Yao Ming Gives Back

Apparently his towering height isn’t the only impressive thing about former basketball superstar Yao Ming; his amazing efforts to help African animals are also quite remarkable.

Ming recently visited Kenya as part of a documentary aimed at discouraging Chinese locals from purchasing ivory and other materials poached from African animals. “If you don’t reduce the demand [for ivory] you will not succeed, all you will do is you will end up driving up the price,” he said at a press conference following the trip.

Yao is an ambassador for WildAid, an organization whose mission is to end the illegal wildlife trade. His previous work with WildAid includes a documentary that was part of their efforts to reduce the demand for shark fin soup in China.

He found his experience in Kenya to be both enlightening and emotionally stirring. “People took a small piece of the elephant and left the most behind, but the small piece they took away was not only the ivory, but also the life…,” he said.

Check out his blog to learn more about his amazing experience.

Images: Buzzfeed

Tagged Newsletter, WildAid