Arnie terminates tusk to fight ivory poaching

BOOM: A frame from a YouTube video by 96elephants.org in which Arnold Schwarzenegger blows up a tusk ARNOLD Schwarzenegger, using explosives in true Hollywood style, has blown up an elephant tusk in a bid to save Africa’s dwindling elephant population.

The Terminator actor and former California governor has become the latest celebrity to lend a voice to campaigns against the poaching of elephants and rhinos.

He follows basketball star Yao Ming, Chelsea Clinton, Angelina Jolie, Ricky Gervais, Jackie Chan and Leonardo DiCaprio, among others.

Reports indicate that 96 elephants are killed every day on the continent to feed the multimillion-dollar ivory industry.

Damien Mander, founder of the International Anti-Poaching Foundation, which operates in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Australia and the US, welcomed the efforts being made by celebs.

“I don’t think the world realises that there is a war going on. There are two sides; both sides have guns.

“The rangers who risk their lives every day, on a minimum wage, to help protect the animals. They are the pointy end of the spear,” said Mander.

“But as with any war there is a huge logistical machine, which is driven by a global community. These elephants and rhinos are not only Africa’s animals, but part of this global community and we need to look after them. Whether it’s a lawyer in New York, or a graphic designer in Australia, or a celebrity in China, they all are pieces of the jigsaw puzzle.”

Schwarzenegger features in a video made for the New Yorkbased Wildlife Conservation Society, as part of its 96 Elephants campaign. He is captured holding a confiscated tusk donated by Los Angeles Zoo.

“Hey, stop killing elephants every day just because of this ivory . . . Let’s get rid of the demand once and for all,” he says.

He is then seen wiring up an explosive device, after which the tusk is blown up.

The video “symbolised the need to destroy — or should we say terminate — the global demand for ivory”, the Wildlife Conservation Society said.

Ming travelled to Kenya and South Africa to make the feature documentary Saving Africa’s Giants with Yao Ming, which aired on Animal Planet.

“The huge price motivates poachers to persist. And if we buy ivory, it makes all of us killers as well,” Ming said in a statement.