Chinese Basketballer Yao Ming visits Ol Pejeta

Retired Chinese professional basketball player Yao Ming shot a documentary in Olpejeta conservancy this week.  Yao visited the private non-profit wildlife sanctuary and home to Kenya’s highest concentration of wildlife as a part of a project for Chinese TV. The documentary is aimed at discouraging poaching in China. Yao whose major part of his income since retirement comes from his sponsorship deals, has been blogging about his trip in Africa and more so about Ol Pejeta.

"Rhino patrolling is no joke- it involves walking for hours on end, several times a day, until every last rhino is spotted at least once every three days. The rhino patrollers know each and every rhino by name and sight, and if they can’t find one during their daily patrol, then they use a plane to patrol the entire conservancy until all rhinos are accounted for,"he wrote.

"However, poaching has become such a serious problem in East Africa, that last year alone, Ol Pejeta lost five of their 88 rhinos to poachers, which has been their greatest loss in 20 years. Ol Pejeta and the KWS have had to step up their game to defeat poaching, and some members of the security team undergo intensive training programs to sharpen their surveillance skills,"he added.

Yao is under contract with several major companies to endorse their products. He was signed by Nike and when they decided not to renew his contract then he signed with Reebok. He also had a deal with Pepsi, and he successfully sued Coca-Cola in 2003 when they used his image on their bottles while promoting the national team. However, he signed with Coca-Cola for the 2008 Olympics. His other deals include partnerships with Visa, Apple, Garmin, and McDonalds.