Supermodel Elle Macpherson has said she regrets "banter" in which she appeared to admit using a banned product made from rhino horn.
Her comments, made in an interview, upset wildlife charities for her apparent use of the Chinese medicine made from an endangered species.
But the model-turned-businesswoman said she had not "knowingly consumed" anything made from threatened animals.
The claim originally appeared in an interview with The Sunday Times at the weekend during an interview conducted via Twitter.
She was asked what powdered rhino horn tasted like, and responded: "A little bit like crushed bone and fungus in a capsule. Does the job though."
However, a statement issued on her behalf today said: "Following comments made in a newspaper article, Elle Macpherson would like to clarify that, while she has great respect for Chinese medicine, she is also fundamentally opposed to any activity which is detrimental to the protection of endangered species.
"Ms Macpherson has never knowingly consumed or encouraged the use or consumption of any products which contain material derived from endangered species and regrets any distress or offence that her banter with an interviewer might have caused when repeated out of context."
Ms Macpherson went on that she found the idea of using products from endangered species "abhorrent".
She said: "While I love my herbal and Chinese remedies, I would never put my health over the survival of a species. I guess this is one of the pitfalls of 140-character journalism."
The 47-year-old added: "I hate being lectured by celebrities with big mouths as much as the next person but if sometimes, however unwittingly, a famous voice can draw attention to the issues, then that has to be a good thing.
"I am going to redouble my efforts because of this Twitter incident. The WWF has a list of all the protected species that are under threat and I would urge everyone to look that up and see what brilliant work they are doing."
The Australian star said she had spent the past year boycotting her favourite restaurant because it chose to serve blue fin tuna, and her campaign was having an international impact.
She added: "As guardians of the planet, there is no excuse for any of us to stand by while animals face extinction. Four out of five species of rhino are under immediate threat, mainly due to illegal slaughter for their horns.
"I want to urge everyone to join my utter condemnation of anything that further endangers their already precarious future. Killing rhinos because some people think its horn is an aphrodisiac is beyond appalling."