Frank Cuesta

Frank Cuesta
Frank paying respect to a king Cobra
Born Francisco Javier Cuesta Ramos
(1971-10-16) 16 October 1971
León, Spain
Residence

Bangkok, Thailand

Occupation
Spouse(s) Yuyee Alissa Intusmith (Divorced)
Children

Zipi (b. 2003, deceased)
Zape (b.2003)
Zorro (b.2005)
Zen (b.2010)
[1]

Francisco Javier Cuesta Ramos (Leon, Spain),16 October 1972), better known as Frank Cuesta, is a Spanish adventurer, television presenter and tennis coach, who currently lives in Bangkok, Thailand for over 20 years. For the past 15 years Frank Cuesta has been fighting illegal animal trafficking and animal abuse in the southeast Asia. In 2012, after being infiltrated into Bear farms in Vietnam as a vet, he showed to the world, the dramatic images of how bears were abused daily, to get their bile for traditional alternative medicines and other curatives with no scientifically proven value. This report then pushed the Vietnamese Government to make an official statement where they promised to abort these activities.

He presented his first TV Show Frank de la jungla which was broadcast on Cuatro from 2010 to 2013 . It received the Premio Ondas award on 8 November 2011 in the national TV category.[2] The show brought him international fame along with the spin-off shows called La Selva en Casa and Natural Frank. In March 2013, Cuesta signed a contract with Discovery International in order to make the TV show Wild Frank which has been broadcast in more than 100 countries.[3]

Biography

Frank Cuesta studied veterinary medicine at University. Frank was also interested in being a tennis player during his youth before he had a motorbike accident. Then he became a tennis coach instead, signing up in the Nick Bollettieri tennis academy in Florida. He moved to Thailand to build his own academy, the Frank Cuesta Tennis Academy.

Throughout these years, his interest in herpetology led him to found an association to help reptiles in Thailand.[4]

In 2010, the Spanish show Callejeros Viajeros's team met Frank Cuesta when they had some problems with a snake.[5] His skills and knowledge led him to present his own TV show, Frank de la Jungla.

It received the Premio Ondas award on 8 November 2011 in the national TV category.[2] The show brought him national fame along with the spin-off shows called La Selva en Casa and Natural Frank. In March 2013, Cuesta signed a contract with Discovery International in order to make the TV show Wild Frank which has been broadcast in more than 100 countries.[3] He also received the award of "conservationist of the year" in 2016 by the Southeast Asia animal rights confederation; granted fot his continuous fight against illegal animal trafficking.

In June 2014, his ex wife Yuyee Alissa Intusmith was arrested in the airport Don Mueang in Bangkok, with 5 milligrams of cocaine and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Frank claims that his ex wife was convicted without proof and as a result of a set up to hurt his family by the animal mafias.

In 2016 his youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/NATURALFRANK received the awards of most watched and best channel for natural conservation in Thailand.

Frank runs his own foundation since 2010, The foundation is financed by the revenue of his TV show. It doesn't accept donations, charity or sponsors.

Recently, somebody ask Frank in an interview, why he never accepted help in his foundation and why he kept fighting against illegal animal trafficking, when he knew he kept making very bad enemies. Frank Cuesta answered that the reason for not accepting money was because the animals were giving him the money by helping him when he films them in the wild and that money earned, should be going back to them. About why to keep his fight against illegal animal trafficking, his answer was very simple: BECAUSE ANIMALS DON'T HAVE LAWYERS.

Frank Cuesta's foundation has released more than 5,000 animals back into the wild since 2002.

TV shows

  • Frank de la jungla (2010 - 2013)
  • La selva en casa (2011 - 2012)
  • Natural Frank (2013 - 2014)
  • Wild Frank (2014–Present)

References

  1. ↑ "Frank, su familia y su forma de vida". Cuatro (in Spanish). 30 September 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Premios Ondas 2011" (in Spanish).
  3. 1 2 "Frank Cuesta y sus indirectas 'muy directas' a Discovery Max" (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "Frank Cuesta: "El tenis es mi mujer y los reptiles, mis amantes"" (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  5. ↑ "Frank Cuesta, el pollastre de León" (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 October 2015.
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