Leonardo DiCaprio Raises $25 Million to Protect Wild Animals

At a fundraiser in the South of France for his charitable foundation, Leonardo Di Caprio raised $25 million to protect wild animals.  He said, “The wild species that depend on us to protect their habitat, like tigers whose numbers have plummeted to under 3,200 left in the wild, or African elephants, who are being slaughtered at a rate of over 30,000 a year for their ivory tusks — they have no voice. We must be their ambassadors. We must be their protectors. We must stop their slaughter. We must now make an effort to protect the rich biodiversity that could allow nature to eventually recover.”

Some people applaud when celebrities become advocates for a cause; others wish they’d go away.  Regardless of your position, celebrities can and do effect change.  It was in part because Alec Baldwin narrated Meet Your Meat that I watched the video on factory farming and went vegan.  I am grateful to the dozens of stars who lend their powerful voices to animals.  Of course, we’d all like some celebrities to vanish — like Liam Neeson, who is a spokesman for NYC’s inhumane horse-drawn carriage trade, and Anthony Bourdain, who defends and promotes foie gras, the a “delicacy of despair.”