Behati’s radiance lights up the Empire State Building in NY for World Wildlife Day
Namibian model, Behati Prinsloo flipped the switch this week Tuesday to light up the Empire State Building in New York to mark World Wildlife Day.
For the celebrations, the building is lit in blue, green and gold to reflect the colour of the ocean, the earth and its plains. As the international ambassador for the Save the Rhino Trust, Behati made sure that the display on the spire also includes an image of a rhino.
“Growing up in Namibia where I was lucky enough to see elephants, lions and rhinos in the wild, I never imagined that their future would be so precarious that we’d need to set aside a day to remind ourselves of what we have to lose if they go extinct. Together we simply can not let that happen,” said Behati.
Simson Uri-Khob, the Trust’s Chief Executive, stressed that the efforts to stop poaching and fight wildlife crime are an ongoing battle in which local communities, regional partnership and international allies [are all] deeply involved in the fight.
The Save the Rhino Trust is part of USAID’s Combatting Wildlife Crime project. Launched in 2017, the five-year, five-country project aims to increase rhino numbers in Namibia; reduce poaching of elephants and increase the opportunities for their range expansion in select areas of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.
“Working closely with our local partners, we have achieved two years without a rhino poaching incident in the northwest of Namibia, while at the same time helping to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity to the planet and to the lives of local people,” said Uri-Khob.
“Thanks to Behati and the UNDP, this message is shown clearly in the night sky of New York City.”
