He’s the world’s biggest star from the most populous country. And he’s been fighting to end the illegal wildlife trade for more than 12 years. NBA all-star and Olympian Yao Ming is not just a WildAid ambassador, he’s an integral part of WildAid’s family and the conservation community.

Hear him speak, and you immediately begin to understand why Yao has been able to help convince a country of 1.4 billion people to stop buying ivory and galvanize support for China’s domestic ban.

“We don’t need items to prove who we are; we should be more confident than that,” Yao told Culture Express in 2018. “When we reach into our pockets, there is a cost somewhere else.”

It’s been one year since the ban went into effect and ivory prices in China are at their lowest — $734.5 per kilogram. That’s a drastic decline from $2,100 per kilogram in 2014. This downturn indicates less profit for traders and poachers, and fewer consumer purchases.

Elephants aren’t the only animal to benefit from Yao’s star power. Inspired by Jackie Chan’s public awareness campaign for tigers, Yao wanted to curb consumption for shark fin soup. So he joined WildAid in 2006 and showed consumers how shark fin soup is made.

A whopping 82 percent of respondents to a WildAid survey said they stopped consuming shark fin soup as a direct result of Yao’s awareness campaign and prices and sales of shark fins in China declined by 50 to 70 percent.

 “Now it’s something almost shameful for young middle-class people to eat,” Yao told The Christian Science Monitor.

Over the years, WildAid’s relationship with Yao has taken some unexpected but welcome turns. In 2017, he combined his passion for conservation with his other passion – wine – and launched a special release of Yao Family Wines’ Napa Crest Red Wine.

Now Yao has released three wines with a commemorative WildAid label that might look familiar.

The photograph of Yao walking with a baby elephant was taken by Kristian Schmidt in 2012 at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi. The elephant, named Kinango, was orphaned after his mother was butchered for her ivory tusks.

“We all share this planet with each other and with these majestic animals,” Yao said. “We all have a responsibility to do something to save Africa’s elephants. We all have to do our part.”

Thank you for doing your part, Yao. Let’s cheers to another 12 years of working together to protect some of the world’s most magnificent creatures.

In 2006, NBA star Yao Ming made a promise: he would never eat shark fin soup again. It was a bold stand in a country where the dish had long been served at weddings and business banquets as a sign of status. Over the next eight years, his WildAid campaign helped change what millions of people in China thought about shark fin, and the market followed.

A campaign built on one simple message

Yao Ming joined WildAid in 2006 and signed a pledge to give up shark fin soup. In public service announcements broadcast across China, he showed audiences how the soup is made and what it costs the ocean.

He was not alone. Jackie Chan, Maggie Q, and other ambassadors joined the effort, and WildAid secured donated airtime from state and private media partners. In 2013 alone, WildAid’s shark fin messages aired 3,250 times across 19 TV channels in China.

What changed: the evidence

In 2014, WildAid published Evidence of Declines in Shark Fin Demand, China. Its findings showed that demand reduction was working:

  • 82% decline in sales reported by shark fin vendors in Guangzhou, the center of China’s shark fin trade.
  • Prices down 47% retail and 57% wholesale over two years.
  • 85% of Chinese consumers surveyed online said they had given up shark fin soup in the previous three years. Two-thirds of them cited awareness campaigns as a reason.
  • 19 of 20 Beijing restaurant representatives interviewed reported a significant decline in shark fin consumption, and all agreed WildAid’s PSAs featuring Yao Ming had raised awareness among customers.

The traders noticed too. One Guangzhou wholesaler told researchers: “Yao Ming’s commercial impact single-handedly smashed my business.”

From sharks to elephants

Yao Ming took the same approach to ivory. He starred in WildAid’s documentary The End of the Wild and was instrumental in building support for China’s ban on the domestic ivory trade, which took effect at the end of 2017. A year later, ivory prices in China had fallen to $734.50 per kilogram, down from $2,100 in 2014. Lower prices mean less profit for traders and less incentive to poach.

Why the work isn’t finished

An estimated 100 million sharks are still killed every year, up to 73 million of them for their fins. But the model Yao Ming helped prove is now being used elsewhere: in Thailand, a WildAid survey found shark fin consumption fell by 34% over six years of campaigning.

How you can help

  • Don’t buy or serve shark fin, and ask restaurants and event venues to take it off the menu.
  • Share the facts with friends and family, especially ahead of weddings and celebrations.
  • Donate to WildAid to fund the next demand-reduction campaign.

Learn more about Yao Ming’s work with WildAid and why shark fin is still on the menu in the US.

When the buying stops, the killing can too. Donate to protect sharks · Read more about our shark program

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Tags: Elephants