Côte d’Ivoire and Manchester City football player Yaya Touré has become UNEP Goodwill Ambassador to protect elephants, disappearing because of poaching.
He’s good not only in the football field. The Côte d’Ivoire and Manchester City football player Yaya Touré became UNEP Goodwill Ambassador with the aim to raise international community’s awareness on the problem of poaching, which is wiping out African elephant populations.
Touré declared that the number of these beautiful creatures has fallen to 800 individuals in Côte d’Ivoire, whose national team is named “The Elephants”. Poaching has significantly increased in Africa over the last few years, due to Eastern countries’ demand. Elephants’ fangs are demanded to adorn rich people’s houses, whilst rhinos’ horns are thought to have therapeutic effects, even if not proven.
“Poaching is threating the existence of the African elephant, and if we don’t act immediately, we could face a future in which this species will be extinct,” declared Touré during a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
Ivory trade is banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). However, 17,000 elephants have been illegally killed by poachers in 2011, according to estimates.
Translated by Camilla Soldati
Siamo anche su WhatsApp.
Segui il canale ufficiale LifeGate per restare aggiornata, aggiornato sulle ultime notizie e sulle nostre attività.

Quest'opera è distribuita con Licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 4.0 Internazionale.