01/10/2025
It was with a very heavy heart that I received the word that our dear Dr Jane Goodall had passed. I met Dr Goodall in the 90's, when she participated in a book I produced with a 181 other celebrities titled "Portraits Of Life: With Love." This year, I was honored to work with she, Dame Judi Dench, Priscilla Presley, Eduardo Goncalves and Lynn Santer on a "Banning Trophy Hunting" campaign. In addition to PR, I was helping gather some of the world’s leading conservationists and public figures in calling for an end to all trophy hunting. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the killing of Cecil the lion. However, a new study by the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting reveals trophy hunters have shot another 10,000 lions in the past decade. Figures from LionAid, meanwhile, suggest there could now be as few as 13,500 lions left in the wild. Tens of thousands of other animals - many of them endangered species such as elephants, giraffes, polar bears and cheetahs - are killed every year. For ‘sport’, selfies and souvenirs. A new undercover investigation into the industry has revealed how some trophy hunters are single-handedly killing thousands of animals; that endangered animals are being freely sold on the internet; and that the industry hands out special awards which encourage hunters to shoot astonishing numbers of animals. Jane and the team believed it was time to consign this cruel, archaic so-called ‘sport’ to the dustbin of history once and for all. We have therefore drafted the attached ‘Abolition Declaration’ which we will be taking to the United Nations. Please read the declaration that was sent out to colleagues and animal lovers wishing to support the effort.
Dear Jane: Thank you for all you have done for every species on this earth including the most unworthy of them - Human beings.
