CHARLIZE THERON MAKES BID TO SAVE ENDANGERED RHINO

June 19, 2001Jun 19, 2001, 11:00 PM GMT+1

Hollywood beauty Charlize Theron has offered to go on a date with a US businessman if he spares the life of a rare animal. The president of Speedtech Instruments, David Laylin, bought black rhino Baixinha 12 years ago for $90,000 and, if no conservation group can come up with $60,000 he will sell her to a Norwegian big-game hunter for the same price.

“If you agree to release Baixinha to a sanctuary, I will agree to meet you in South Africa to celebrate her freedom,” wrote the statuesque actress, 25, in a letter, which was later released by animal welfare group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The businessman has said that he cannot afford to give the rhino away. “She is a wonderful animal and the last thing I want is to have her blown away.”

Meanwhile, Charlize’s fellow actress, Meg Ryan, is set to make a documentary on the dwindling number of elephants in Thailand. A British production company, Tigress, is producing the 60-minute film, which aims to promote elephant conservation in the Far East. The 39-year-old actress arrived last weekend and is to be taken to several sites around the country to see the elephants’ plight for herself.

The 25-year-old actress wrote the black rhino's owner a letter saying, "If you agree to release Baixinha to a sanctuary, I will agree to meet you in South Africa to celebrate her freedom"

Baixinha could be sold to a Norwegian big game hunter, who will shoot and kill her in a canned hunt

Meg Ryan is currently in Thailand, where she is shooting a documentary on the plight of the country's national animal, the elephant

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