Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Bo Derek visits South Florida to save endangered wildlife
MIAMI (WSVN) -- Actress Bo Derek made a stop in South Florida in hopes of increasing awareness of the illegal trafficking of wild life.
Exotic animals dead and alive are illegally shipped to the U.S. via South Florida everyday. Derek arrived in South Florida Wednesday to make what she hopes will be a difference in the effort to save endangered wildlife. "The U.S. is number two in the world in consuming endangered wildlife products, and that's on all of us. We can all do our part," said Derek.
After touring a Customs and Border Protection checkpoint at Miami International Airport, the entertainer who holds the title of Special Envoy to the Secretary of the State for Wildlife Trafficking Issues, urges everyone not to buy these illegal animal products. "If we stop buying it, the killing stops," said Derek. "The poaching stops and the trafficking and the smuggling."
The endangered wildlife products are a $20 billion-a-year business, but officials are confident they can bring about change if everyone cooperates.
(Copyright 2007 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
