Isabella Rossellini's love of pets lead to commitment to wildlife

Isabella Rossellini's beauty is legendary, but it is her love of and commitment to animals that earned her the title of "champion" of the environment.

Isabella received the honor from the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund, and it came with a $100,000 grant that she'll donate to two of her favorite wildlife charities: The Howard Gilman Foundation, which runs the White Oak Plantation nature preserve in Yulee, north of Jacksonville; and the Wildlife Conservation Network, which is trying to save the Andean mountain cat.

How did she come to love wildlife so much? Well, it all started with cats and dogs: "You have cats and dogs, and you start to wonder how the cats and dogs in the wild, tigers and wolves, were doing. You see your dog do something that seems instinctual, and you wonder where it comes from. Simple questions like that made me realize that we can't take animals for granted in the wild, anymore. We have to protect them."

Beware you pet lovers: one day you'll be petting a domestic cat and the next day you'll be working to save the Andean mountain cat! (If only securing commitment to animal charities were so easy!)

Read more about Isabella's love of animals (especially the elephant) on OrlandoSentinel.com.