Conservation Champion DiCaprio Receives Invitation to Visit Russia

Noted American actor and animal rights advocate Leonardo DiCaprio has reportedly received a state invitation to visit Russia in 2017, which has been declared the Year of Ecology by President Vladimir Putin.

Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Sergey Donskoy invited Hollywood star and eco-defender Leonardo DiCaprio to come to Russia in 2017; President Vladimir Putin had previously declared this to be the Year of Ecology in the country, according to RIA Novosti.

"Next year will see a whole array of relevant events for DiCaprio to take part in and make a greater effort to protect certain species of animals," Donskoy told reporters.

Let's work together to #SaveLeuserEcosystem, a biodiversity hotspot. Stand up at https://t.co/dWdlp1d81c pic.twitter.com/LEZUU8Any8

— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) 29 марта 2016 г.

In March 2016, Donskoy invited DiCaprio to Moscow to discuss preserving the saiga antelope population.

#Regram #RG @Wildnetorg: This has been an incredibly tough year for the saiga antelope, whose population plummeted following a devastating and mysterious illness that wiped out half the population. Now, a plan has been drawn at a UN-backed meeting of conservationists to help restore the population of this beautiful and critically-endangered species.

Фото опубликовано Leonardo DiCaprio (@leonardodicaprio) Ноя 13 2015 в 8:08 PST

He also posted a screenshot of a saiga antelope DiCaprio published on his Instagram in mid-December 2015. The actor wanted to draw attention to the plummeting population of the animal, following a "devastating and mysterious illness."

.@socp_tweets rescues and rehabilitates these amazing creatures. Support them at https://t.co/QBkLh0V81Z pic.twitter.com/HqEoF1vbnV

— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) 31 марта 2016 г.

At the 2016 Academy Awards ceremony, DiCaprio won the prize for the first time in his career; he was named Best Actor for his role in The Revenant.

Stand with @haka_sumatra to #SaveLeuserEcosystem: https://t.co/dWdlp1d81c pic.twitter.com/NdATZxKx82

— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) 29 марта 2016 г.

In 1998, DiCaprio founded his own organization, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF), aimed at protecting the world's last wild places.