Projects
The Rhino Hunters
1 hour documentary
Presented by David Adams
For 400 years, the nomadic and warlike Baggara people of Western Sudan have been among Africa's greatest hunters. Centuries ago, the Baggara tracked elephants for days on horseback, and then skillfully rode in behind them with razor sharp sabers to cut the tendon of a back leg bringing the elephant down. Once, when elephant and rhino were plentiful, the Baggara were regarded as the bravest and most skillful of all, killing their quarry with speed and reverence.
Today war, dictatorship and greed have annihilated the great herds of elephant and rhino, and the Baggara are seen simply as opportunistic poachers hastening their end. The northern white rhino, one of the world's most endangered animals, could be extinct within months, and with them the last remaining herds of elephant in central Africa. The remaining 7 rhino and few hundred elephant live in the Garamba National Park, a United Nations' World Heritage site, on the northern border of the Democratic Republic of Congo with Sudan.
But they are under attack from the north by a new generation of Baggara horsemen, the "Bahr El Gazal", from war-torn Darfur in south western Sudan. For this new generation, their forefathers' traditional respect for the animals has been replaced by the mercenary attitude of the modern poacher. It is a perilous endeavor, an ongoing guerrilla conflict that takes lives on both sides - only six months ago twelve forest guards were killed in a gun battle in the tropical jungles of northern Congo.
The documentary will begin far to the east in the bustling markets of Sana'a, capital of Yemen. Daggers have been part a Yemeni man's traditional dress for centuries. Known as Jamibyas, these daggers are their only adornment and serve as their most prized status symbol. The craftsmanship of blade, heath and belt are all important, but the most prestigious element of a Jambiya is the handle, made of priceless rhinoceros horn. Recently an antique rhino dagger changed hands for $US 1 million. Here David Adams will pick up the trail. After meeting and breaking bread with the horn craftsmen, he will leave the dagger markets to follow the smuggler's trail back into remotest Africa.
First Adams will cross the Red Sea to Sudan by Arab dhow, then the desert by camel caravan, making his way to the largest ivory market in the world - Omduman across the Nile from Sudan's capital Khartoum. It will be here that David will meet the Baggara and travel back with them to the Darfur and the boarders of Garaba National Park. It will be from both sides of the fence that Adams records the life of the Baggara, portraying them impartially while exploring their traditions, plight and their role in the ivory and rhino horn trade in an incredible adventure exploration.