Yao Ming is one of the most recognizable athletes in the world and he has used his popularity around the globe to bring attention to certain causes, which is why the former Houston Rockets star was in China this week to debut a new campaign for his Yao Ming Foundation.
According to Yahoo, Ming was in China to launch a public awareness campaign in partnership with his foundation and WildAid, Save the Elephants and the African Wildlife Foundation to bring attention to the ivory trade and the use of ivory and rhino horns in China. The report says that Ming started the process in 2012 when he went to Africa for a documentary to find out more facts about the trade and issues related to ivory in the area.
During his time on the trip he was able to see wild elephants and also found poached bodies of animals, including rhinos and elephants who were killed for their ivory. While there he met with local officials and some footage from the film was put out with an announcement saying: "When the buying stops, the killing can too."
Poaching in the region has gotten very bad and over 25,000 elephants are affected each year, while in 2012 nearly 700 rhinos were killed in South Africa. Illegal ivory and other substances have found their way into china and his organization is looking to help with that.
