Yao Ming urges China to 'say no to ivory and rhino horn' with new film

Yao Ming examines a butchered elephant. Photos: Courtesy of WildAid

A baby elephant wearing a plaid blanket on its back bumps its head playfully against basketball star Yao Ming's leg. So little it only reaches Yao's knees, wherever Yao goes, it follows; perhaps taking this giant man as one of its own kind and therefore trying to make friends.

This was one of the cuter scenes that occurred during Yao's visit to Kenya and South Africa in August of 2012. However, the story of this young elephant is anything but cute, as it is one of the many orphan elephants that live in Nairobi National Park because their parents were cruelly slaughtered by poachers looking for ivory.

The stories of these and other animals are told in The End of the Wild, a new documentary that follows basketball legend and committed conservationist Yao Ming on a fact-finding mission into the heart of Africa's wildlife conservation crisis. A companion book for the film, co-written by Yao Ming and WildAid Executive Director Peter Knights, entitled A Journey in Africa has also been released.

Together with WildAid, an international organization focused on reducing the demand for wildlife products, Yao visited Africa to learn about the continent's poaching crisis and witness the dramatic toll that poaching has taken not only on Africa's endangered elephant and rhinoceros populations, but also on the human communities that coexist alongside these amazing animals.

New enemy

Excited to visit the beautiful wilds of Africa for the first time, Yao got a chance to see wild elephants and rhinos up close. Maybe a little too close, when one of the giant rhinos brushed against Yao, he joked that "it reminds me of what it's like to defend against Shaquille O'Neal."

However, no matter how strong they may be, these giant creatures are no match for the guns of poachers. After seeing the butchered bodies of five elephants in Kenya and a rhino in South Africa, Yao was shocked by the carnage.

"We had a pleasant time in Africa, but we also went through a lot grieving," wrote Yao in A Journey in Africa, referring to an elephant slaughtered weeks ago lying in front of him; tusks missing, half its face had been sawed off by poachers while the rest of its body had been torn apart by hyenas.

"I felt angry and speechless when coming across these poaching sites. Through my close observation of elephants, I saw how protective they were of each other. Now, seeing this elephant whose life had been cruelly taken, I'm really sad," he wrote, noting down his feelings in the book.

Elephants are primarily hunted for their ivory, which comes from the tusks of male and female African elephants and male Asian elephants and is used to make carvings, jewelry, chopsticks and other handcraft items. Currently, China is one of the largest markets for legal and illegal ivory. To satisfy this demand the human race has now become one of these animals' major natural enemies. According to a WildAid report, about 25,000 elephants are slaughtered by poachers every year for ivory. Meanwhile, 95 percent of the rhino population has disappeared over the past 40 years, while 668 rhinos were killed in 2012. Rhino horn is also used for carving and as a component in traditional Chinese medicine.

To combat this slaughter, in April 2013, Yao launched the "Say No to Ivory" and the "Say No to Rhino Horn" campaigns with WildAid, the African Wildlife Foundation and Save the Elephants.

In March, Yao delivered a petition during the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) asking the Chinese government to ban the sale of ivory.

"I believe people will remember what they see in those pictures. That's what we're here for: to film this, bring it back home... and show everybody the reality of it all," said Yao.

"With this film, Yao is helping to spread the word about the ecological and human costs of the illegal wildlife trade. We hope that with more public awareness and support, China will become a true global leader in conservation and help save elephants and rhinos," said Peter Knights.

For the future

Praise for Yao isn't limited to his performance on the basketball court, for years now he has committed himself to charity work.

In 2008, he donated $2 million to an earthquake-stricken area in Sichuan Province and later initiated the Yao Foundation to further help restore schools in those areas. With his aid, more than 10 Hope Primary Schools have been built in provinces like Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Qinghai.

In his new book A Journey in Africa, he revealed how he first became involved in WildAid.

He was playing for the Chinese basketball team in 2004 when he first learned about the foundation after watching some videos about how these animals were slaughtered and how market demand for ivory and rhino horn had increased the amount of poaching.

Yao began working with WildAid to create a campaign to help reduce China's demand for shark fins. Based on a WildAid survey in 2013, about 85 percent of respondents in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu had stopped eating shark fin soup within the last three years.

The End of the Wild is a new step forward for Yao and WildAid. Many hope that Yao, a highly respected and beloved man in Chinese society, can help lead the Chinese people step away from ivory and rhino horn.

During his visit to Kenya, Yao was made a Samburu warrior by local Samburu warriors who had committed themselves protect their livelihood. "We are going to name you Lenasakalai, because we want you to be our elephant defender," said a Samburu warrior in the documentary.

"I hope I can bring my daughter to Africa and show her these animals. I hope my daughter can experience what I experienced, as well as the generations that follow her," said Yao.