SLASH To Receive Award At L.A. Zoo's Annual Beastly Ball

According to the Los Angeles Times, legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES) will receive a leadership award from the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn. at its 41st annual Beastly Ball this June. He will be given the inaugural Tom F. Mankiewicz Leadership Award, which recognizes his longtime contributions to establishing environmental welfare programs. He's also a trustee on GLAZA's board and has supported the L.A. Zoo and zoos around the world.

The charity ball is scheduled to take place on June 18 at the Los Angeles Zoo.

As a touring musician, both with GUNS N' ROSES and more recently with VELVET REVOLVER, Slash has visited numerous zoos throughout the world during his free time. Slash has been a longtime supporter of the Los Angeles Zoo, where he gained his appreciation for animals as a child growing up in Southern California, and knows many of the animal handlers personally.

As the father of two young children, Slash regularly brings his family to the Los Angeles Zoo so his children can meet the animals and learn of the fragile state many of them face in the wild. Slash has come to know numerous members of the zoo staff, describing them as "one of the most conscientious caretakers of animals I've ever met."

Slash in January 2009 joined the thousands of supporters mobilizing to urge the Los Angeles City Council to complete the Los Angeles Zoo's Pachyderm Forest, a state-of-the-art new educational habitat for Billy and other endangered Asian elephants. Watch a three-minute message from Slash below (filmed in January 2009).