Former Miss Universe Natalie Glebova positioned herself as part of the solution to gibbons illegally owned and rented out as selfie props yesterday one month after being part of the problem.
The Russian-Canadian beauty queen, who won Miss Universe 2005 in Thailand and later became a resident expat, volunteered at the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project in Phuket yesterday after receiving much hate over an Instagram photo of her holding the endangered species she described as the “cutest gibbon in the cutest little outfit!”
“I am here today because I wanted to learn a little more about gibbons that are being illegally possessed by people in Phuket and throughout Thailand,” Glebova told the Phuket Gazette yesterday. “I wanted to see what they do here to help protect them and how they rehabilitate them. I also wanted to learn a little bit more about why people shouldn’t take pictures with them.”
Kudos to Glebova, or at least the people who shamed her into doing the right thing.
“As a celebrity, I can use my voice and my platform to spread awareness to other people, and say, ‘Hey, when you see gibbons, don’t take a picture with them,’” she added.
It was a busy day for Glebova, who also did a photo op Sunday at the Soi Dog Foundation to promote her new travel business’ plan to donate some proceeds to charities.
Mikael Mahlberg, a volunteer at the gibbon center, explained that anyone who pays to have their pictures taken with protected species might as well be killing them.
“Every time someone pays to have their pictures with animals like this, they also pay to have other gibbons killed in the wild because they [poachers] have to kill the parents to get the baby gibbons to use in the tourist trade,” he said. “It is a very, very bad business.”
Glebova claimed she was completely ignorant of all this when she saw the cute gibbon and happily took a photo with it on Koh Phi Phi last month.
“I think it is an unfortunate incident. However, I think it is now an opportunity to bring this issue to light, because, as I didn’t know, I’m sure others don’t know,” Glebova said.
Related:
Natalie Glebova mugs with endangered gibbon
