Model and conservationist Freya Aspinall is working to return animals back to their natural habitats.
For most of us, the idea of growing up alongside a lion cub sounds unbelievable, but for model and conservationist Freya Aspinall, it’s all she’s ever known. As the daughter of wildlife conservationist, Damian Aspinall, she grew up surrounded by the animals under the care of the Aspinall Foundation, an organization dedicated to rescuing and rewilding animals that deserve to live in the wild. “I grew up and still live at an animal sanctuary, but it really has become my sanctuary,” explains Aspinall, who doesn’t take her unique upbringing lightly. “I feel incredibly lucky to have that, but as I got older, I started to learn about the injustices within the zoo community, and the animals who aren’t being sent back to the wild. I don’t know how the odds were created that I was given this opportunity. So I ask myself, ‘what am I going to do with it?’”
The Aspinall Foundation focuses on two kinds of rewilding: rewilding animals and rewilding land. When rewilding animals, the foundation typically takes animals who are in captivity and works to return them into the wild. “I think when it comes time for animals to leave this planet, they deserve to be dying in the wild,” says Aspinall. “It’s worth highlighting though, not all animals can return to the wild, so there is room for rescue centers for animals that are hybridized or inbred or critically endangered, but for zoos to say that they are looking after endangered species isn’t true. Ninety seven percent of all animals in zoos and in captivity aren’t even critically endangered, so most of these animals could be returned to the wild.”
“A lot of people are convinced that kids need to go to zoos to see animals they love, but that’s not true. There are plenty of kids who love dinosaurs and have never met a dinosaur in their life.”
For Aspinall, spreading the truth about zoos and sharing the importance of rewilding is important for her generation. People of her dad’s generation who are sixty and older may have been going to zoos their entire life. “If you’ve been doing something for sixty years, it’s a slim possibility that you are going to change your way of life, but for my generation it’s important they learn this information, so that they won’t be taking their children to zoos,” Aspinall explains. She claims it is her goal to run zoos out of business, but she also wants to do the same thing for herself. If her activism and actions work, The Aspinall Foundation wouldn’t have to exist. “A lot of people are convinced that kids need to go to zoos to see animals they love, but that’s not true. There are plenty of kids who love dinosaurs and have never met a dinosaur in their life,” she says.
Aspinall admits that with the great joy and gratitude she feels for her life, it also comes with a great sense of duty. “I’m the only person that’s been born into this position. The universe has given me this, so I have to do something with it,” she says. “It feels like a mission, to get as many of these animals out of cages as possible.” As a model, Aspinall hopes to use her platform to further her mission, bringing together brands and audiences from both the fashion and the conservation industries to make a change. In that sense, Aspinall is not afraid to challenge the status quo, explaining “I really don’t want to only work with cruelty free brands, because there isn’t a lot to change there. I hope to work with brands who aren’t necessarily all the way there, because maybe working with me could make them one percent better and move them one percent further toward conservation.”
“They could kill me in a second and that’s the beauty of it. I can’t afford to be thinking about my problems. I have to be in their world. It’s completely grounding and humbling.”
It’s obvious that Aspinall does not act with a lot of fear, whether it be taking on industries outside of conservation to change their ways, standing up against zoos, or hand feeding a silverback gorilla. Aspinall has used her social media to become a voice for the voiceless, posting videos and images of her snuggled up to a Zemo, a lion cub who she describes as “a blob” who lives at the sanctuary with his sister Zala, who will both be returned to the wild. Her page also shows her feeding the silverback gorilla, Kifu, who has three wives that Aspinall spends time with–something that would petrify most people, but for Aspinall it’s a peaceful experience. “I like to describe it as a deep meditation,” she says. “I don’t think about anything else when I’m with the gorillas. They could kill me in a second and that’s the beauty of it. I can’t afford to be thinking about my problems or if a guy didn’t text me back when I’m with the animals. I have to be in their world. It’s completely grounding and humbling.”
“When I am with them I am reminded of what is important in life and I always leave knowing why I am on this planet.”
Aspinall hopes to expand her responsibilities at the foundation and put more eyes on their work than ever. In her soul, she knows it is her life’s purpose and the animals are lucky for that. “Whenever I’m away from home my stomach or my soul just needs to get back to them. The ones you see in my videos, especially the ones where they’re in the sanctuary and they’re behind bars, I love those animals. I love going to see them, but they don’t belong there,” she says. “When I am with them I am reminded of what is important in life and I always leave knowing why I am on this planet.”
All images by Hugo Comte, courtesy of IMG.
