“I am not a trinket. I am not a rug. I am not medicine. I am not a wall hanging.”
Racing Extinction exposes the illicit trade in wildlife — the black markets, the criminal syndicates, and the species running out of time because of them.
Stop Wildlife Crime: The Series
A five-part documentary series on the wildlife trafficking crisis — low-risk, high-profit crime that threatens some of the world’s most recognizable species, and the rangers who stand between them and extinction.
The crisis, in full
Elephants, rhinos, tigers, and other species are increasingly slaughtered by poachers and criminal gangs armed with military-grade weapons and night-vision equipment — a trade that destabilizes governments, economies, and conservation gains alike.
Featuring Robert Hormats (former U.S. Under Secretary of State), Ginette Hemley (WWF), Crawford Allan (TRAFFIC North America), and ranger Andile Mhlongo of Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, South Africa.
Tens of thousands killed each year for ivory
In nearly every case of elephant poaching, the animal is shot and has its tusks hacked out with machetes or a chainsaw — all to meet consumer demand for an ivory trinket or souvenir.
Every part of the animal, traded
Two of the six remaining tiger subspecies are Critically Endangered. From whisker to tail, tiger parts are traded for traditional medicine, folk remedies, and increasingly as a status symbol — with live cubs now targeted for the exotic pet trade.
A horn worth more than the myth behind it
Rhino horn is keratin — the same material as human hair and fingernails — yet it’s falsely marketed across parts of Asia as a hangover cure and cancer treatment. There’s no scientific basis for either claim, and it hasn’t slowed the killing.
The first line of defense, outgunned
Park rangers, forest guards, and wildlife officers are frequently outnumbered and outgunned by the poachers they’re up against. A ranger is killed in the line of duty roughly every four days.
Where rhino poaching actually stands now
WWF’s series aired in 2013, following a documented 5,000% spike in South African rhino poaching between 2007 and 2012. Here’s how that’s trended since, based on the country’s own published figures.
The national trend is genuinely improving, but it isn’t uniform — poaching pressure has simply shifted between provinces and parks as enforcement tightens in one place. The fight this series documented hasn’t ended; it’s moved.