Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has been named a United Nations Environment Programme Goodwill Ambassador to help its poaching campaign.
According to Metro.co.uk, Toure visited the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya to highlight the fight against the illegal ivory trade.
Toure, who was this morning named as a nominee for the FIFA World Player of the Year award, faces a tough task to help the cause given just 800 elephants remain in his native Ivory Coast, the report said.
Poaching has risen sharply in Africa in recent years fuelled by demand from Asia, with elephant tusks used to make ornaments and rhino horns used for traditional medicine although ivory trade is banned, the report added.
