King of wildlife conservation Damian Aspinall went head-to-head with an unlikely opponent yesterday when he rebuked reality TV queen Kim Kardashian.
The son of legendary zoo owner and gambling club host John Aspinall, who owns Howletts and Port Lympne wildlife parks in Kent, accused the ubiquitous socialite of ‘animal cruelty’ for riding an elephant at a sanctuary in Bali.
‘No wild animal should ever be used like that for human entertainment. And elephants, like all wild animals, need to be able to live free without human interference,’ he tells me.
Wildlife conservation expert Damian Aspinall accused Kim Kardashian of ‘animal cruelty’ after she was picture riding an elephant at a sanctuary in Bali
Aspinall openly disparaged the 38-year-old by re-posting a photo of her online in a gold bikini top and matching sarong sitting astride the endangered mammal.
‘People such as Kim Kardashian have vast audiences and really should be using that reach to educate rather than popularising abuse such as this,’ Aspinall said of the brunette, who has 137 million followers on Instagram and visited the elephants with her family.
Let’s hope Aspinall’s attack on the American mother-of-three does not cause any tension at home. His ex-girlfriend, actress Donna Air, has revealed their 15-year-old daughter, Freya, is obsessed with the Kardashian family’s television show.
The clan includes Kim’s half-sisters top model Kendall Jenner and the world’s ‘youngest self-made billionaire’ Kylie Jenner.
Mr Aspinall pictured openly disparaged the 38-year-old by re-posting a photo of her online in a gold bikini top and matching sarong sitting astride the endangered mammal
Action For Elephants UK also criticised Kardashian, claiming that wild elephants don’t let humans ride them, so the elephant was probably subjected to cruel taming methods.
Kardashian defended her visit, saying: ‘We visited an elephant sanctuary that has rescued these elephants from Sumatra where they would have otherwise gone extinct. It is an organisation that is working to save these beautiful animals.
‘We did full research before going.’
Living with Alastair Campbell can’t be easy. Fiona Millar joined her partner at the launch of a BBC documentary in which Tony Blair’s former spin doctor discusses the effect the depression he suffers from has on his family. ‘Coming here, there was a problem with the taxi and the traffic, and Alastair just started to flip out,’ said Millar. ‘And within five minutes it was all my fault.’ ‘I think I’m actually quite easy to live with,’ protests Campbell.
Terry's just a naughty boy, says Life of Brian's Palin
They were stars of Monty Python, but Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin appear to be growing apart.
Gilliam has delivered a stinging verdict on their respective contributions to Handmade Films — the production company established by ex-Beatle George Harrison to make the Pythons’ irreverent masterpiece, Life Of Brian.
Speaking in a new documentary about Handmade’s early rise, Gilliam said: ‘There was no way to stop us. We had Life Of Brian, a success, and Time Bandits, a bigger success. What Handmade was doing was showing people there were other ways to make films and success — until Mike [Palin] started making films.’
Palin hits back. ‘I find that incredibly naughty of him to say that. The rest of the films I made were all good in their own right,’ says Palin, who starred in The Missionary, whose screenplay he wrote, and A Private Function, both
