Houston Zoo and FreeseMediaGroup present the PBS Documentary Battle for the Elephants, which explores the illegal hunting of African elephants for their tusks, fueled largely by China's demand for ivory. The film is based in part on an article by Bryan Christy, published in the October 2012 issue of National Geographic magazine, titled "Blood Ivory," and tells the ultimate wildlife story: How the earth's most charismatic and majestic land animal today faces market forces driving the value of its tusks to levels once reserved for precious metals.

Journalists Bryan Christy and Aidan Hartley take viewers undercover as they investigate the criminal network behind ivory's supply and demand. In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, one of the world’s main ports for smuggled ivory, Hartley attempts to buy large quantities of tusks from poachers. In China, Christy explores the thriving industry of luxury goods made from ivory and the ancient cultural tradition of ivory carving.

Film producer Katie Carpenter, alongside Houston Zoo VP of conservation Peter Riger and University of Houston-Downtown professor Peter Li, will be present for a discussion after the screening.