Aaron Ramsey recently took a break from saving rhinos to explain why he feels such a passion for helping our four-legged friends.
When Stan Kroenke’s hunting channel launched at the end of July, a lot of Arsenal fans’ first thoughts went to Rambo, who has campaigned to protect endangered species for years.
The Gunners’ majority shareholder has since ordered all blood sports be banned from his channel due to backlash. However, given Rambo’s passion for animals, I do wonder what his views on the subject were at the time.
“I’ve always had that sort of connection and felt like I’ve always wanted to do something to try to help these animals that are endangered,” the Welshman told the Arsenal Weekly podcast. “I can remember being a kid and watching all these documentaries with my dad and having that sort of feeling towards them back then.
“I’ve always wanted to do something and I try to do my bit to raise awareness and help save these animals. I’ve had the privilege of going over to Africa and seeing some of these animals up close in the wild. It would be a shame for my boy if he wasn’t able to do that when he grows up.”
The 26-year-old visited Colchester zoo last year, where he met rhinos, elephants and lemurs, in order to raise awareness of the dangers of poaching, which is something he openly said annoys him.
According to Wales Online, the international has raised thousands of pounds for animal charities.
In April of this year, the midfielder was once again doing his bit, urging people to donate to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, who joined up with Tinder for their campaign to raise awareness for Sudan – the only remaining male northern white rhino on the planet. The goal was to raise $9m to help the continuation of the species.
I usually find that human beings who deeply care about animals are generally good people. Rambo’s a good egg.