A ranger carrying a machine gun through a river in Central Africa

National Geographic · Explorer

Warlords of Ivory

The investigation · Central Africa

Follow the tusk.
Find the network.

Investigative journalist Bryan Christy sets out to expose how the illegal ivory trade funds some of Africa's most notorious militias. With a satellite tracker concealed inside a lifelike tusk, the film follows ivory from poaching country toward the armed networks moving it across borders.

Client: National Geographic
Platform: National Geographic Channel
My role: Director · Correspondent · Producer · Director of Photography
Format: Documentary feature · 60 min

Full feature · National Geographic

Track the trade.

0:000:00

Evidence in motion

A hidden route made visible

The investigation moves from the rangers defending Garamba National Park to the routes used by armed groups across Central Africa. Field reporting, embedded access, and the signal from the artificial tusk connect the killing of elephants to a larger system of violence, money, and power.