HOUSTON – Yao Ming fed a giraffe, petted a rhino and walked in an elephant cage during a visit to the Houston Zoo.
The former Houston Rockets center talked Thursday about his increasing role as an animal-rights activist on the eve of the NBA's All-Star Weekend. He's been an outspoken critic of shark-fin soup and the practice of finning — carving off the shark's valuable fins and discarding their bodies, sometimes while the shark is still alive.
Earlier Thursday, Yao taped a public service announcement supporting his shark-fin cause with fellow former Rockets center Dikembe Mutumbo and current Houston point guard Jeremy Lin. Yao has also campaigned against rhino and elephant poaching, the subject of a documentary largely based on his visit to Africa last summer.
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