that the species, all the
species, now have to be managed.

For instance, too many
elephants in Botswana.

On the right, on the right.
There he is.

Hit him again.

He's down. He's down.

Of course, we can't do this
with live animals,

but it kinda
gets you pumped up,

what you're gonna feel
on a real deal.

Hunter's remorse.

It's not been something
I've experienced recently.

But as a child,
I certainly remember it.

When I was a little
boy, I remember I had a BB gun.

I can vividly remember
my mother telling me

you can go shoot birds,
but don't shoot a red bird.

What did I do?

I went and shot a red bird.

And I can still remember
holding that bird in my hands

and looking at its beak

and just seeing
how beautiful it was,

and how it was made.

Right there in that moment,

I realized that

there is no way I could've
loved that bird even more,

even though it was dead.

I think a lot of us
as trophy hunters,

feel the same way.

We just want
that experience to go

and hunt that animal
one time.

We really just want one.

There you go.

What's wrong now, baby?

Yeah, Johnny?

It's not a good morning
again this morning.

Oh, fuck. Now what?

It's a dead rhino there.

An adult rhino?

- Yeah.
- Fuck.

Has she got a calf, Johnny?

Yeah, she's got a big
two-year-old calf.

Two-year-old calf.

Yeah.

Fuck me. It never stops,
does it?

Yeah.

Heartbreaking.

Poor calf doesn't know
what to do with itself.

So I'll just start
with the post mortem,

and then I'll decide
how to leave them.

That's fine.

Good.

Good.

The goal of
this farm and myself

is to breed 200 rhinos
a year.

I have lost quite a few
of my breeding stock.

Disease will always
be a factor.

Unfortunately,
so will poaching.

The odds are stacked
against them.

And, um...

I'm always
for the underdog.

But more to the point,

I got to know them,

and they are the last
animal in the world

that deserves
the persecution.

They don't deserve it.

They are the nicest,
most user-friendly

animal that wants to stay
this side of extinction.

They definitely are
the most magical creatures.

I can sit and watch them
for hours and hours and hours.

And they're ancient.

They don't look like
they belong in today's life.

Yet, they're still here.

I'm hoping that people get
a whiff of cases like this,

what we're trying
to do here,

that more of them will start thinking of
opening their own breeding operations

so that hopefully together
we can

revive the numbers

before we destroy
another species

because of mankind.

Almost every other
wild animal

has to be killed
to get what people want.

Whether that is
horn, skin, meat.

Rhino is the only exception.

And that's why
I concentrate on rhinos.

Because you don't
have to hunt them,

you don't have to kill them.

In fact, you shouldn't. Because
they're growing gold for you.

The rhino horn belief has
been around for millions of years.

Unfortunately, there are more people
that believe in the rhino horn

than there are Christians
on this earth.

So...

It's very difficult
if you're gonna tell

600 million Christians
or whatever

that God doesn't exist.

By the same token,
you're not gonna tell people

rhino horn doesn't work.

This horn weighs
about four kilos.

In Vietnam,
on the black market,

the retail value of this horn would
be about a quarter million dollars.

It's more expensive
than gold,

or heroin by weight.

The illogical part
of it is that

I have four ton
of rhino horn

in expensive security.

Which every conservatively,

I could get $60 million.

But we're not
allowed to sell it.

When I started
this project,

it was legal to sell rhino horn
in South Africa.

In 2009,

our government put a moratorium
on the trade in rhino horn.

But since the ban,
poaching has skyrocketed.

The very crook

who now will kill a rhino
and sell it illegally,

if he could sell
the horn legally,

he will never kill a rhino.

Who would kill the hen
that lays the golden egg?

Maybe somebody's watching
for crocs, I hope.

Whoo!

A little hole right there.

Ah, it's all good.

This is one of
the last destinations

probably in Africa,

where there is no fences.

It's absolutely open.

You have to work
for your trophy.

We believe here that

if you want to hunt,
it's all in the foot.

It's walk and stalk.

It's giving also
the animal a chance.

So for us, the three things
is, if he hears you,

he smells you,
or he sees you,

it's game over.

The buildup
to pulling that trigger

in my case,
started 18 months ago.

So it's a long buildup
to that point.

Preparation, planning,
buying plane tickets,

paying the deposit
on the safari,

talking with your PH
about the plans.

What are we gonna do?
How are gonna hunt them?

All this stalking, planning.

And then, finally
with the animals coming,

and then the animal's there.

And then you pull the trigger.

And then, boom,
you got him.

And then all of that
anticipation changes

into a different emotion

of joy and relief,

and excitement,
and anticipation.

Because you wanna go
over to him and see

what does he look like,

what does he feel like,

what does he...

where did he fall.

Which one here?
Look at that.

There's one here
on the left, okay?

Wait.

Wait.

No, no, no.
That's a young bull.

Let's go back.

Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.

Philip.

Let's go.

I think it's too dangerous.

Too many...
They're too close up, and...

All the ones I saw
had good tusks, the big ones.

Yeah,
but they're female.

It's all females.

We're looking for
an old, old animal

that we can harvest
for meat.

Exactly.
Keep going.

For the better part
of two centuries now,

you've had this
hunting culture,

first in Britain,
and now in America,

that it's somehow rugged
and exciting

to be out in the wilderness
and hunting.

And Teddy Roosevelt
bought into that

when he hunted
thousands of animals,

including something like
5,000 mammals,

and started to record
all of these kills.

The hunters' accounts
of what they're doing

makes me sick
to my stomach sometimes

about finding this
amazing bull elephant

and putting a bullet
in the animal's head.

And that gives them
a rush of excitement.

Now, they cloak that
in money and conservation,

and helping people.

So, yeah, Roosevelt is declaring
all these parks national parks

in protecting wilderness,

but he's also killing thousands
of animals at the same time,

because he wanted to be
able to do that hunting.

He wanted to be able to
consume those wild animals.

The hunting industry
is trying to convince people

that the way it was
in Roosevelt's time

is the way it still is today.

A hunter was somebody
who was willing to go out,

spend three weeks
walking around on foot,

tracking an elephant,
tracking a lion,

to shoot it
and take home a trophy.

There was a challenge,
there was a sense of sport.

But what has happened
in the last 10 or 15 years

has been a growing segment
of the hunting demographic,

which refer to
as the shooters.

And the shooters
may have to spend

as much money as it takes
to get a three-week permit.

But if they can kill everything
in the first two days,

they'll do it
and they'll fly home.

It's that mentality

that really fed the birth

of the canned
hunting industry.

Basically. you're going shopping
at some import/export place,

and you've got your rug,
you've got your mantelpiece.

But it's not sport.

It's just killing.

Shit. I'm out of bullets.

Come here,
come here, come here.

Come here, come here,
come here.

Where is it now?

That is one big ass
fucking crocodile.

Yeah.

I'm gonna tell you, the adrenalin
has been worth every penny of it.

So we can fetch it out.

Something's coming
out there.

It's coming out there.

Oh, fuck.

That's...
Oh, my gosh.

That's not yours.
Is that yours?

- I don't know.
- I don't know.

No, but I wanna shoot
her, anyway.

I'm gonna have two.

That can't be yours
swimming like that.

That's impossible.

Oh, no, that is.

- It keeps, like...
- That is.

It is?

Watch. I wanna shoot
this one.

I'm not,
I'm not sure.

Is that the one?

Here, I'll shoot it
with this one.

Let me put my beer down,
not drop it.

- See?
- What's this?

- See blood.
- Blood?

For the last crocodile.

- Oh, the last crocodile. Oh.
- Yeah.

It's just waiting for us
to get close.

Oh, it's moving its eyes.

Hmm?

Why shoot it again?

You have to just shoot
in the brain.

All right!

Now it's dead.

Oh, yeah, motherfucker.

Now he's destroyed.

No, they'll fix it.

They'll fix it.
They'll fix it.

That's what taxidermists do.

That's why
you paid him.

I'm done for the day.
It's party time, boys.

How much for that sucker?

That white one?
That's a great white lion.

It'll be about 35.

Thirty-five thousand?

How much was Cecil?

Cecil was expensive,
I think. 50,000.

Make sure all your tags
and things are on,

so there's no mistake
on the trophies, okay?

Skin it now,
salt it, put it in,

so that we know tomorrow when
they start with new animals,

we finish with the day's work.

I was in the cattle
industry for like 10-12 years.

And because we had a lot
of game in the area,

I had some other outfitters
those years

which always contact me
and say,

"Please, Christo.
Can I bring a client over?

We'd like to come
and hunt."

And I said, "Okay, fine.
Bring the clients."

And then I start meeting
overseas clients.

And it looked to me like it
can become a good business.

So, what we offer
our clients is,

there's the lodge,
there's a jacuzzi.

And in the hunting area,

you can drive around,
try and spot the animals.

You get off and you try
and get the client

up to a point where he can have a
clear, good shot at that animal.

Good shot, good shot.

Good shot, buddy.

And normally,
in the middle of the day,

when it's really hot,

we bring the clients
into the blind area

where they can sit down
for the rest of the afternoon.

So it makes it
really comfortable.

The client can stand straight
up and be able to shoot

through that slot
over there.

This may be like 25 yards.

We will put some feeders
out here as well,

so that the animals can only
come into the certain areas

where there's water
for drinking.

Then we clear out around
all these water points

where the blinds are,

because you would like to see
the animals when they come in.

And that makes it
an exciting hunt.

And it makes it a natural
environment, which is very important.

Why don't you kill?
You're just wasting petrol.

Yeah, it's no photo safari here.
You got the wrong guide.

You should get a guide
which kills things.

Sorry! Okay, sorry!

Just keep in mind, we
don't feed no Americans

if they don't shoot something.

I would love
to have a giraffe.

I probably would shoot it
myself, too.

I wanna hear some more.

He says it's too expensive

and we don't have
room for it in our house.

I will find a room for it
in our house,

even if I probably would have
to build onto the trophy room,

which I don't want to.

It's a beautiful animal.
I got one of those last year.

I still have a warthog
and a baboon

and a bushbuck,

a bushpig, a caracal.

So the list is still
pretty big,

and we have the rest of this
day and two more days to hunt.

So we'll try to do our best
to get most on the list, but...

it's not as easy.

It seems like once
we're going for them,

they're a little skittish.

Now we'll just try to get
all this grass out of the way.

Wash all of the blood off.

You try and start
a plain's game.

You know, animals
which I get the feeling,

and get used to our
bushing environment.

All right, good. Smile.

And then eventually
they got the experience

to allow them to go after
the Big Five.

This is the most
expensive one.

Damn, that was a good shot.

- Aw, beautiful photo.
- And one, two...

- Kiss?
- Yes.

Oh, that's a nice one.

I'm happy she got
her second one.

And oil's up $2.

What?

- Oil's up $2.
- Oil's up $2.

Let's add another one
to the list.

Let's add that bitch
to the list.

Likely to start
really low.

And when we say one
naught one million here,

500,00 now.

We have now.
I got a one, two now.

I got one 750 now.

I got one 750.
Do we have one 750?

Every outfitter,
if he has a lot of clients,

will run a good
hunting business.

You kind of shoot out
your animals,

so you have to buy in
new blood.

The breeding
is very important,

because that's where
the money is.

The money
is in the breeding.

We've had buffalo go for between
$4 million and $5 million.

And also sable bulls go for
$4 million or $5 million.

It's good for the industry.

Very big demand
and a good market for it.

And two million
six hundred thousand. And done.

You have
the capitalist system,

the profit motive,

making money off wildlife.

So it's remarkable
development

that in South Africa

they went through
an incredible period

of removing nature
from their countryside

in the 1800s.

And they literally
removed everything.

It's only been in the last
20-25 years

that there has been
this recognition

that they could take
private land,

and private owners
themselves could profit

by restoring these areas.

Now, until recently, this land
was mostly used for livestock.

But a lot of people decided,
"Well, we could get more revenue

if we do game ranching."

You'd actually get much more
money than raising cows.

In this model,
you're filling the market

by first killing rare ungulate
species like sable and roan

that are still attractive
for hunters.

And you can also start
breeding your buffaloes

so they have abnormally
huge horns.

And then,
as the market saturates,

people are thinking,
"Well, you know,

I've got all this land,

and we could bring back
Big Five."

Now you actually have got
a restored ecosystem.

And so this has been
a success story.

There are far more lions now
in South Africa now

than there were
a hundred years ago.

There's far more predators
in general in South Africa

than there were
a hundred years ago.

Initially, it may have been
because this would have involved

the slaughter of some animals,

but then you could go
towards a more naturalistic thing

that would not have
happened otherwise.

If we're only gonna restrict

what we view as
"domesticated animals"

to those species
that have been domesticated

hundreds or thousands
of years ago,

then we're just gonna see
a lot of those species go away.

And I think that there are
a few species like rhino

that there should be
rhino farms.

And one needs to recognize

that what they've achieved
in South Africa

should not be lost.

This was
a breeding buffalo bull.

This buffalo bull
was bought for millions.

And eventually,

he was done breeding.

And we had to put him
out there for hunting.

So we got...
A Canadian client came over,

and he was very happy
to harvest

such a beautiful trophy.

So nothing goes for waste.
Nothing.

Even that animal.

And we hope we will have
like maybe,

there's 50 or 70 babies
of him running around.

But eventually, one day,

he going to be honored

to put him up
on a trophy room,

where someone can go
walk in and say,

"You know what?
That was a top breeder."

And he'll still
be honored today

if you look at him and see
this was a great trophy.

He makes a real great trophy.

Do you ever get
attached to a lion

that it's hard to
release it for a hunt?

Is there some animal
like that

that you're like,
"Oh! This one I..."

All animals.

Doesn't matter
what animal it is.

If you love animals,
you'll get attached to them.

You go out there everyday,

you see this animal,
you're feeding him.

The buffalo, your sable.
Of course.

But there will be a time
when you have to let go.

Cut.

You must cut that.

Okay.

Yeah!

Busted a hip.
Did you see that?

Congratulations.

- Had him running away.
- Yeah.

Oh, my.

He's done.

Maybe if you come
to this side?

- Where?
- To the chest.

- Right through there?
- Yeah.

Okay, let's stand
a little bit back.

Then we can both finish.

Cigarette?

Is he
an old one, Philip?

No, just a bull.

It doesn't have...

the trophy quality
of a big elephant,

and it will never grow big.

So, yeah.

Yeah.

The OU's elephant

is an elephant that we have
to hunt for the community.

As part of their quota,

they get some animals
that they can harvest for meat.

Fifteen years ago,
people poached animals

because they want meat

and there was no value
to the animal for them.

Now they know they must
protect the wildlife.

It's not only the meat,

it's actually money
going back to their pockets.

Break the door
where people are sleeping?

Yeah.

These are recurring
problems then.

Can't carry on
like this.

Somebody's gonna get eaten.
It's just a matter of time.

Maybe it's better people cry
by the dead lion.

We don't cry
by the dead person.

Better that way.

We go to extreme lengths

to keep animals
from being shot

on the Problem Animal
Control Program.

Probably 95 percent
of the time

we can get the animals
out of the communities

and get them back into
where they belong

and try and keep
the two separated.

'Cause they don't mix well.

And people are killed
every year

by elephant, and hippo
and crocodile, and lion.

It's part of life.

Part of life here,
anyway, certainly.

Lions come in and just absolutely
destroy a guy's livelihood,

and he doesn't have a way
to sustain his future.

Maybe he ends up
in the bush,

putting up wire snares
and poaching.

At the end of the day
we're fighting a poaching war.

We are trained
to recruit people.

We do the anti-poaching
campaigns.

Trained to...

to teach people
and explain to them

the importance of animals.

The problem is, the people,
they're suffering.

So they're forced now
to get into the bush

to make a living.

Stay, stay.

Stay. Be a good boy.

Be a good boy.
Stay, honey, stay.

Yeah, David,
you don't.

Let me tell you,
you definitely don't.

That one over there
was only 14 months old.

I think two of them
were pregnant.

And then another cow with a
young calf was also wounded.

She still has a bullet
in her brisket.

Whether that will prove fatal
or not, we don't know.

Fucking sick.

They can give you 10, 12,
even 13 calves in their life.

That is all wiped out

in one moment.

The bodies were
actually mutilated.

Means that there's definitely
some locals involved.

I'm suspicious about
the camp master.

Because the rhinos,
they know him,

and he knows how to go and
stand in the middle of them

quietly...

and then maybe,
you know, two guys,

one banging that side
and one banging this side.

That's how I pictured it
in my nightmare.

So where
does that leave me?

Yeah, but...
What I was saying is that

we're going to have
a harder thing convincing

the pro trades--

You mean the anti-trades?

Yeah, the anti--

Convincing the anti-trades,
you mean?

Yes.

Charles, I know that.

I know that better
than any of you. I'm there.

I'm in the fight
all day and every day.

So I know that.

I'm not pro
and I'm not anti.

Both of those approaches
have merit in places

and not merit,
because the motives

behind the commercial acts

are very seldom
conservation-based.

They are profit-based,

and they sell it to the public
on the basis of--

- It pays, it stays.
- It pays, it stays. Yeah.

I'm not an emissary
for your cause. Not at all.

Just be for the rhinos,
not for my cause.

It's all I fucking want.
Be for the rhinos.

Try and keep them alive.

It's all I'm fucking
asking everybody.

You and I can sit
and have a discussion.

Let me tell you something.
Anthony Bones said,

if you are anti-trade,

the you are
anti-legal trade.

Then there's two things
I want you to think about.

Firstly, you are keeping
the money away from me,

which I need
to protect my rhino.

Secondly, if you are
anti-legal trade,

by implication to me,

you are pro illegal trade.

And those are the poachers.

The fact
of the matter is that--

Fact of the matter is,

in ten years' time,
if there's not legalization,

you won't see
one fucking rhino here.

They'll all be dead or gone.

That's the fact
of the matter.

The husband had been going into
the bush and shooting elephants.

That network
over the years, probably...

over the last ten years

would have accounted for a
couple of thousand elephant,

at least.

So, yeah.
They're bad guys.

Done a lot of bad things.

Tell this
fucking lady now

we are not tired of this mien.

We are going
to leave her with...

You've known your father
a long time.

The future in the bush
ain't no future.

There's no future.

Otherwise you can die,
leaving your family behind.

Or to be jailed.

And you are a young guy

with plenty of future
to your side.

I know if we stay like this,
we will end up...

That's not going forward.

We're fighting this
war for the community.

This community.

And another community
further away

want these elephants, too.

They're worth a lot of money,

and they will go to all lengths
to get what they want.

So, yeah.

You need to look in the mirror
every morning.

I make a point of it.

Every single morning
I look in the mirror,

because we've got
to make sure that

we don't cross the bounds,

uh, that...

We can't lose our humanity
for humanity.

I think that's
really important.

It gets harsh, and you do
things sometimes that...

when you saw it,
it will scare people.

But we've...

We have to do what... We have
to keep this fight going.

It's a war to save elephant
from extinction.

How many
rhinos are poached

in less than a year?

Twenty.

When I fired the previous
security company,

I really had a suspicion

that some of them were involved
in the rhino poaching.

One of the people
in that team I really liked

was the second in command,

a chap by the name
of Thomas Chowke.

That is our friend Thomas
at the time that he was here.

I've got a very reliable
report from the police

that Thomas was in
on the poaching.

That is, emotionally,

the worst part of this
was you're friends now.

You're the friends
of your rhino.

You feel you can't
trust anybody.

I won't be able
to guarantee

the zero losses
on this property.

But I can say to you that most of those
incidents which are mapped there

are as a direct result

of having
the wrong people on site,

with not the right equipment,
not the right training,

not being highly motivated.

So we will now change
the policy completely

to an elite reaction unit.

I don't necessarily want
them in a body bag.

I would like to upset them

for them to say,
"No, no, no.

We don't wanna go
to that place."

We have a case
of shots being fired...

While a lot of the
politicians are praying for peace,

we are praying for war.

More conflict is probably
needed in this arena

to sort out the problem.

Quite frankly,
I feel poor,

because they're all
very expensive.

Radar seems to be
somewhere

between ten
and 20 million grand.

This chopper here is costing
me nearly a million a month.

Then there's
the underground men,

and the bloody
information men,

and, and, and...

Eric, would that
have come through

so long if you tapped it
on the top of the face.

I mean, why did they
come in here?

They walked from that
bottom road there,

all the way up here,
into this camp,

to come and poach these.

Why?

Just 'cause they're fucking
with my head, or why?

You feel very helpless,
you know.

Good morning, darlings.

Let me scratch you.

This one is four-months-old.

I don't think anybody
ever thought

any private person

would have 1300 rhinos.

And next year we're gonna
have 200 more maybe.

But I suppose it's
an addiction, probably.

And where do you think
it's gonna stop?

When he kicks the bucket,
I guess.

Then hopefully one of
his sons will carry on.

He won't stop
before he's six foot under.

My dream is to carry on
what my dad's doing.

It's to carry on
with the rhino breeding.

Unfortunately, the irony,

I wouldn't breed rhino,
because it's too expensive,

and it's very high risk.

I mean, we've had death
threats here at the house.

If I see what he's gone through
in sort of the last 15 years,

his financial position has got
gradually worse and worse

the more rhino he's acquiring.

I have invested $50 million
in this project

with virtually no return.

This project
will come to an end

unless it is making money.

I can go on
selling my assets,

but it is not sustainable
in the long run.

I used to have six resorts.

I used to have
over 3,000 beds.

All the resorts have been,

and this is the last one
that will be sold on auction.

The first time.

For the second time,
24 million.

Thank you, ma'am.
It's yours.

After taking
various advice,

I believe that
I don't have any option

but to take
the government to court

to lift the moratorium.

If I don't,
I will run out of money,

and my rhinos will be killed
by poachers.

Go.

Sure.

We believe that the poachers
would have shot

an elephant today,

and we hope to meet them
on the road,

and explain to them that

this no longer happens
in this area.

There was a sting operation
in the district south of us,

where a lot of the armed
poachers come from.

And what had transpired was,

a guy whipped out a knife,

tried to stab
the police officer.

He was shot.

Uh, he died

shortly after that.

Uh, yeah, I don't know.

It was a bit strange,
'cause the next day,

I had to go
and shoot an elephant

on behalf of the council.

But walking up
to that elephant,

which is an incredibly
dangerous thing to do,

and you have this huge
adrenalin rush

as you're walking up to it.

It's... Your heart's going,
your head's going...

You need to cleanly
shoot this animal.

And as it falls and it's...

falls to the floor
after your shot,

there's just this huge
drop of emotion,

for me, anyway.

And...

it's...

to me...

really sad.

It turns from this
beautiful animal

into this floppy mess
of gray skin.

To me, shooting
elephant is hard.

I understand it's gotta be done,
and I have to do it sometimes.

But it's a tough call.

Yeah, it's an emotional thing,
killing an animal.

I think maybe that's
part of the hunting.

Where people

have this huge buildup,
and then this emotional switch.

I get that.

So I understand maybe
if others get it,

and maybe it becomes
a passionate addiction.

I don't know.

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday
Dear Philip ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ And many more ♪

Cheers.

You mind?

Who's all wild?

You spilled it.

What are you,
some kind of wild animal?

Mom, Dad,
y'all watch.

Philip's opening his gift.

Oh, I remember
what these are.

"Birthday cheers on your quest
for the Big Five."

Something Merlot.

Something.

In some kind of chocolate.
Is that what that is?

- Happy birthday.
- Thank you.

Unfortunately, this is
my birthday present, I guess.

They've listed the lions
as threatened,

and all lions as threatened,

and another species
as endangered.

So effectively,
lion hunting is over.

Now, when this all goes
into effect, I don't know.

We're just a few months out,

so maybe we're okay,
maybe we're not.

Maybe we have to go
to a different country,

maybe the whole trip's ruined,
I don't know.

So I think the thing that
makes me the maddest

is this service director
Dana Ash,

says that, and I quote,

"that it's a privilege,
not a right,

for us to bring back these
trophies from other countries."

I don't think he was
elected by anybody.

I think he's an appointed
bureaucrat,

and he has no right
to tell me

what my rights are,

and what the privilege
of being a US citizen is.

I'm gonna be the first hunter
in there for the hunting season.

And we planned it that way.

So I'm going as early as I can
in this coming year.

But, um...

that might not be
early enough.

That's the bottom line.

There are about
150 farms in South Africa

that have permits to keep
and breed lions.

About 70 percent
of all hunters

are coming from
the US and Canada.

And right now the importation
of lion trophies

will be much more difficult.

And that will give my industry
a severe blow.

If we can't get hunters

to hunt our lions,

we slaughter the lions
and sell their bones.

What other
alternative is there

if you cannot look after
your animals,

and there's no value
to your animals?

How will you look
after them?

Where will you find the money
to feed them?

If you take away
the value of it,

I have to get rid of it.

There is no other
option for me.

Walk away from my place,

let people shoot them,
euthanize them.

What else?

What can you
expect me to do?

I can't just let them
open the camps

and let them run out free
and kill people.

Just once in a while,

an individual animal

can capture
the public imagination

and change public attitudes.

Worldwide outrage

over the death
of Cecil the lion,

killed at the hands
of an American dentist.

Cecil's death created

a sort of public ground swell
of opinion

that's been translated
into real action.

You know,
I eat hamburgers.

But that was not a hunt,
that was a murder.

And this guy must have quite a
collection of animal heads,

because here he is posing
next to a bear he shot.

He killed like half
of Noah's Ark.

Killing a lion for sport?

Not in the era of
Instagram and Facebook.

Not to a generation brought up
to relate to Simba.

We'll always
be together, right?

No, we won't.

I'll be murdered by
a dentist from Minnesota.

See that constellation?

The one that looks like
a white guy in his 50s

with a fake smile?

Walter fucking Palmer.

You hunted Cecil the lion
like a fucking cowardly bitch.

Dentist Palmer, welcome to
the court of public opinion.

I'm really happy
that social media

is getting this story
out there.

You gotta stop talking about it,
I'm gonna get really angry.

What would happen if you were
being hunted, motherfucker?

We'll never forgive
what you did.

In the wake
of public outrage

over the killing
of Cecil the lion,

the three largest US airlines
are instituting bans

on carrying trophies
as freight.

Somebody is paying
for this thing to function.

Someone provides the clothing,

the scopes,
the outdoor gear.

And it makes the big
corporate players in this

think very carefully

about how closely they wish
to be associated

with certain practices.

And I think that
that will change,

and it will change fast.

And people will say,
"Mm-mmm.

I don't wanna be
a part of this."

Save our lions!

Ban game hunting!

Save our lions!

Ban game hunting!

Save our lions!

Ban game hunting!

Save our lions!

We will shame these people.

We will ostracize
these people.

We will put such pressure
on our governments

so that they've got
nowhere to go.

And it isn't just lions.

A certain gentleman that breeds
1200 white rhinos in South Africa

spends 5.2 million grand
a year

feeding them
and looking after them,

says he can no longer
afford to pay for all of that.

He'll have to cull
those animals,

unless he can sell
the rhino horns.

And we've got to say
enough is enough.

We won't allow
that to happen.

We won't allow South Africa
to abuse its position...

Welcome. I'm here
tonight to moderate a debate

between two very
prominent conservationists.

Will Travers of the
Born Free Foundation,

and Mr. John Hume.

I'm very keen to hear
what he's gonna say.

He's far more experienced
than I am

in wooing the public.

Don't forget that
that's what he does.

He woos the public,

and that's how
they collect money,

and that's why
he's so good at it.

Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen.

I'm a retired
property developer,

and now custodian
of 1,403 rhinos.

If I can sell the horns,

my 1400 will become
2,000, 3,000

and 10,000.

I cannot see
what is wrong with that,

when my rhinos
are happy alive.

Come and see them
where they are.

I have the recipe,

but it takes
a lot of money.

I have a way
to raise the money

without going begging
all over the world.

All I need is for it
to be legal.

I don't think there's any
legitimate case

for you having these animals
in large numbers

in private areas
of owned land,

where you can harvest them,
where you can profit from them,

where you can put them
into the international market,

where it can lead
to more destruction.

Excuse me, sir. I don't think
you understand Africa.

You simply don't
understand Africa.

How many consumers could you
supply from your rhinos?

I trim my horns
every two years.

So I can produce
with my current rhinos,

one ton of horn a year.

Rhino. What about the rest
of the population?

They must do the same.

That's why I wanna give them
to the communities.

I wanna teach the community.

There's Sumatran rhino,
Indian rhino.

Once you flood...
"flood" your market...

So you want me to give up
and let my rhino all die?

It's all about your rhino.

What about the global rhino?

Let the global rhino
do the same thing.

You have to speak
for all rhino,

not just yours.

The "if it pays,
it stays" principle,

the commodification
of wildlife.

Elephants will stay
if we can sell their ivory.

Lions will stay if the wealthy
elite can shoot them for fun.

And rhino will stay,
albeit on ranches

very similar to Mr. Humes',

if their horns can be sold to
remote, distant, deluded buyers.

What a vision of nature
that will be.

Contained, confined,

commercialized
and counterfeit.

South Africa
is yet to decide

on a push to end
a global ban

on buying and selling
rhino horn.

The move could open up
a $2 billion market,

and also determine the fate

of the critically
endangered species.

Oh, my gosh.

I got this one.

You got this one?

I'm coming back.

They like to talk
about the numbers,

they like to talk
about conservation.

They're just
greenwashing, basically,

the fact that they
enjoy killing.

And that's basically
psychopathic behavior.

We're seeing a lot
of progress for animals.

The change is coming.

We're gonna put
an end to this.

I'm actually
a conservation hunter.

We're very conscientious
about what we do hunt,

and we don't hunt
any endangered species.

I'm against all hunting.

Just all hunting,
no matter what?

No matter what.

No matter the results or...

All hunting.

From the conservationist
point of view,

the money that comes in
from hunting

in those areas
where those conservancies are,

is actually what's
keeping them there.

You honestly think
your money goes anywhere

except into someone's
back pocket?

- Were going...
- You are breeding corruption.

Were going to go to the school
that we paid for.

Were going to go to--

So go build a school.

If you wanna build a school,

I'll shake your hand,
I'll come build it with you.

- No problem.
- I'm just saying--

Why do you have to shoot an
animal to go build a school?

I'm just saying that's part
of our industry.

- That's not the same.
- It's an option.

Murder is murder.

- It's not murder if it's an animal.
- Yes, it is.

Did you murder the chicken
that you had for lunch?

I don't eat meat,
sweetheart.

- Oh, good.
- I'm vegan.

- I don't eat meat.
- Okay. Okay.

'Cause I have regard
for all species,

and all living,
breathing things.

Shame on you!

Cowards!

It's human nature to be
empathetic with the individual.

And so the animal rights
organizations,

that's their thinking,

is the individual.

As if that's somehow gonna
protect the entire area.

It's gonna protect the whole
ecosystem. And it's not.

So they think in terms of
Bambi, or Simba, or Fifi.

'Cause we can see Fifi,
and we know Fifi,

and we send out photographs
of Fifis to our donors.

Then that's great, okay?

But Fifi might be in the right
middle place

if she's right in the most
protected area,

and you're ignoring everywhere
else around the periphery.

And all people
are cutting away

and they're felling forests,

and they're clearing land,

and they're bringing
their livestock

right next to Fifi.

And it all goes.

They're ignoring the fact

that local people
are being killed by lions,

being trampled by elephants,

they're losing their crops,

that they do not share
their value system.

If you cannot empathize
with the local people,

then you're not gonna be
at all successful

in protecting
in the long term.

On the other hand,
you have the hunters

who are convinced

that where they operate

they're the last
bastion of support

to protect these areas.

But to an animal welfare
organization, no.

No animal must die.

The reality of hunting
is that,

yes, there are a few places where
hunting does make a difference.

But in many areas,
the economics don't add up.

They're not generating
enough money.

The land is being lost,

especially in the most
corrupt countries.

We've seen that happen
over and over

in many parts of Africa,

where they go out and say,
"Everything is fine."

No, it's not fine.

Things are declining.

What we do
is run the camp

and kind of manage
the on-ground management

of the anti-poaching
in the area.

And we get a daily rate

when foreign hunters
come in to hunt here,

which really subsidizes

the money that I have
to run my anti-poaching.

You can imagine all that dust
and dirt and rain, and...

Our firearms take a bit
of a hammering.

That's why we like
these AK action.

'Cause all the AK
built in Israel,

you can't really go wrong
with them.

No, no.

We're fighting
to save this...

for the community...

while people kill it.

It's...

It really is pretty weird.

We're fighting
to save something

so that somebody else
can kill it.

It just comes back to...

control, ethic, morals...

sustainability.

You can assimilate the two,

the poachers
and the commercial hunters,

but the difference is
the poachers,

they shoot anything
for their teeth.

Literally anything.

And they will shoot
every last one that there is,

because there's a commercial
driven desire for these teeth.

On the hunting side,

if done correctly,

where there's a very carefully
measured off-take,

um, I can live with that.

Killing every last animal?
No, I can't live with that.

Won't do that.

That's just wrong.

You loaded up?

- No.
- You gotta load up.

You never know
what we can bump here.

- I'm not really after a buffalo.
- Okay.

Yeah. I mean, you know what,
we're gonna need baits.

So we've got three more
places to bait.

But it's your call.
You know, I mean, I could--

How much am I paying
for the hippo for bait?

Four seven-fifty.

- And how much for a buffalo?
- 5,500.

Okay.

Okay.

When you're ready, take it.

This is one of now probably
17 baits

we've put up so far
for Philip.

We've used hippo,
zebra, impala.

And our biggest problem
is they're rotting really quick.

They're only lasting
two or three days, so...

Hopefully, cats find this in the next
two days while it's still fresh,

and give us a little luck.

You know,
the Bible says

He gave man dominion
over all the animals.

And that dominion comes
with a responsibility.

But it also means
it's the right to use.

And so, I think that is
a big part of it.

And it's a big part of
appreciating God's creation.

Some people think,
"How can you go out

and shoot God's creation?"

That's a totally
false statement.

False point of view.

God said we have dominion
over the animals.

That means we can do
what we choose with them.

It's a very powerful statement
that's in the Bible.

Give me the rams.

I think it does make it more
special for me as a believer

to go out there
and pursue these animals

and know that God placed them.

And when I put my hand
on that lion,

I can promise you,

at that moment,
as with all of my life,

anybody that believes in
evolution is a complete fool.

I just don't understand
how people can't understand

that God raised that animal
into existence.

A thought came to mind
as I was coming here,

and beginning to feel
the emotion

and the anticipation
of this big hunt.

I've been a hunter
my whole life.

They say I fell out
of the hunting vehicle

when I was two
or three years old,

and landed on my head.

Maybe that's what wrong
with me sometimes.

And, you know, I lost my dad
a few years ago,

and he was a hunter.

At the time, I was
a little angry with him,

the way he would treat me.

He would do funny things to me

to make me learn to hunt.

We'd be in a pickup,

and whether it was
a rabbit or a deer,

summer or winter,

we'd be driving along,
and he would see some game.

And all he would do
is turn the engine off

and sit there
and not say a word.

And I would have
to find the animal,

get out of the vehicle,
and go take a shot.

But he challenged me.

My dad challenged me
in many ways.

That was just one way.

And...

I think that he would be
really tickled

to be able to tell people

back home at the coffee shop,

and when I say "coffee shop"
I mean the Dairy Queen,

that his son is out
hunting a lion.

I think if he was around he would've
really got a big kick out of that.

It would be better
if he was a little bit up.

- It'll be out.
- Yeah.

It'll work, but if you can
make it up a little bit.

Down just a bit.

Right there.

Look at his hair.

That feels right.

You wouldn't believe it, but hair
patterns are very important.

It's not gonna look alive
if it's mangy.

I actually have
nothing for myself.

I've never kept
a piece of work.

Ever.

One day I'll probably end up
buying a skin from a zoo,

one that's expired,

and create my own little
private museum.

Even if it's private,
it's still something

that will preserve it
when it's long gone.

Which is inevitable the way
we carry on in this world.

People are killing animals
for the wrong reasons.

Like poaching,
using them for...

completely irrational...

What do you call it? Illogical
reasons like medicine.

It doesn't work.

It's just a fantasy.

And besides that,

the dissipation
of their natural habitat,

they've got nowhere else
to go.

They come into conflict
with people.

They always come second.

So there's that too.

Animals will end up one day
behind cages

like we have in zoos,
but on a larger scale,

or just fantasies
that people talk about.

"One day there were
these animals..."

So this might do justice
to them at least.

At least that's
what I aim for.

'Cause if they do become
extinct one day,

then there's something to show
the world what they look like.

Yeah, get the clear quickly.

I really feel
as if they know

that they're in danger.

They know

that they're not equipped
to avoid extinction.

It is humans that have
messed up their lives.

We are to blame.

And it makes me understand

that I cannot give up.

Why should we save
any species from extinction?

It's almost like,
why should we breathe?

It's because it's us.

Surely we want

our world to survive.

We want our world
to be a better place.

Fantastic, buddy.
Excellent shot.

My gosh.

You laid down
the sticks, didn't you?

That was a good idea.

You don't want those
to get a hold of you.

I promise you that.

Those teeth are just...

absolutely magnificent.

What a mane.
Look at that red.

And black.

Black on its ears.

Green eyes.

And he's an old, old male.

Really a one of a kind.

I made the decision
several months ago

that I was coming
to hunt lion

and this is my trophy.

There's not any bureaucrat
that can take it away from me.

Okay. Martin, can we set him
up to take some pictures?

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