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Though many people in this region share the forest with this elusive giant, most have never seen a Forest Elephant (Loxodonta africanis cyclotis). This projects seeks to introduce people to elephants as ecologically important, socially-complex creatures, which can be tolerated and even appreciated for aesthetic and economic reasons.
One film, the The Price of Ivory (Le Prix d'Ivoire), uses interviews with hunters and enforcement officers to reveal the true costs of elephant poaching: most profit goes to ivory buyers and middlemen, while Ba'Aka hunters risk their lives, wealth, and confiscation of weapons. Viewers also learn that there is no tradition of hunting elephants solely for ivory in Africa, and that foreign demand is destroying a keystone species responsible for forest regeneration, which could instead be used for non-consumptive ecotourism.
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Phoebe's Story |
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Phoebe was born to Trudy II at Dzanga, Central African Republic, in March of 2003.
On October 17, 2003 Scientist Andrea Turkalo who has been studying the elephants at Dzanga for more than 15 years wrote:
Seems like bad news comes in threes...

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Another video resulting from this project, Human-Elephant Conflict (Conflit homme-éléphant), contrasts dramatic reenactments of farmers finding trampled and eaten crops with pragmatic approaches to farming in elephant territory. Solutions to conflict include fences, noisemakers, planting crops elephants don't eat, and using chili peppers as a crop border, as a fence application (chili pepper oil), and as a noxious smoke (burning bricks of chili and elephant dung).
Rural congolese audiences watching these films will recognize their neighbors and local authorities, speaking in the national languages of Lingala and French, about wildlife issues and decision that impact them in their daily lives. The videos are 'local by design,' providing knowledge and testimony that can change attitudes and behaviors towards wildlife while offering solutions to the challenges of living with Forest Elephants.
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