Daughter Of Famous Russian Tennis Player Angers Animal Rights Groups Via Naked Photoshoot With Elephant

Russian model Alesya Kafelnikova, the daughter of former world No. 1 tennis player Yevgeny Kafelnikov, is under fire for getting naked and using an endangered elephant as a prop for a video shoot in Bali.

Kafelnikova, 22, whose father overtook Pete Sampras as the world's No. 1 in May of 1999 and became the first Russian tennis player to hold the No. 1 position, wrote "natural vibes" on her naked elephant video post, but international animal rights activists aren't feeling her vibes.

According to The Sun, charity Save The Asian Elephants is fired up over what it sees as a violation of the elephant's rights.

"Yet another tragic trivialisation of the majestic Asian elephant when the species is fighting for its very existence against brutal abuse in tourism and human 'entertainment'," the group said in a statement.

"Save The Asian Elephants stands for a ban by law on the advertising and sale of unethical venues where these special creatures are commercialised with beating, stabbing and every kind of torture to break them for easy commercial exploitation - genuine sanctuaries only."

The elephant in question is said to be a Sumatran, which isn't native to Bali where the video was shot, according to The Sun. The elephants are said to be held captive to serve the tourism industry. "To love nature is human nature," Kafelnikova wrote on another Instagram post with the elephant.

Look, it's no surprise that the animal rights people would be fired up. Zero shock. The biggest shock here is that goofy-looking Yevgeny Kafelnikov has a daughter hot enough to tear up Instagram and get headlines in tabloids around the world. Yes, I have thrown Alesya right into the famous athlete-daughter rotation with Paulina Gretzky. Now we need Alesya to start dating some famous golfer or NFL quarterback, and we're talking pageviews gold.



































Written by
Joe Kinsey is the Senior Director of Content of OutKick and the editor of the Morning Screencaps column that examines a variety of stories taking place in real America. Kinsey is also the founder of OutKick’s Thursday Night Mowing League, America’s largest virtual mowing league. Kinsey graduated from University of Toledo.