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Whether we like it or not, celebrities have the power to influence public opinion in areas that have nothing to do with their careers – gun control, abortion, poverty, disease and, of course, animal rights. Many have used their voices to advance justice for animals; a few have helped to turn back the clock.

Liam Neeson, for example, has campaigned aggressively in support of NYC’s inhumane horse-drawn carriage trade, attempting to convince the public that the horses have good lives. He has used his voice to turn public opinion against the advocacy groups, reversing in a matter of weeks much of the progress made over several years in changing the hearts and minds of New Yorkers. It is moments like these when we wish celebrities would mind their own business.

Then there’s basketball star Yao Ming who is using his voice (and his 7’6 height) to convince Chinese people to stop buying ivory, which has led not only to the decimation of elephant populations but also to untold sorrow and suffering for the hundreds of thousands of elephants who have lost family members. Mr. Ming’s anti-shark finning advocacy has cut shark fin consumption in half in China, and his 30 second public service announcement about elephant orphans could make the same happen with ivory:

No amount of helicopters, night-vision goggles and park rangers can stop the poaching of elephants as long as state-sanctioned carving factories in China are creating ivory products that are meeting the demand of Chinese consumers. If  China banned the import and sale of ivory, the sophisticated poaching operations that supply the market would probably vanish, as demand in the rest of the world is much lower. That said, we must also strengthen the anti-ivory laws in the U.S.

Poachers in Kenya have killed Satao, “one of the last surviving great tuskers, bearers of genes that produce bull elephants with huge tusks reaching down to the ground.”  Satao’s murder comes on the heels the slaughter of another “legendary tusker, Mountain Bull, deep inside the forests of Mt. Kenya.”  Apparently, Satao was “so intelligent that he knew he needed to protect his enormous tusks by intentionally hiding in bushes so they couldn’t be seen.”  And, while he did survive one brutal attack with poisoned arrows, he ultimately fell victim to the ivory trade.

Elephants are among the most intelligent land animals.  They communicate with language; they visit the gravesides of their deceased family members; and, as mentioned in the article, they hide from their biggest enemy, humans. They know they’re under attack, but their ability to defend themselves against armed poachers is limited.  Find out how you can help protect them by visiting The Tsavo Trust.