Wildlife conservation explorer Simba Qiang Zhuo commemorates his bond with Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton with the utmost respect.
Transcript逐字稿
Machine transcription with names checked by hand. Small errors may remain; the audio is the record.机器转写，人名地名已人工校对，可能仍有少量误差，以音频为准。
0:00To Ian, the legend who understood elephants better than anyone else in the world, Simba Qiang Zhuo, December 11th, 2025. On December 8th, 2025, Ian Douglas-Hamilton, a scientist who devoted 60 years to the study in conservation of elephants, passed away. Following the loss of Jane Goodall earlier this year, the global wildlife conservation community has once again lost a towering figure. He was not only a scientist, but also a warrior for wildlife and a true elephant whisperer. I first met Ian in 2012 at Kenya's Olpe Jetta Conservancy, while filming the documentary The End of the Wild with Yao Ming.
0:46Ian was gentle and approachable, though sparing with words. Later, Yao Ming and I flew to Samburu National Reserve, where Ian had conducted elephant research and conservation for decades, and stayed at the Elephant Observation Camp he shared with his wife, Aurya. I flew in Ian's small plane, while Yao Ming took a helicopter as we searched for elephants killed by poachers. At Ol Pejeta, I met Ian Douglas-Hamilton for the first time. He was already in his 70s and had dedicated his life to elephant research. He was the founder of Save the Elephants. He flew from Samburu to pick us up.
1:26I shared a tent with him. It seemed he coughed through the entire night. When we woke the next morning and stepped outside, Mount Kenya, usually shrouded in clouds and mist, stood clearly before us. Not far away was a small airstrip. He introduced me to his beloved airplane, the very aircraft that had allowed him to roam freely across the sky, tracking and studying elephants. It bore witness to the legendary conservation stories that defined his life. Ian was a kind and steady elder, patient and wholly focused on elephant research, showing little interest in anything else. By contrast, his wife Aurea was energetic, forthright, elegant and witty, together forming a perfect complement of personalities.
2:14They were very friendly toward China and had once travelled to Shishuangbanna in search of Asian elephants. He rejected one-sided criticism of China, and advocated instead for encouraging China to join the global conservation family. Clearly, their views aligned with mine, and over time, we became close friends who kept in regular contact. In 2014, when I gave a lecture at the University of Oxford, I met Ian and Aurea again by chance in London. They invited me to their home for tea. Its style was almost identical to their house in Nairobi. From Living with Lions in Africa, Simba Qiang Zhuo, published by SDX Joint Publishing Company.
3:00Ian and Aurea also maintained a private sanctuary in Naivasha, a peaceful haven far removed from urban noise, inhabited by giraffes, waterbucks, impalas, hippos and a rich diversity of birds. I visited once and stayed at their home. We talked late into the night, and I learned many of their extraordinary stories. Later, we began collaborating on conservation education programs. Many volunteers who came to Kenya to participate in and support our projects visited this sanctuary. Many met Ian there, especially Liu Fu and Cao Xiaoling, who visited multiple times.
3:42My daughter Arianna went once as well. She was 13 at the time. Ian always tried to make time to meet my friends. He was very friendly toward China and strongly believed that China would assume a leadership role in global wildlife conservation. Like George Shala and Tony Fitzjohn, he was among the earliest Western conservationists to encourage and recognize my work in the Maasai Mara. Their influence in their respective fields is unmatched. The last time I saw Ian was at the WCN Wildlife Conservation Expo in San Francisco in 2017, where he recorded a special video message for our youth conservation program.
4:25We never met again after the COVID-19 pandemic. Aurea later told me that Ian's health had declined. Ian and Aurea have two daughters, both of whom are wildlife conservationists working in different fields. One is Doudou, who currently works for African Parks. We have met several times in Nairobi and Addis Ababa. The other is Saba, who served as a presenter for the BBC's Big Cat Diary, a program that profoundly inspired audiences around the world to care about wildlife conservation in the Maasai Mara. Ian's legendary journey alongside elephants inspired many young people from Europe and North America come to Africa to work in wildlife conservation. In a somewhat ironic twist, the great dangers he faced in protecting elephants came not from elephants themselves, but from human poachers.
5:20Ian loved elephants. I love lions. But that never prevented us from becoming close friends across generations. One of life's greatest wonders is that people from different regions and cultural backgrounds, can gather around the same campfire in the African wilderness, united by a shared mission and a shared reflection on the meaning of life. Ian has left us. Yet this is not an ending, it is a beginning. The legacy of his spirit and knowledge will continue to illuminate my path in conservation and continue contributing to the global wildlife protection cause.