Former Chinese basketball star Yao Ming (he also played with the NBA’s Houston Rockets) traveled to Kenya to investigate the poaching of African elephants for the illegal trade of their tusks. And then he traveled to South Africa to check on young rhinos that were orphaned when their parents were killed for their horns. Yao Ming’s African journey has been documented for Animal Planet.
The 7′ 6″ Ming hopes viewers of “Saving Africa’s Giants with Yao Ming” which airs Tuesday, November 18 at 10pm on Animal Planet, will sign a petition to be #IvoryFree. It will be interesting to see how many of his Chinese fans will sign. According to Nature World News, “Despite a ban on exports of ivory products and controls on the domestic trade, China is still the largest market for illegal ivory, and prices for the product have tripled since 2010.”
