Iain Douglas-Hamilton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Iain Douglas-Hamilton
Douglas-Hamilton in Samburu National Reserve
Born	Iain Douglas-Hamilton 16 August 1942 Ferne, Shaftesbury, England
Alma mater	Oriel College, Oxford (BSc, DPhil)
Occupation	Zoologist
Known for	Study of elephant behaviour
Spouse(s)	Oria Rocco
Children	Saba Douglas-Hamilton and Dudu Douglas-Hamilton
Awards	Commander of the Order of the British Empire Indianapolis Prize Order of the Golden Ark
Scientific career
Thesis	The Ecology and Behaviour of the African Elephant - The Elephants of Lake Manyara
Doctoral advisor	Nikolaas Tinbergen

Iain Douglas-Hamilton CBE (born 16 August 1942) is a famous Scottish zoologist. He is one of the world's top experts on the African elephant. In 1993, he started an organization called Save the Elephants. This group works to protect elephants and their homes for the future.

When he was just 23, Douglas-Hamilton began the first deep scientific study of how elephants behave. He did this in Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania. His work in the 1960s helped us understand elephants much better. It also led to many of the ways we protect them today. In the 1970s, he looked into the state of elephants all over Africa. He was the first to warn the world about the terrible killing of elephants for their ivory. This led to the first global ban on ivory trade in 1989.

For his important work, he has received many high awards. These include the Order of the Golden Ark in 1988 and the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2015. In 2010, he won the Indianapolis Prize. This is a top award for people who work to save animals.

Early Life and Education

Iain Douglas-Hamilton was born in 1942 in England. His father was a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Sadly, his father died in the war in 1944. Iain's grandmother, Nina Douglas-Hamilton, was also an animal rights activist.

From the age of 10, Iain dreamed of flying around Africa to save animals. He went to Gordonstoun School in Scotland. Later, he studied Zoology at Oxford University. He earned his first degree in 1965 and a higher degree (D.Phil.) in 1972.

Iain is married to Oria Douglas-Hamilton. She started Elephant Watch Camp in Samburu National Reserve, Kenya. They have two daughters, Saba and Dudu. Saba is a TV presenter, and Dudu works in conservation. The Douglas-Hamiltons live in Kenya. Iain and Oria have written two books together. They have also made several TV films about elephants.

Working to Save Elephants in Africa

Studying Elephants in Tanzania

When he was 23, Douglas-Hamilton moved to Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania. He lived in the wild there. He did the first scientific study of how African elephants interact with each other. He believed that understanding how elephants move could help us protect them. This is especially important with threats like poaching and conflicts with humans.

Douglas-Hamilton's work is described in the book Among the Elephants. He wrote this book with his wife, Oria. He once said about his time in Manyara: "Nobody had lived with wildlife in Africa and looked at them as individuals yet. I was incredibly lucky to have had the chance to be the first person to do that with elephants.”

Anti-Poaching Efforts in Uganda

From 1980 to 1982, Douglas-Hamilton lived in Uganda. He became an Honorary Chief Park Warden there. This was after a time of chaos in the country. He was in charge of stopping poachers. His plane was even shot at by soldiers who were poaching animals.

He helped to bring back Uganda's three game parks. He lived in a lodge that was built for the Queen Mother's visit in the 1950s. In 2022, he went back to Uganda. He helped to put collars on elephants to study their movements.

Founding Save the Elephants in Kenya

Douglas-Hamilton moved to Kenya with his family. He still works on conservation there today. In 1993, he started Save the Elephants. This group focuses only on protecting elephants. He shares important research about poaching and human-elephant conflict.

He also gives talks and works with the media to raise awareness. His main goal is to understand elephant choices by studying how they move.

Key Work and Discoveries

Counting Elephant Populations

Iain Douglas-Hamilton is a skilled pilot. He created ways to watch elephant movements from the air. In the early 1970s, he designed methods to count large groups of elephants from low-flying planes. This allowed for the first big counts of elephant populations.

From 1976 to 1979, he worked on a project to survey African elephant populations. He gathered data from 34 countries. This data helped create plans to protect elephants. He also studied the global ivory trade. He continued to lead aerial surveys into the 1980s.

The Elephant Crisis and Ivory Ban

Douglas-Hamilton's surveys showed a huge problem. Poaching was increasing across Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. This was because of a growing demand for ivory, especially from Japan. By 1980, most of Uganda's elephants had been killed. Their numbers dropped from about 20,000 to only 1,600.

Douglas-Hamilton worked to stop poachers in Uganda. He designed air and ground patrols. Many poachers came from Sudan, where civil war was happening. They sold ivory to buy weapons. His work helped to slow down the killing of elephants.

His research showed that the number of African elephants dropped by more than half. From 1.3 million in 1979, it went down to about 600,000 by 1989. These numbers showed the world what was called the "elephant holocaust." It became clear that a ban was needed to stop the illegal killing. Douglas-Hamilton was a key voice in calling for this ban. The ban worked, and elephant numbers began to recover.

The Work of Save the Elephants

Douglas-Hamilton's early work showed that studying elephants closely could help protect them. To continue this, he founded Save the Elephants in 1993. The group's goal is "to secure a future for elephants." They do this by protecting elephant habitats and helping people and elephants live together.

Save the Elephants has a main research station in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. In 2010, floods almost destroyed their camp. But they rebuilt and continued their work. They also have a station in Tsavo, Kenya. Here, they study how humans and elephants can live side-by-side.

A big part of Save the Elephants' work is using GPS tracking. Douglas-Hamilton was a pioneer in using this technology. It helps them follow elephants and send rangers to protect them. In 2007, he even worked with Google Earth to show elephant movements live.

They study about 1,000 elephants in Samburu. They fit collars with GPS chips on hundreds of elephants. This data helps scientists understand how poaching affects elephant populations. Save the Elephants also works to reduce conflict between people and elephants. Dr. Lucy King, mentored by Douglas-Hamilton, leads a project using "Beehive Fences." These fences use beehives to stop elephants from destroying crops on farms.

In 2013, Save the Elephants launched the Elephant Crisis Fund. This fund helps other groups fight the ivory trade and protect elephants. It has given over $34 million to hundreds of organizations.

The Modern Poaching Crisis

Douglas-Hamilton and others believe that some legal ivory sales in the 2000s led to a new wave of illegal poaching. This new crisis was even worse than in the 1970s and 80s. From 2010 to 2012, over 100,000 African elephants were killed illegally. The price of ivory had gone up a lot, especially in China and other parts of Asia.

In 2012, Douglas-Hamilton spoke to the US Senate. He explained the links between poaching and insecurity in Africa. He stressed that we need more efforts to stop poaching. We also need better laws against smuggling and money laundering. And, most importantly, we need to reduce the demand for ivory products in Asia.

His high-level meetings helped lead to important actions. In 2013, the Obama administration and the Clinton Global Initiative made big commitments to stop ivory trade. Douglas-Hamilton also worked with Yao Ming, a famous Chinese sports star. Yao Ming helped spread the message in China to reduce ivory demand.

In 2015, Save the Elephants shared good news. The price of illegal ivory in China had almost halved. This brought hope that elephant killings would go down. Thanks to the efforts of Douglas-Hamilton and Save the Elephants, China announced it would ban its domestic ivory trade. This ban started in 2018.

Douglas-Hamilton hopes to secure a future for elephants forever. He says, “My dream would be for human beings to come into balance with their environment, to stop destroying nature.”

Awards and Publications

Iain Douglas-Hamilton has received many awards for his work. These include the 2010 Indianapolis Lilly Award. He also received the George B Rabb Conservation Medal in 2014. In 2015, he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the San Diego Zoological Society.

He is a member of several important groups that work to protect elephants. He has also published many scientific papers. With his wife Oria, he wrote Battle for the Elephants (1992) and Among The Elephants (1975).

Books

• 1992 - Battle for the Elephants (Viking)
• 1975 - Among the Elephants (Doubleday)

Films

• 1973 - The Family that Lives with Elephants (Narrated by David Niven)
• 1989 - Ivory Wars
• 1998 - Africa’s Elephant Kingdom
• 2009 - The Secret Life of Elephants
• 2015 - This Wild Life