Larry King, Jared Leto, Hayden Panettiere Among Stars at WildAid Gala

SAN FRANCISCO, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Hollywood joined forces with Silicon Valley on Friday evening to support wildlife conservation organization, WildAid, at their annual gala.  Larry King, Hayden Panettiere, Jared Leto, Maggie Q, John Corbett, Kate Flannery, and Bo Derek were among the stars raising money for WildAid.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120514/SF06993) 

The 300-guest black-tie VIP dinner included a presentation by WildAid Founder Peter Knights, a live auction, and awards presented to Google and James H. Clark for their innovative use of technology to benefit conservation.

After dinner, guests enjoyed a live musical performance by the John Corbett Band, sipped on specialty cocktails compliments of POM Wonderful and Ketel One, sampled from a 1,000 cupcake display provided by The Food Network, and explored the virtual oceans in an exhibit by theBlu.

Knights presented a new PSA featuring Pau Gasol (LA Lakers) and a sneak peak of an upcoming documentary WildAid is working on with Peabody-Award winning director Deborah Scranton about the rhino and elephant poaching crisis in Africa, as seen through the eyes of China's biggest star (and long-time WildAid Ambassador) Yao Ming.

Other notable guests included President Alvaro Uribe, General Ron Hite, Bill Joy, Gigi Brisson, Tod Bensen, Alan Chung, Sir Michael Rose, Andrew Paul, Jim Rogers, Xochi and Michael Birch, Sir Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Lonnie Autry, David Hersh, William Tseng, Jason Holt, Nick Osborne, and Google's Brian McClendon.

Other sponsors include Perka, Tiffany & Co., San Francisco Magazine, FLOR, theBlu, Incase, Grand Hyatt, RBC Royal Bank, Forbes & Manhattan, AllianceBernstein, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosini, and Britex Fabrics.

About WildAid:

WildAid (www.wildaid.org) is the only organization to focus on reducing the demand for wildlife products with the strong and simple message: when the buying stops, the killing can too.  WildAid works with Asian and Western celebrities to dissuade people from purchasing wildlife products via public service announcements and educational initiatives. WildAid's roster of ambassadors includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Hudson, Edward Norton, Yao Ming, Jackie Chan, Minnie Driver, and Sir Richard Branson.  

B-roll and digital images available upon request.

SOURCE WildAid