{"title":"Killing the Shepherd","description":"\u003cp\u003eFilmmaker Tom Opre dedicated over three years to documenting the lives of a remote community in Zambia, led by a woman chief, who dared to break the bonds of poverty by waging a war on wildlife poaching.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2015, the children of the Lower Luano Valley were starving to death. For generations, the people survived by living off the land, which included eating a small amount of game. They worked hand in hand with the safari hunting industry, which helped pay for the protection of wildlife and provided hard cash to this community. But in 2001 and 2002, the Zambian government banned safari hunting which created a vacuum. The land soon became filled by well-organized bush meat poaching gangs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe wildlife was decimated over the next fifteen years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnce, the area held Africa’s Big Five – elephant, lion, leopard, cape buffalo, and rhino. Now almost all those animals, along with a multitude of plains game, were gone. The people had no hope. No safari hunting operator would even consider committing funds to a “game-depleted” concession with no legal hunting quota.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut the people of Shikabeta were led by a wise chief. She knew she needed a safari operator in her area. She cast her net and found Roland Norton, an import\/export customs dealer who had spent a lifetime dreaming of running his own safari concession.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom 2017 through 2020, filmmaker Tom Opre documented the complexities, heartaches, and successes of an unusual business agreement which led to astonishing results for not only the wildlife but, most importantly, the community.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIncredible stories are often left on the cutting room floor during the film editing process. Killing the Shepherd: Beyond the Film delves deeper than any film. Gritty and raw, this book will take the reader through a transformative process providing hope for the future of Africa’s wildlife. It also provides a business blueprint enabling rural communities throughout the dark continent to realize their most basic human rights.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"killing-the-shepherd","title":"Killing the Shepherd","description":"\u003ch4\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003cspan\u003eA story of human survival in the face of failed conservation policy.\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA conservation decision made thousands of miles away.  \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsequences felt on the ground.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA remote community in Africa, led by a woman chief, attempts to break the stranglehold of absolute poverty by waging a war on wildlife poaching. For decades illegal wildlife poaching by both subsistence and bush meat gangs has led to the government declaring this community’s homeland “depleted” of wildlife.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe chief finds help in the form of a safari operator and they work together to bring stability to the community. But all was not well. Disease, food stability, and rampant alcoholism hamper basic needs like health care and education. Even young girls, just after reaching puberty, are sold by their parents as child brides in order to feed their family for one year. Dark forces including South African land speculators, criminal poaching gangs, and her own people conspire against the chief. Even elements from the modern world work against the chief’s wishes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWill the chief and her community see success?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIncludes content not found on streaming platforms. 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