Youth Ambassadors: Hector Bateman

HECTOR BATEMAN

Hello, my name is Hector and I am an actor and a passionate animal advocate.

I was five years old when I remember hearing about Cecil the lion being killed by a trophy hunter. Up until then I had always thought people loved animals as much as I did, but the way Cecil died made me realise that they don’t. That was over half my lifetime ago and it makes me sad that animals can be treated so badly by people – I decided I had to do something to change that.

My favourite animals are elephants, lions, pangolins, rhinos and bears. Local UK wildlife is wonderful too, foxes and hedgehogs especially and I hope to see a badger one day!

I am passionate about helping animals in the wild or in captivity to be treated with kindness and respect. I want to help prevent animal cruelty and ensure their safety. I hope that changes can be made to laws and activities that hurt animals like trophy hunting, wildlife trade, canned hunting, zoos and wildlife markets.

I would love to share information about how to help animals, and how we can make a change that it is important for the future of wildlife. I want to help show that Born Free can improve an animal’s life with positive messages of rescued animals in their new homes like the four lions of lockdown, rescued from a French circus in 2020 and now living at Born Free’s sanctuary in South Africa but I also want to highlight the cruel things that happen too, to raise awareness.

I am so proud to be a Youth Ambassador for Born Free and through this role I want to show adults that children have a voice to be heard and can be taken seriously. I want to show other young people that we can get involved and actively help make a difference to animals in the UK and around the world.

Wild animals are not toys. They are not ours to be played with or used for entertainment or so-called sport. They deserve respect and love in their own, natural environment, living their lives in happiness, free and from fear and pain.