Chinese Actress Li Bingbing joins Save the Elephants in the war against the Ivory Trade
Save the Elephants has been unrelenting in its mission to reach out to the Chinese people in an effort to bring down the demand for ivory and stop the illegal killing of elephants.
This week, we hosted film actress Li Bingbing, one of China's most popular celebrities and a rising Hollywood star in our Research Centre and at Elephant Watch Camp in Samburu. Li was enthralled by the joy of living elephants, and came to tears at the sight of a poached elephant.
On her three-day visit to Kenya, the stunning UNEP Goodwill Ambassador visited the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, where she met baby elephants, many of whom have been orphaned by rampant poaching. She later spoke at a press conference along with Save the Elephants CEO Iain Douglas Hamilton, UNEP’s Executive Director Achim Steiner, Wildlife Direct CEO Paula Kahumbu, Ministry of Environment Permanent Secretary Ali Mohamed and KWS Head of Species Conservation and Management Patrick Omondi. “Many consumers in Asia do not realize that by buying ivory, they are playing a role in the illegal wildlife trade and its serious consequences," Li said...more
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China's State Media Agency Visit to Save the Elephants in Samburu
It was our great pleasure to host a delegation from Xinhua, China’s state news agency and the world’s largest media outlet, on a visit to Samburu last weekend. The eminent director of Xinhua’s Africa operation, Mr Wang Chaowen, was joined by five of his journalists as he came to meet wild elephants and witness with his own eyes the impacts of ivory poaching.
The team arrived at lunchtime on Saturday and were greeted just inside the reserve gate by the Winds family, together with some lions. For many of the journalists it was their first time to see the majesty of an elephant in its own environment, and by the time they had arrived for lunch at Samburu Lodge they were already in love.
After a quick introductory tour of the Save the Elephants research camp we headed back out. Xinhua drove in an open safari vehicle with Serenoy Letoiye, a guide with Elephant Watch Camp who has been trained by STE to recognise all the reserve’s resident elephants. Beneath the arc of a rainbow we met a bull named Ndeki, and with him the Swahili Ladies, an elephant family that only occasionally graces the reserve. They’re a little more nervous than our resident families, but they eventually came wandering right past our vehicles...more
