with a breif pa karenge nine to office

and injured buffalo

north this look at the buffalo on theground they looked at me

and as our eyes met those an unspokengrief between the three of us

choose a beautifully wall that innocentcreature

wolf is listed the muzzle of these awfulto hear

at that moment

she started to give birth

as loss that some of her mature cafre-examine the injuries

back leg being cord and i just ran twicenow

to foster freedom to start in so long

but she griffith told us in half

which is finally free

but isn't gentleman today are still agreat sense of responsibility

in speaking to you on behalf of clothesthat never code

this suffering

is my grief

is my motivation

martin luther king day summarizes mycold aunty today

he said the comes a time when one musttake a position if they decide

no political

no popula

but he must take that position becausehe's conscience tells him

at its wrought

because he's conscience tells him

it is wrought

biggest all come in our school question

at questions the only reason i traveledhere today all the way from african

savannah

a question for ms clings wants all

how you answer that question will alwaysbe yours

remember watching the movie the wizardof oz as a young kid

i was never scared of the whichwell-defined monkeys

my greatest fear is that i grew up withthe line

without courage

brabois asking myself if i thought to bebright

we use up the dorset matter went back tokansas

and the wife and his carriage

i walked into a tether pollard had thewould seek and destroy

senator chris purchased

before that it might be bigan breif

but i tell my student carried a growingto those words

budget when you have become a clearancegovern the nightly

what twenty five

as a special operations naba

you exactly have any pics of elevationon eight of them start more awful

to take a head shot on a moving targetfrom seven of the made his way

and exactly how many grams of hikesplaces it takes the bus is still quite

tool for money if you made his way withthat one myself

wanton dumping on him

i need to baghdad was a shitty place

when things go bang

will people door

the back then

i had no idea what a conservationist itother than countries of piss off large

corporations

argue that it lots

a new that's like that

i really give a shit about theenvironment washer dryer

i was the idiot used to speed up thesecatastrophic birds on the road

model offers a world away fromconcentration

expanding or news doing things in reallife

most people wouldn't dream of trying toplay station

loftus fault it was to rock

as a cycle of miss anna

skills i hadn't been for one thing

i was programmed to destroy

looking back now

on everything off time

and the prices of bain in my heart

of oliver perform one trip to pray foryou

analysis of which u<u>s</u> officials and yesfor this audit nine

there was that one act which defines mecompletely

and shows them that would be separationbetween who i am

and what i did

well-funded if the rock before me i waslost awful uh...

said no at the rose garden waffles mettoday in our austin africa the beginning

it's because an unknown

house i just went on at home

somehow i was not for the purposeamongst cuts and that's exactly what

happened

but no idea that

unfunded

in a remote part

of zimbabwe bush

andrew patrolling along the vulturescircled in here

and as we go close to the states if thiseconomy

in the end of the six doc file

sucked the oxygen ideologues

and as we go closer

there was a great bull elephant

resting on its side

with its fis cutaway

and the world around me stopped

os can share my date

and overwhelming sadness sing innocentreaches killed like this if you know i

like nothing before

what actually parses it a night in thename result expert dr

on the chinese leader

something in salt was in this time

that's never going to be again

i asked myself

is that elephant

needed spies

open some blind eyes major task uneasedisk

buckles of but it does i was a relevant

all that mattered there and then

this would all be brave enough

to give up everything in my life

to transport the suffering of animals

this is the one true too far in montanamarch

yes or not

a contact in the family the next day

begin selling warehouses

his assets would go as mention thequickly cause of the prices of war

what studies since being used to faminegrow the international any party

foundation

the i<u>v</u>f_ is a direct action

law-enforcement organization

from drying technology

twenty two national qualification forrenters

we're battling each and every day tobring military solutions conservation

finger in line

the my story might is for the unique

but i'm not gonna use it to talk to saythat the organization around

and what what we could have been apretty good fundraiser

for memo

president of course i mean i ask you atthe end

is it impossible for me to get up hereand talk about deciding what what what i

know the problem

of animal welfare

is much broader throughout society

she is after i saw that elephant or whatup very early one morning

already knew the answer to the questionas a better ask myself

that was the first time put into words

does a cow bell you it's lost

more than i enjoy barbecue

to be guilty all the start of whatstands species is in

species is in his very much society'sracism or sexism

involves the allocation of a differentset of values brought to a special

considerations the individuals

by sali on who or what they are

the realize i shipped the flexiblemorality argues this is my everyday

conveniences made me sick in the stomach

schadler flooding parts of asia furtherinsight into the mound of audrey and ron

i won't

and the why the region's boomingeconomic growth

is dramatically increase in illegalwildlife trade

when i woke up that morning are realized

even now dekat umah loss

deciding animals

him on my nose now better than a poacher

organizer of the test plans test

estes over consump tive

nikita

of referred to some animals is based

when in reality up in the based

destructively obedient

a slave to my habits skull shoulder

to my conscience

we've all had contact with pics or otheranimals in our lives

which aren't in our understanding thefeelings that each animal has

the ability to stop the plane loneliness

and two fea

la casa lsa

each animal has the ability to expresscontentment

to build family structures and won't

satisfying basic instincts and desires

For many of us though that's as far as we allow

our imagination to explore

before the truth

inconveniences our habits.

the disconnect that exists betweenconsuming a product

and the reality takes to bring thatproduct marketing phenomenon so itself

animals are treated like commodities andreferred to as property

we caught motive to kill a human beingit correct legal

and you're going to set of what would beregarded as to what refused to involved

and we pay people to do things danamongst

that none of us

winged edging personally

just because we don't see up close

does not mean window responsible

paid a singer

the men the popularize the ten spacesism right

although the many differences betweenanimals and humans

they teach you the ability to stuff

we must keep the poor consideration tothat suffering

a position to lessen the taxes to betreated

in a dissimilar fashion files to qualify

as an acceptable moral theory

around the world issue sixty fivebillion animals

will be killed

in factory farms

how many animals live there was onehumans lost works

a mediator in this room will consume onaverage

trails and animals in the last time

archerd pollution global warming anddeforestation driving us towards an

expert mass extinction

and the meat industry

is the greatest negative factor in allof these phenomena

the illegal trafficking walled off nowranks as one of the largest criminal

industries in the world is up there withguns drugs and human trafficking

the ability to stop this devastationlines in the willingness of an

international community to step in andpreserve its on global treasure

experimentation on animals

if animals aside like us that we cansubstitute using them instead of humans

and surely

to have the very same attributes thatmean that is it to be protected from

home

whether we're talking about factoryfarming

live export punching the fair trade

logically

it's all on the same playing field to me

suffering is suffering

and murder is murder

and more helpless the victim

the more horrific the crime

next on the seek an animal lover

is too emotional

to passionate or even a little crazyplease remember we see things were

different lines

sort a few days

my son's going to be born

tough on myself wondering what cornerwill be the intern

we gonna be the generation that definesa father is a species

a believer generation will be judged

biomol courage to protect what's right

and that if they were followed trip wasa little of sacrifice

well on our offer myself withoutreservation to animals

when a strip away

all the material belongs around me

see that ought to

aman aman

with family

together on one planet

and of the five million species on thatfront it only one has the power to

determine

what level of suffering is acceptablefor office internet banks to endure

where there is a list made

contributing to the fight againstpoaching a speaking up for the voiceless

we'll have choices

small changes in allies

made big changes in others

so now back to the beginning

my reason for being here is my questionfor you

next time you have an opportunity

to make a difference for animals

will you be broken off

yes or no

thank you very much

My story begins in Zimbabwe, with a brave park ranger named Orpheus and an injured buffalo.

And Orpheus looked at the buffalo on the ground, and he looked at me,

and as our eyes met there was an unspoken grief between the three of us.

She was a beautifully wild and innocent creature and Orpheus lifted the muzzle of his rifle to her ear.

At that moment, she started to give birth.

As life slipped from the premature calf, we examined the injuries.

Her back leg had been caught in an 8-strand wire snare.

She had fought for freedom so hard and for so long that she had ripped he pelvis in half.

Well, she was finally free.

Ladies and gentlemen, today I feel a great sense of responsibility in speaking to you

on behalf of those who never could.

Their suffering is my grief. Is my motivation.

Martin Luther King best summarizes my call to arms here today. He said:

'There comes a time when one must take a position that's neither safe, nor politic, nor popular.

But he must take that position because his conscience tells him that it's right.'

Because his conscience tells him it is right.

At the end of this talk I'm going to ask you all a question.

That question is the only reason I travelled here today all the way from the African savannah.

That question for me has cleansed my soul.

How you answer that question will always be yours.

I remember watching the movie The Wizard of Oz as a kid,

and I was never scared of the witch or the flying monkeys.

My greatest fear was that I'd grow up like the lion, without courage.

And I grew up always asking myself if I thought I'd be brave?

Well, years after Dorothy had made her way back to Kansas, and the lion had found his courage,

I walked into a tattoo parlour and had the words

'Seek and Destroy' tattooed across my chest.

And I thought that'd make me big and brave.

But it would take me almost a decade to grow into those words.

By the age of 20 I'd become a clearance diver in the navy.

By 25, as a special operations sniper, I knew how many clicks of elevation I needed on the scope of my rifle

to take a headshot on a moving target from 700 metres away.

I knew exactly how many grams of high explosives it takes to blast through a steel plate door from only

a few metres away without blowing myself, or my team up behind me.

and I knew Baghdad was a shitty place, and when things go bang,

well, people die.

Back then, I had no idea what a conservationist did,

other than hug trees and piss off large corporations. [audience laughter]

I knew they had dreadlocks.

I knew they smoked dope.

I didn't really give a shit about the environment. And why should I?

I was the idiot who used to speed up in his car just trying to hit birds on the road.

My life was a world away from conservation.

I'd just spent nine years doing things in real life that most people

wouldn't dream of trying on a playstation.

Well, after 12 tours to Iraq as a so-called 'mercenary', the skills I had were good for one thing:

I was programmed to destroy.

Looking back now, on everything I've done and the places I've been,

in my heart I've only ever performed one true act of bravery.

And that was a simple choice of deciding 'Yes' or deciding 'No'. But it was that one act

which defines me completely and ensures

there'll never be separation between who I am, and what I do.

When I finally left Iraq behind me I was lost.

Yeah, I felt...ahh...I just had no idea where i was going in life

or where I was meant to be and I arrived in Africa at the beginning of 2009. I was aged 29 at the time.

Somehow, I always knew I'd find a purpose amongst chaos, and that's exactly what happened.

I'd no idea though, I'd find it in a remote part of the Zimbabwe bush.

We were patrolling along, and the vultures circled in the air

and as we got closer the stench of death hung there, like a thick, dark veil

and sucked the oxygen out of your lungs.

As we got closer there was a great bull elephant, resting on its side, with its face cut away.

And the world around me stopped.

I was consumed by a deep and overwhelming sadness.

Seeing innocent creatures killed like this hit me in a way like nothing before.

I'd actually poached as a teenager and they're memories I'll take to the grave.

Time had changed me though;

something inside wasn't the same.

And it's never gonna be again.

I asked myself: 'Does that elephant need its face

more than some guy in asia needs a tusk on his desk?'

Well of course it bloody does, that was irrelevant.

all that mattered there and then was:

'Would I be brave enough to give up everything in my life to try and stop the suffering of animals?'

This was the one true defining moment of my life.

Yes? Or No?

I contacted my family the next day and began selling all my houses.

These are assets a well-advised mercenary quickly acquires with the proceeds of war.

My life savings have since been used to found and grow the International Anti-Poaching Foundation.

The IAPF is a direct-action, law-enforcement organisation.

From drone technology to an international qualification for rangers,

we're battling each and every day to bring military solutions

to conservation's thin green line.

Now my story may be slightly unique,

but I'm not going to use it to talk to you today about the organisation I run.

In what could have been a pretty good fund-raiser. [audience laughter]

Remember, today is about the question I'm going to ask you at the end.

Because it's impossible for me to get up here and talk about just saving wildlife when I know

the problem of animal welfare is much broader throughout society.

A few years after I saw that elephant I woke up very early one morning.

I already knew the answer to the question I was about to ask myself,

but it was the first time I had put it into words:

Does a cow value its life more than I enjoy a barbecue?

See, I'd been guilty all this time of what is termed 'speciesism'.

Speciesism is very much the same as racism or sexism.

It involves the allocation of a different set of values, rights or special considerations to individuals,

based solely on who or what they are.

The realisation of the flexible morality I'd used

to suit my everyday conveniences made me sick in the stomach.

See, I'd loved blaming parts of Asia for their insatiable demand for ivory and rhino horn,

and the way the region's booming economic growth

is dramatically increasing the illegal wildlife trade.

When I woke up that morning though I realised

even though I'd dedicated my life to saving animals,

in my mind I was no better than a poacher,

or the guy in Asia with the tusk on his desk.

As this 'over-consumptive meat-eater' I'd referred to some animals as 'beasts'.

when in reality I'd been the beast. Destructively obedient, a slave

to my habits, a cold shoulder to my conscience.

We've all had contact with pets or other animals in our lives.

we can't deny our understanding of the feelings that each animal has.

The ability to suffer pain or loneliness.

And to fear.

Like us also, each animal has the ability to express contentment,

to build family structures, and a want of satisfying basic instincts and desires.

For many of us though,

that's as far as we allow our imaginations to explore

before the truth inconveniences our habits.

The disconnect that exists between consuming a product

and the reality it takes to bring that product to market is a phenomenon to itself.

Animals are treated like commodities and referred to as property.

We call it murder to kill a human being yet create legal

and illegal industries out of what would be regarded as torture

if humans were involved.

and we pay people to do things to animals

that none of us would engage in personally.

just because we don't see it up close

does not mean we are not responsible.

Peter Singer, the man who popularised the term 'speciesism' wrote:

'Although there may be differences between animals and humans

they each share the ability to suffer.

And we must give equal consideration to that suffering.

Any position that allows similar cases to be treated in a dissimilar fashion

fails to qualify as an acceptable moral theory.'

Around the world this year 65 billion animals will be killed in factory farms.

How many animals' lives is one human's life worth?

a meat-eater in this room will consume, on average, 8000 animals in their lifetime.

Ocean pollution, global warming and deforestation are

driving us towards the next great mass-extinction

and the meat industry is the greatest negative factor in all of these phenomenon.

The illegal trafficking of wildlife now ranks as

one of the largest criminal industries in the world.

It's up there with drugs, guns and human trafficking.

The ability to stop this devastation

lies in the willingness of an international community

to step in and preserve a dying global treasure.

Experimentation on animals:

If animals are so like us that we can substitute using them instead of humans

then surely they have the very same attributes that mean they deserve to be protected from harm?

Whether we're talking about factory farming, live export, poaching, the fur trade,

logically it's all on the same playing field to me.

Suffering is suffering,

and murder is murder.

And the more helpless the victim,

the more horrific the crime.

Now next time you think an animal lover is too emotional,

too passionate, or even a little crazy,

please remember, we see things through a different lens.

So in a few days, my son is going to be born.

I find myself wondering:

'What kind of world is he entering?'

Are we going to be the generation that defines our failure as a species?

I believe our generation will be judged

by our moral courage to protect what's right.

And that every worthwhile action

requires a level of sacrifice.

Well I now offer myself, without reservation, to animals.

And when I strip away all the material belongings around me,

I see that I too, am an animal.

We're family. Together on one planet.

And of the five million species on that planet, only one

has the power to determine what level of suffering is acceptable

for all other sentient beings to endure.

Whether it's eating less meat,

contributing to the fight against poaching,

or speaking up for the voiceless,

we all have choices.

And small changes in our lives

mean big changes in others.

So now back to the beginning.

My reason for being here is my question for you:

Next time you have an opportunity to make a difference for animals,

will you be brave enough?

Yes or no?