Modern Warrior: Damien Mander at TEDxSydney

Thirty-three year old Damien Mander served as a special operations sniper and clearance diver for Australia. Whilst deployed in Iraq he project managed the Iraq Special Police Training Academy, overseeing training of up to 700 cadets at one time. Following three years on the frontline of the Iraq war he departed in 2008 with no new direction in life. A trip to Africa left him face-to-face with the horrors that the world's wildlife is dealing with. Liquidating all personal assets acquired from 12 tours of duty, he founded the International Anti-Poaching Foundation. The organisation focuses on ranger training, operations and integrating modern technology into conservation.

Today, the Australian is a soldier-turned-environmental activist. He is outspoken about conservation and the nature of our priorities in an uncertain world. Damien's work has featured in National Geographic Magazine, 60 Minutes, Animal Planet, Al Jazeera, Voice of America, Forbes, Sunday Times, & Good Weekend Magazine.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

or story begins in symbolic

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 us 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 ivf_ 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 the

to stars we elaire imagination toexplore

before the truth

inconveniences that helps

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